Blake is Head of Financial and Monetary Systems at the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Matthew Blake is also at the forefront of the WEF for matters relating to fintech. He recently spoke to Crowdfund Insider on the industry, COVID-19, and its future outlook.

Key points from the interview – Matthew Blake

• Fintech has been able to lower transaction and service costs
• It has reached populations otherwise unable to participate in the formal financial system
• Fintech increased access to credit for MSMEs/SMEs at lower transaction and service costs

On fintech and COVID-19

• Traditional finance players have had to swiftly pivot to meet the new normal
• However, they have managed to disburse governmental support successfully
• These players are forced to telescope digitization of five years into a few months
• Fintechs are facing challenges because the virus has negatively impacted their MSME customers
• Because they are digital organizations, fintechs are inherently more nimble in the B2C and B2B sectors

Matthew Blake: Outlook for fintech

• Opportunity areas for fintechs – Regtech, Suptech, Insurtech, data and data analytics
• The fintech sector will see more consolidation rather than fragmentation
• It is unlikely that big tech will take over and dominate fintech
• However, big tech may play an important role by providing technology for use in financial services
• The financial system should meet the need for the public’s need for digital financial services (for example, the situation during COVID)
• Banks should explore partnering with fintech

Fintech opportunities

Matthew Blake’s views on key opportunity areas for fintechs tie-in with those of Steve Sloane, who is a partner at Menlo Ventures and runs the firm’s “Inflection Fund.”

According to Sloane, disruptive fintechs could profitably target sectors such as data analytics; technology that powers mortgages, insurance, and corporate finance; banking infrastructure; and payments.

“Fintech companies addressing seemingly arcane parts of our economy are big businesses,” says Sloane.

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