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Davos 2020: “Fintech can speed up the pace of global financial inclusion”

As the World Economic Forum celebrates its 50th year, Davos 2020 has the opportunity to transform business via fintech, something which Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere Group, calls the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution.’ 

As the World Economic Forum celebrates its 50th year, Davos 2020 has the opportunity to transform business via fintech, something which Nigel Green, founder and chief executive of deVere Group, calls the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution.’

As world leaders, CEOs, academics, influencers and celebrities gather in the Swiss Alps for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) that started on Tuesday, delegates are urged to commit to fintech in 2020 by the CEO of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial services and advisory organisations.

“We’re living through a pivotal moment in history in which increased and advancing technology is monumentally and profoundly changing the way we live, do business, and interact with one another,” said Green.

The fintech shift happening in the financial services industry has been underway during the last few years already; in a study by Statista conducted in 2018 close to 70 percent of senior banking execs expressed that collaborating with Fintech and Bigtech to create a new service was an “important opportunity for banks.”
 
“We need to bank the unbanked and many large initiatives are already taking place in this arena. I think going forward traditional banks need to provide services for the average client at a much much lower cost,” said Ali Ahmad, CIO at London Fintech Fund, a quantum hedge fund specialising in fintech and artificial intelligence. “This is the reason why high street banks have started to lower their fees because they simply cannot compete with the fintech revolution,” he added.

Green pointed to how developments in mobile banking and investment apps, peer-to-peer lending, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, robo-advisers, and crowdfunding are all part of this fundamental shake-up of the fintech space, and stressed how the momentum and energy of this evolution now needs to be harnessed by delegates in Davos.

“Fintech can speed up the pace of global financial inclusion. It can provide access to financial services for millions of people who live in remote areas and/or who might normally not be able to use financial services because of historical biases of traditional financial companies,” commented Green.

The deVere CEO concluded: “Davos 2020 is the ideal forum in which to unite the best political and business leaders to galvanize the positive potential of the fintech revolution.

“With a slowing global economy, it is an opportunity that the world cannot afford to miss.”

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