Can you tell me a bit about your background and your current role?
I grew up with computers and coding. I am into decentralized systems since Torrent became popular, I wrote the first paper on blockchain for business in 2014. Now I have architected and implemented a decentralized application platform with my team at Blockchain Zoo.
I am currently CEO of DecBC.
Can you tell us more about Fintech and its importance today?
Fintech, or technology for finance, has always had a major role in automating processes and bringing financial services closer to the consumers. In the past decade this sector has seen a reverse approach, with technology bridging between financial services and consumers, ending with the very recent trend in DeFi, or decentralised finance, where technology is removing financial institutions from financial services.
What’s Gone Wrong with Traditional SMB Banking?
Progressing and advancing at the same speed of technology evolution is a difficult task for unregulated industries, and it is almost an impossible mission for institutions that must obey rules and regulations that are often outdated compared to current technology. I am still asked, in 2021, to send forms to the bank via fax. FAX!!!!
What is the future of digital banking?
If some central banks got scared of cryptocurrencies, it is because they may have seen what was coming together with it. P2P finance, or DeFi, reshape how people ask for a loan, leave collateral as guarantee, and do their banking. This can be easily assimilated and integrated with tools people are more familiar with, such as any mobile app, social network, and even mobile phone operating systems. Outlawing Dei is a lost battle, so lage financial institutions must step in and play the same game, maybe shaping it a bit as they have the power to do so.
If the regulators let them.
Will banks eventually migrate to a cloud and what hardware they will keep?
I do believe that while banks will close most in person branches, they will keep their data centers, maybe building a P2P network between financial institutions to share some high level data without being dependent on systems such as SWIFT or similar. What they will mostly do is use “X”aaS and other API services to integrate their systems with other applications.
What do you think is the future of the Fintech industry in Asia?
Fintech is here to stay, maybe shifting from technology for banks to technology for decentralized systems, but there is still a lot of work to do to provide security and a smooth experience to the final users. Asia is ahead in the Fintech race, and has the big advantage to offer services worldwide, conquering other financial markets before being unreachable to them.
