Insurance is about to be disrupted. Here’s why.

Posted by & filed under Featured, Guest blog, Insurance, Insurtech.

Guest blogger Petri Ekman Nestholma MentorThis is a guest post from one of our mentors, Petri Ekman. Petri is an experienced executive with a broad and in-depth experience in financing, financial and insurance products and risk management strategies for corporate clients. 

Change Started Later than in Many Other Industries

During my 12 years in insurance, I used to hear numerous times the claims “there have not been any new products in this industry for 100 years” or “this is how we have conducted our business for 120 years, and so far things have been rolling rather nicely.” These arrogant-sounding statements were used to blunt ideas to get some change in, well, most anything.

In reality, a major shift had already taken place then. Many companies had started to drive down their expense ratios to improve the profitability of their insurance operation. Read more »

Why OTP Bank works with Nestholma

Posted by & filed under Accelerator, Banking, Featured, Fintech, Global Fintech Accelerator, Programs.

Collaboration between startups and corporations is not easy. Most attempts to cooperate actually fail. There is a cultural divide between their two worlds. This why you need a mediator who understands both of those worlds: to make the collaboration a win-win for both the corporation and the startups.

Luckily, our area of expertise at Nestholma is exactly that: collaboration. Turning it into an actual business. Making the magic happen. “Banks and startups speak a different language”, says András Fischer, Head of Retail Innovation. “We need an interpreter”. Tweet this. And we’re proud to say that they have chosen Nestholma as such an interpreter.

But what does Nestholma bring into the mix for the startups and the corporation, as an acceleration partner? Read more »

Why OTP Bank wants to work with startups

Posted by & filed under Accelerator, Banking, Fintech, Innovation, Startups.

It’s clear that for startups, having a big bank as a partner is crucial. And that OTP Bank is such a partner. It can make it or break it. It makes your startup bank-validated. But collaboration is not a one-way street. Tweet this. You also need to understand your partner and their motives; why they want to collaborate with you. After all, those are the things that will shape how the future collaboration will really be in practice.

We had a chat with key people in OTP Bank to find out and share with you. And let me tell you, startups are in for a treat. Read more »

Taviq signs a deal with Nordea and that’s amazing news for Nordea’s customers!

Posted by & filed under Accelerator, Banking, Fintech, General, Programs, Startups.

It’s time for more deals and more pilots! Taviq from our second Nordea accelerator has just signed a pilot agreement with Nordea Private Banking, going live now. And that’s awesome news for Taviq and Nordea, but even better for Nordea’s customers!

Juho Isola on a MoneyFintech panel with Nordea's Ewan MacLeod.

Taviq’s Juho Isola on stage with Nordea’s Chief Digital Officer Ewan MacLeod.

In Private Banking and wealth management, too many clients drop off during the first meeting. That’s because the first meeting is like a cold blind date. Except the customer and the wealth advisor know even less about each other. The first meeting is spent figuring each other out; if the wealth advisor even is the right one to handle their money. Read more »

Here’s what I learned from talking with people from 9 countries of OTP Bank

Posted by & filed under Accelerator, Banking, Fintech, Innovation, Technology.

Digital technologies have transformed the way we do… everything. And it continues to transform it, every day. We often read about new technology that looks like science fiction… but we’ve exploited only a fraction of the technologies available today.

On October 3rd and 4th I was lucky to take part in OTP Group’s Digital Meetup in Kecskemét. Participants included key people from OTP Group, from its 9 different countries. It also included partners that OTP Bank is working with – such as myself from Nestholma.

I got to see very interesting points of view on digitalization. Banking is going to change a lot in the upcoming years. And not only in the obvious ways. Read more »

Ophelia, openness, and readiness for disruption

Posted by & filed under Corporations, Innovation, Organizational learning.

Hurricane Ophelia decided to pay a visit to Ireland at the same time that we were visiting Dublin for an event about collaborating to make the best out of PSD2. And one can learn a lot from seeing how people react to a hurricane. In a way, dealing with a hurricane can be like dealing with changing markets. Change is like the wind, and when it’s fast and sudden, it’s a hurricane. The hurricane of disruption. Tweet this.

Many industries are going through their own “disruption Ophelia” at the moment. Fintech is going through a regulation hurricane. Knowledge-based industries, in general, are bracing for the AI hurricane. All industries deal with the hurricane of digitalization, one way or another.

Read more »

The next big thing in banking, with OTP Bank

Posted by & filed under Accelerator, Banking, Customers, Fintech, Innovation, Programs.

Telling the future is difficult. And even more in banking right now, with so many innovations happening. New fintech startups (like you?) claim to disrupt the industry every day. By collaborating with a big bank you can improve your chances of success. And that makes those banks more ready for the future. But in which areas can we make the biggest changes?

For our upcoming program with OTP Bank, we’ve taken a shot at defining the key areas of banking that need new innovations. Read more »

Corporate Venturing official Slush side event, November 29th 2017

Posted by & filed under Corporations, General, innovating, Investing, Organizational learning, Product development, Startups.

 

Corporate venture capital has been an excellent way for many companies to increase shareholder value. Research shows 30% better increase of share value with companies with strong Corporate Venture capital activities.  And if you look for example at the biggest Chinese giants, most of that valuation increase is because of good investments, not operative business.

But it’s usually done only with later-stage companies.
Read more »

Strong, innovative and startup-minded: why startups want OTP Bank

Posted by & filed under Accelerator, Banking, Fintech, Global Fintech Accelerator, Programs.

Collaboration between startups and corporations is a great formula. That’s why fintech startups are looking for good financial institutions to work with.

That’s why we’ve picked the best partner for you at the Global Fintech Accelerator: OTP Bank! It has all the traits you need. It’s a strong partner. It’s also an innovative one. And the people working there have an attitude of getting stuff done (tweet this).

A strong partner

OTP Bank is a 65-year-old institution. But don’t let that fool you: they have had to live through great changes, you could even say it comes from a different era. And they had to change fast, so they know how to adapt to new environments.

OTP Bank is not only the biggest bank in Hungary, it’s also the biggest banking group in the Central Eastern European region. They are present in 9 different countries, with around 14,5 million customers. With a strong focus on retail banking, they have the financial background and know how to help your startup. According to Peter Csanyi, Head of Digital Sales and Development, you will be able to “verify the value proposition of your startup, and see how it can work in the long run”. It’s your best chance to become bank-validated! (tweet this)

But OTP Bank is not just a bank. It’s a group, with very different subsidiaries. This gives you the opportunity to test your business idea in a live ecosystem. Big markets can be tough to enter, but with a partner like OTP Bank, you have a chance to validating your business in it, knowing what you’re doing.

 

 

“We know the local market, we know what’s realistic” adds András Fischer, Head of Retail Innovation. Their dominating position gives them the capability being ambitious and delivering. And it also gives them access to lots of data, that they’re willing to use to make the customer experience better. Big data? No: huge data!

 

An innovative partner

OTP Bank is renown in its region for its innovativeness. This means that their customers are used to trying new products and services. “We are not relaxed, thinking that we are the biggest in Hungary or in the region”, says Ferenc Böle, Head of IT Project Management and Methodology. Instead, they are committed to bringing new innovations to the market.

One of the effects of their openness towards innovation is their decision-making process. During the accelerator, in the OTP Bank’s headquarters, decision-makers are all at your reach. “All decisions happen very fast, very efficiently, every good idea can be executed”, adds Böle. If it’s a good idea, they’re in! And working with your startup is a good idea for OTP Bank, right?

This shows in their attitude as a company. “Traditionally OTP Bank is superior in technology innovation”, comments Tamás Schenk, Head of Digital Transformation Program Management Office. “If something is really exciting to our customers, we are devoted to developing it here”. They’re keen on working with startups, to bring the next disruptive idea to the market (with you).

Evidence to this attitude is the fact that they have already developed two internal startups themselves! “OTP Bank has the power to rise these solutions to a mass level”, shares Peter Benyó, CEO of OTP Mobil, one of those startups. “We run lean startup, we have the flexibility, with the strong financial background”, adds Tamás Jósvai, CEO of eBiz, the other OTP Bank startup. This means that OTP Bank knows very well how to work with a startup, which will make the collaboration with you so much easier!

 

A partner with the right attitude

Last but not least, people at OTP Bank are generally open, hard-working, and very structured. “Once something is decided, they are devoted to carrying it out”, adds Schenk. They have an attitude of doing business and getting things done.

 

 

“We don’t try to pretend”, adds Böle. OTP Bank doesn’t work with startups just “to be cool”. They have the capability – and the will – to bring value to customers. And they strongly believe that they can do that better working with startups. “I believe that our colleagues provide a very welcoming atmosphere”, adds Fischer.

Collaboration requires the right attitude, and the right ingredients (tweet this). And OTP Bank has both. And they are looking for startups to join the OTP Bank’s Startup Accelerator with us.

So now is your chance to join one of the best accelerators for your business. If you haven’t applied yet, what are you waiting for? It’s your chance to validate your business with one of the best partners.

 

Apply

Global Fintech Accelerator: first look into the participating banks

Posted by & filed under Accelerator, Banking, Fintech, Global Fintech Accelerator, Press release, Programs.

It has been a hard to keep our lips zipped with all these exciting news, but now we can finally give the first peek into the Global Fintech Accelerator – the first ever fintech accelerator done on such a global stage! We couldn’t be more excited to introduce new bank partners in the program.

 

Yes Bank

Fintech experts have been calling China the hottest place for fintech for a while now, but now they are turning their attention towards India. And not without a reason!

India is a huge market. Just the sheer size of the country itself is humongous with 1,3 billion people and counting. And while the size of the country and its market are impressive, their fintech adoption rate is even more so. It is the top of the world with 52%, only second to China and far ahead of Europe (source). The market has very different conditions than the traditional western countries and they lack many of the legacy systems and old innovation-stifling regulations many banks and countries in the West have. No wonder India is hotter than hot in fintech!

That’s why for an accelerator focused in fintech, partnering with one of the strongest players in Indian banking scene Yes Bank could not be better news!

Yes Bank is the fifth biggest bank in the enormous market of India, they are highly awarded and even have a massive following in their social media channels (They are for example, the most followed bank in the world in Twitter). If India is hot in fintech, Yes Bank is even hotter! We can’t think of a better partner for startups than the Yes Bank Accelerator to take over the Indian market.

Our next partner comes from an equally interesting marketplace: Eastern Europe. China has had the fintech innovation crown for a bit now and India seems to be taking over. But is Eastern Europe the next hotter than hot market for fintech?

 

OTP Bank

Eastern Europe has been able to fly under a radar for a while. But that won’t be so for long, especially when banking and fintech are in question. GDP of East European countries is growing nicely, in fact, better than nicely when compared to other European countries who drag behind. They also have a very interesting opportunity in the banking sector. What China and India have been able to pull off in fintech doesn’t seem too much of a fairytale for East Europe either. They do after all have many similarities in the consumer environment, regulations and other key issues that made China and India succeed.

East European consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the possibilities fintech innovations bring, and they will not just passively wait for them. They will demand them and they will demand them from their banks. Consumers still prefer banks over startups to provide their banking solutions, including new innovations. The local startup ecosystems are still just evolving, and there aren’t even that many real competitors for banks to provide such solutions. There is demand for fintech innovations but not much local supply. Game-changing innovations are expected to come from international players.

Overall, there is great potential for fintech startups in Eastern Europe to fill up the gaps in banking and disrupt the existing systems. But due to the strong status of the existing banks, not just any startup can do it. The fintechs need a way in. And that’s why we could not be more proud to partner up with OTP Bank, one of the biggest players in Eastern Europe.

OTP Bank has a presence in 9 East European countries (including dominating position in Hungary). And they are called the leading innovator in their market (more about it here). All in all, for startups there could not be a better partner to work with to conquer Eastern Europe.

At the heart of the Global Fintech Accelerator is, of course, banks working with startups, but also with other banks. The best results are when different kinds of banks with different experiences and knowledge work together. And we are proud to say that is exactly what is happening in Global Fintech Accelerator.

 

The Nordics

When you think about fintech you can’t help but also think about the Nordics. The Nordics have a flourishing startup environment that is attracting a high proportion of investments in Europe. Stockholm is the second largest fintech hub in Europe, and the whole Nordic fintech market is rapidly growing. The Nordics are also home for ginormous success stories like Klarna and iZettle, which have brought the area high to fintech investors interests.

A big part of the fintech’s success in the Nordics is its markets uniqueness. The Nordic countries are forerunners in many areas of banking. And that has made adopting new fintech innovations much easier for both the companies and the general public.

For example, consumers in the Nordics are avid smartphone users. In fact, smartphone ownership is almost universal, more than 9 out of 10 internet users have one. Nordic countries are also often referred to as cashless societies. Cash is not seen convenient and you can easily live your life without using cash pretty much 100% of the time. The Nordics also have strong electronic banking systems in place, and they have warmly welcomed innovations like e-invoicing. For example, 89% of large and even 59% of small businesses in Finland use it, and the usage is growing fast.

These and many other similar market conditions have made Nordics a very favorable for fintech innovations. Thus the Nordics just had to be a part of our Global Fintech Accelerator.

And we are very happy to have such a close relationship with Nordea, the largest bank in the Nordics.

Nordea

Nordea has over 10 million personal customers and over half million corporate customers. They are also one of the top 10 largest universal banks in Europe, and have a presence in 16 countries around the world. They are also one of the very few European banks to have an AA- rating. We can’t think of a better bank to work with in the Nordics. Especially as they are already well immersed in the startup world.

We have already done three great accelerators with Nordea and we have had an amazing time working with them. Thus we couldn’t be happier to continue working with them!

These banks from such different areas and market situations will be giving amazing opportunities and insights for both the participating startups and banks. We are expecting to see great innovations, big changes and most importantly: more satisfied banking customers. Stay tuned for amazing results!

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If your bank wants to get access to those results, there is still time! We have several models from marketing partnership to full accelerator in the Global Fintech Accelerator. Just contact Antti at [email protected], and let’s find together the best solution for your bank!