Cinthia Danove and Munal Mehta on the Akoni stand

Last week was London Fintech Week. For seven days, thousands of delegates from over 50 countries attended conferences, exhibitions, workshops, hackathons, meetups and parties. The main conference/exhibition took place at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, while other events occurred across the City of London, Canary Wharf and 'Tech City'. The goal was to unite the world of fintech in the world’s financial capital and enhance the dialogue between multi-nationals, innovation firms, startups, governments, media and investors.

As innovators in the fintech sector, of course, Akoni was there!

We met people from banks including HSBC, Credit Agricole and Lloyds, and from international organisations who are interested in expanding FinTech in their home countries, such as FinTech Valley Vizag from India. We also met various investors who showed interest in the Akoni proposition and how we bring innovation to the market, and people from our data partner, Bureau Van Dijk.

As you'd expect, we also interacted with the other businesses who were exhibiting. It was a nice range of businesses, which is evidence of how broad the FinTech world is. Many were from outside the UK, including Malaysia, USA and Israel. This allowed a more enriching debate about the pros and cons of different geographies, such as regulation impact, access to capital, and government incentives. These interactions gave rise to potential synergies and opportunities to work together.

Panel discussion

We attended a number of panel discussions, but of most interest to Akoni was a discussion about the impact of PSD2 from both a legal and commercial point of view. The panel comprised two tech partners from the international law firm, Pinsents Masons, a representative from RBS' FinTech team, and the CTO of MoneyHub Enterprise. To a packed audience they raised awareness about the shift of liability from the use of API (in case of data breach), but also how banks need to do more to protect their image, and the challenge of improving communication with clients. They also highlighted the business opportunities and the incentives for banks to produce the best API.

View the official photos on Flickr: 10 July | 11 July

Exploring the hot topics of the day

The fintech world is changing remarkably fast, and there is lots to talk about.

We noticed many e-currency businesses and startups, indicated that this may be a hot space within FinTech. Another hot topic is the new technologies such as data analytics, deep machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) that are already transforming the financial services industry. In fact, McKinsey estimate the combination of AI and robotics to be worth $50 trillion globally by 2025.

AI allows advanced behaviour-tracking, and has already enabled high-frequency trading. In future, it could allow better fraud prevention, voice-enabled e-commerce,  compliance solutions, and virtual assistants to help customers manage their personal finances.

AI will enable organisations to reduce costs and increase efficiencies while offering customers new products and services.

Akoni leverages machine learning techniques and neural nets to improve financial outcomes for businesses, by providing intelligent forecasting and automated prompting to enhance cash management.

Playing our part in events such as fintech week shows we're at the leading edge.

Akoni helps businesses make the most of their cash. Register for free at AkoniHub.com