ITFA publishes Fintech Evolutions Guide

Following the set-up of the Fintech Committee in Q1 2018, ITFA welcomed a total of 21 technology companies which help incumbent financial institutions in both primary and/or secondary trade spaces.

During our annual event that took place in Budapest, our 275 delegates had the opportunity to meet 12 of them and discover a series of specialised value propositions aiming at further automating front- and back-office operations, providing superior user experiences and attracting new funders to the trade asset class.

Mapping the new fintech options to actual needs remains a challenge for many financial institutions, which is why the fintech committee developed the new guide. Entitled ITFA fintech evolutions guide, the document highlights recent market trends, upcoming developments, key innovation ingredients, the ecosystem and describes each provider in a structured way. The guide is available to ITFA members only, by clicking here. Please contact the ITFA Fintech Committee to get a high-resolution version of the guide.

Sean Edwards, Chair of ITFA acknowledges recent market evolutions: “There is no doubt the bank – fintech collaboration creates new opportunities for the trade finance industry. The ITFA will continue to expand its activities to facilitate cooperation between fintechs and incumbents thereby helping the industry address its most-pressing challenges.”

André Casterman, Chair of ITFA Fintech Committee who moved to the fintech space after having spent 24 years at SWIFT, is bullish about the opportunities for the global ITFA membership: “The pace of fintech adoption by financial institutions has increased steadily over the last year, and this is very exciting for 2020. Fintechs prove to be strategic enablers for the global ITFA membership, not competitors. One thing is clear to me: today’s early adopters are tomorrow’s role models. Time to market is of essence when it comes to grasping new business opportunities and delivering superior experience to clients. That’s what fintechs will help you achieve.”

Sameer Sehgal who entered the fintech space as CEO of Traydstream in 2017 after having spent 20 years at Citibank, identifies two collaboration tracks: “At Traydstream, we see ourselves as a long-term partner of large and smaller trade banks. Given our specialisation in back-office operations, we also collaborate intensively with the established core application vendors such as Finastra which joined ITFA during the summer.”

For those of you attending Sibos please note that 14 ITFA fintechs will be present and delighted to meet you – discover them here.

Finally, following Budapest, the ITFA Fintech Committee has expanded its activities and team with the set-up of the digital asset initiative. More information on this new project will be shared in the coming weeks.