Insight from Daniel Lowther, Head of FinTech, CCGroup

What is the most impressive fintech start-up you’ve come across in the past 12 months and why?

Ant Financial – it is an example of multi-layered commerce, truly global and a massive threat to existing networks. Due to its enormous scale, it also has the capability to shift into lending and investment etc. I’d also include Ripple as a real use-case of blockchain in finance which is rare.

What would you rank as the top 3 challenges faced by start ups and scale ups as they plan for growth?

1) Talent

2) Regulation

3) Investment

Are we any nearer to seeing the full impact of Brexit on the fintech sector? If so, please share your view on what the best outcome for the fintech sector would resemble?

No, not until negotiations build steam, its all conjecture. Only when trade and immigration policy is discussed will we see change. The best outcome for UK fintech is passporting rights and pro-skilled immigration.

Have you seen any major market shifts in the last year?

P2P lending appears to be slowing and declining, PSD2 is likely to generate a shift from card to bank payments, collaboration over competition, blockchain is still in the wild and API brokers.

Where do you think London ranks now, among the various global fintech hubs?

London is still the number one global fintech hub.

Do you believe there is more or less collaboration between fintechs and financial institutions than there was three years ago? Please comment or give examples if you are able to.

Yes, there is much more collaboration through accelerators, acquisitions by banks, and partnerships i.e. Starling Bank and Transferwise.

Tech entrepreneurs now seem to be held in the same esteem as movie and music starts, who is the most impressive you’ve met or seen and why?

Eric Schmidt, Mark Zuckerberg (super engaging) and Brett King (amazing breadth of knowledge).

Outside of fintech which company (launched within the last ten years) do you admire the most and why?

Tesla, for its sheer breadth and ambition and not just to make money but to truly change the world for the better.

On a scale of 1-4 score the following technologies based upon their potential to transform the financial services industry:

1 – Blockchain | 1 – Artificial Intelligence | 2 – IoT | 3 – Cloud | 2 – Mobile Internet

Based on your experience, what advice would you give to young entrepreneurs starting their careers in fintech?

Be a fast follower.

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