No. 15 FinTech Influencer David M. Brear

APIs are the key to creating powerful product ecosystems in FinTech but banks have not interiorized this fact just yet. In the following interview with FinTech Influencer David M. Brear, you will find out why FinTech is still in its infancy.

JAX Finance: What got you interested in FinTech?

David M. Brear: I’ve worked in the broadest financial services industry my entire career and love that I can look at pieces of work that have touch millions of people’s lives. FinTech for me is about bringing about a new way of working within the industry. What more could you want?

JAX Finance: Do you think the phrase “evolve or die” describes banks’ situation right now?

Brear: All business must evolve continually. We are at a key phase in the information age, which has seen decade-old technical trends such as mobile and utility computing become commodities. They must be used to remain competitive but like evolution and natural selection highlights … It’s not for everyone. Evolution of the species is predicated on animals adapting to a changing environment. Whether the banks will be able to evolve or whether they will be casualties of this changing banking landscape is yet to be seen.

But we are still at an early stage of FinTech – the banks have not really been disrupted by these small but hyped startups.

JAX Finance: Does FinTech still deserve the label “disruptive” or has it outshined this tag?

Brear: In some areas it has shined and been disruptive. Stripe and Braintree have really pushed APIs in payments further and faster than Visa and Mastercard would have. But we are still at an early stage of FinTech – the banks have not really been disrupted by these small but hyped startups. FinTech companies are starting to realise the size of the challenge in acquiring customers, in gaining scale, and in dealing with complexities of banking for a business model and a regulatory prospective. We will see more bank partnerships with FinTech than FinTech dismissing the banks.

JAX Finance: What are the biggest (and most important) trends in FinTech right now?

Brear: Open APIs and the promise of them being provided by banks. The smart FinTech firms already have them in place and understand their power. They are enabling smart partnerships between smaller players to build powerful product ecosystems that banks cannot match today but will need to be part of if they are to survive tomorrow. Bud and Pension Bee are great examples of small companies joining forces to make a bigger and better service for customers.