The SME Finance Forum was proud to partner with IIC to organize the FINPYME Forum, which brought together over 400 leaders from financial institutions, government, civil society and academia.
Representatives from 42 countries, gathered in Medellin, Colombia 21-22 September 2015, to exchange ideas on how to expand access to finance for small businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The main conclusions of the event were as follows:
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We are living a technological revolution that promises to transform the financial services industry.
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The Fintech companies are growing rapidly. They have attracted US$ 12 billion in investments in 2014 and US$ 60 billion are projected this year.
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The use of Big Data and analysis will be key to develop the financial industry.
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Today SMEs are much more financing options than in the past (for example, peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, non-bank financial institutions, etc.) but there remains a huge gap to fill, and there are opportunities.
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Regulators are proactively joining this conversation.
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Banks and Fintech companies can collaborate, each offering what the other lacks. In many cases Fintech do not compete with banks but complement.
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Milenials, Milennials, Milennials...The new generation of young people that will represent 50% of the banking sector’s clients in the next five years. The financial industry needs to cater to their needs.
- There are many ways to innovate in the financial industry, technology is one of them and very important, but not the only one.