💠 DATA RELEASE!

by Alain Clot, President of France FinTech

On April 10, 2018, at Station F, France Fintech will bring together the main players in Fintech: regulators, entrepreneurs, investors. This is the unique opportunity to listen and discuss with those who will be part of the revolution that has affected the financial industry for 5 years.

« DATA RELEASE » is the title of our big annual event, "FinTech Revolution" to be held on April 10, 2018 in the afternoon at Station F.

For the third edition of this meeting, we have chosen the theme of data liberation. As everyone knows, data is the raw material of the digital economy, its fuel. It now circulates, which allows the creation of new services for the benefit of the consumer.

This new fluidity is made possible by three factors very different in nature.

The tremendous advances in data technologies including artificial intelligence, blockchain and the internet of things. These three extraordinary tools allow the extraction, transfer and storage of information and its exploitation to create all kinds of new services and uses. We are only at the beginning of this revolution.

The evolution of regulations. The texts governing financial services are now favorable to innovation, to the creation of new efficient services and, in general, to competition.

Two European directives in particular. The second European Payment Directive (PSD2) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Among other provisions, these texts establish data portability and the ability for the holder of a bank account to mandate a regulated service provider to carry out payment transactions on his behalf. Finally, the customer is recognized as full ownership of his own data and given the tools to monetize it.

The circulation of data is sensitive. It must be rigorously supervised and carried out solely for the purpose of offering citizens new services or advantages, with a high level of security. France FinTech is resolutely committed to this requirement. Technical, legal, regulatory and ethical safeguards must be instituted, as the recent Facebook - Cambridge Analytica affair illustrates. Let's make our data protection requirement a trademark, a competitive advantage.

The third factor in the liberation of data is the emergence of new uses and models of financial services..

The first wave of fintech saw the emergence of new services in payments (jackpots, payments between individuals, etc.), financing, insurance, investment advice, aggregation of accounts, budget management, etc. . The second wave, which is currently being deployed, is seeing the emergence of much more complete models, which increasingly resemble service platforms that are alternatives to traditional finance.

In this abundant context, French fintechs hold their rank. Our ecosystem is driven by the extraordinary dynamism of our entrepreneurs, who set out to conquer Europe and the world and operate in a particularly stimulating environment.

It is first of all based on a exceptional pool of skills in the two relevant disciplines, finance and data sciences, in which our training is ranked among the best in the world.

The ecosystem also benefits from the presence in France of large financial groups which are among the world leaders. Let's put it bluntly, start-ups welcome the very numerous exchanges and cooperation with large groups, which are so beneficial for both parties.

Our ecosystem also takes advantage of funding resources that have finally become substantial. France is indeed in the leading group of venture capital.

A point of attention remains however, the persistent weakness of the supply of seed funds. In this regard, it is essential that the public authorities develop a mechanism to replace the tax deductions granted until then to investments in SMEs, which often provided start-ups with the first hundreds of thousands of euros needed to launch their activity.

Overall, our entrepreneurs operate in an ecosystem that has become efficient, to which the State services, the BPI and the local authorities contribute effectively. On this subject, let us salute the recent work of Cédric Villani relating to the measures to be taken to stimulate the French ecosystem of Artificial Intelligence.

Does that mean that all is well in the best of fintech worlds? Of course not.

Global competition is raging in fintech, including within the European Union, particularly with regard to the location of start-ups, research centers, incubators, especially since the announcement of Brexit.

In this context, it is essential that our country be as attractive as possible and ensure the emergence of European and world-class champions.

To achieve this objective, it is vital that it be developed in France a regulatory and legislative framework favorable to innovation.

From this point of view, the legislative work in the process of transposing the PSD2 is decisive, both to allow the French aggregation sector, leader in Europe, to continue its development, and to send the right message to international players on the issue. French innovation. It would therefore be inconceivable that the measures which will be taken during the transitional period of 18 months which has just opened, prevent consumers from continuing to use aggregators to manage all their accounts (including savings and loans).

French FinTechs are abundant and conquering. They are legitimate in their international ambitions.

Time is running out and it is no more and no less a matter of national sovereignty. It is essential that everything be done to stimulate this sector of excellence.

Come and discuss it with the whole ecosystem on April 10!

This article is part of a series of posts published as part of the annual event organized by France Fintech: Fintech R: Evolution 2018, which will be held April 10 at Station F in Paris, on the theme “Data Liberation”. To share, comment and like on LinkedIn with the hashtag # FFT18.