Mobile World Congress, MWC, took again place in Barcelona on the first week of March. It’s an annual event where basically all relevant mobile and connectivity professionals come to see latest trends, products and meet one other. Payments and finance services have become more important in the mobile industry. Crowd Valley participated at the event in Barcelona. |
Money, payments and wallets are coming to mobile. Samsung published its own payment solution Samsung Pay. It’s largely seen as a reaction to Apple Pay.
MasterCard particularly promoted its Financial Inclusion solution, i.e. their program to get bank and payment services to people in developing countries. We still must wait and see the first big commercial breakthrough in mobile payments, however it’s not far anymore.
We can divide developments of digital finance and payment services into four key areas: 1) mobile and wireless payments, 2) digital services to lend, borrow, invest and transfer money, 3) digital banks, and 4) ancillary services.
Digital investing and lending services herald changes to the traditional value chains of the finance sector and bypass non-value added middlemen. In the UK and US, P2P lending and crowdfunding are already a significant market, and it is emerging in Asia as well, subject to local regulatory developments. The same models are
expanding to institutional investors and wealth management.
At the moment we can see activities especially with mobile payments and wallet solutions. At the same time we also see strong signals that other finance services are coming to mobile too. Crowd Valley is preparing its offerings and services to support that development globally. Mobile is especially important in emerging markets.
Financial Services also need very reliable infrastructure. It also means that e.g. cloud solutions need higher security and often local presence, so they are suitable for these services. Local privacy laws can create requirements for the infrastructure. Some cloud and hosting providers at MWC already emphasized these aspects in their offering.
Big data had a very large role at MWC in this year. The problem of big data concepts is that they are too general and intangible. Finance services are something that can offer very tangible products and services to use data, e.g. help investors and companies to find right investment models, services and partners. Services such as
Deal Index (http://dealindex.co) already offer these kinds of products.
Mobile World Congress is the leading mobile event in the world. It is also getting more important for finance services. We can expect to see a lot of development in digital finance services and also in mobile applications in this year.
MasterCard particularly promoted its Financial Inclusion solution, i.e. their program to get bank and payment services to people in developing countries. We still must wait and see the first big commercial breakthrough in mobile payments, however it’s not far anymore.
We can divide developments of digital finance and payment services into four key areas: 1) mobile and wireless payments, 2) digital services to lend, borrow, invest and transfer money, 3) digital banks, and 4) ancillary services.
Digital investing and lending services herald changes to the traditional value chains of the finance sector and bypass non-value added middlemen. In the UK and US, P2P lending and crowdfunding are already a significant market, and it is emerging in Asia as well, subject to local regulatory developments. The same models are
expanding to institutional investors and wealth management.
At the moment we can see activities especially with mobile payments and wallet solutions. At the same time we also see strong signals that other finance services are coming to mobile too. Crowd Valley is preparing its offerings and services to support that development globally. Mobile is especially important in emerging markets.
Financial Services also need very reliable infrastructure. It also means that e.g. cloud solutions need higher security and often local presence, so they are suitable for these services. Local privacy laws can create requirements for the infrastructure. Some cloud and hosting providers at MWC already emphasized these aspects in their offering.
Big data had a very large role at MWC in this year. The problem of big data concepts is that they are too general and intangible. Finance services are something that can offer very tangible products and services to use data, e.g. help investors and companies to find right investment models, services and partners. Services such as
Deal Index (http://dealindex.co) already offer these kinds of products.
Mobile World Congress is the leading mobile event in the world. It is also getting more important for finance services. We can expect to see a lot of development in digital finance services and also in mobile applications in this year.
About the author - Markus Lampinen Internationally awarded entrepreneur, active in pioneering new securities models worldwide at the intersection of the Internet and the securities markets. Markus serves as the CEO of Crowd Valley Inc, a US-based crowdfunding marketplace platform provider and part of the Grow VC Group. He is also a global investor and partner in the Grow VC Group. Since 2009, he has recruited over 120 individuals in the digital securities market, built up a operations on six continents and been recognized as one of the top 100 thought leaders in crowdfunding. In his earlier businesses, he served in diverse executive roles, for example taking on the responsibilities of CFO and increasing sales growth of over 270% per year over several subsequent years. Markus has studied finance, management and computer sciences, and holds an M.S. and a B.A. in Economics. Markus has pioneered new funding models in the US and Europe, advised policy makers worldwide—including the SEC, the European Commission and Italian regulator CONSOB—for more effective markets, and worked with visionary organizations such as the World Bank and the Kauffman Foundation to improve frameworks for new funding models, including crowdfunding, cross-border investments and private placements. He serves as a frequent public speaker on related themes. He is married and constantly bringing presents from his travels to his two children. |