The IEB, a leader in judicial and financial education, recently hosted the first fintech seminar between Spain and China. This seminar involved both countries analyzing the current situation of the fintech sector. The seminar consisted of an open dialogue about the development of fintech and its trends in Europe and Asia.

The event featured more than twenty top tier managers from Spain and China with the aim of growing and networking within the Fintech ecosystem.

The journey was led by Javier Amo, head of the Master in Financial Markets at IEB and CEO of Iberiacards, and Salvador Casquero, co-founder of 2gether and professor of the Digital Banking program Innovation and Financial Technology at IEB.

Prominent figures within the industry actively participated: Meng Tian, General Secretary at ASIFI (Association of Shanghai Internet Financial Industry); Jing Zongquan, president of PSBC (Postal Savings Bank of China Shanghai Branch) and Spanish business leaders such as Luis García Cristóbal, general manager of UnionPay International Iberia; Rafael Gonzalo, general director of Link Finacial Group, Jorge Yzaguirre, head of the Spanish Institute of Financial Analysis and of the FEF (Fundación de Estudios Financieros); Luis Miguel Gómez, CEO of NN Services International and Josefina García Pedroviejo, a lawyer specialized in financial regulation at Ashurst.

Javier Amo pointed out during the seminar that “it is undeniable that the financial sector is changing. This can be seen in social aspects like the growth of a more technologically advanced generation and the behavior of clients; but also, in technological aspects such as the central role played by smartphones or the emergence of Big Data. We are facing a fourth Industrial Revolution in which technological improvements are increasing productivity and efficiency, in turn, enabling great economic benefits for firms and a process of adaptation for the big players in the sector who must learn from Fintech startups”

“There is an opportunity for Fintech startups and Spanish banks to work together positioning themselves as leaders in the development and expansion of new economic models that are dynamically emerging. Blockchain accelerates the evolution of what we consider money”, Casquero explained.

The Spanish Fintech ecosystem is a market with tremendous potential increasing by 41% in the last fifteen months with the emergence of 117 new startups. It is estimated that this year over 400 firms could operate within Spain, generating a large impact within the economy, and is projected to generate over 5,000 jobs. In 2017, these firms attracted investments worth more than $120M.

On the other hand, Meng Tian, General Secretary of the ASIFI, claimed during the meeting that “four out of the five-best global Fintechs are Chinese, being Ant Financial (part of Alibaba), the first and PayPal, the second. Asia, together with America are leading the Fintech map as the most regionally developed in the sector are: Yangtze River Delta (China), Silicon Valley (USA), Greater Beijing (China), Greater London (UK), Guangdong-HK-Macau Region (China) and New York (USA)”.

The seminar gathered more than twenty top-tier Spanish and Chinese financial sector managers. Through this international seminar, the IEB consolidates its position as a knowledge and entrepreneurship hub in terms of the transformation of the financial and fintech industries. One of the programs with the highest demand at IEB is the one on Digital Banking, Innovation and Financial Technology, pioneer in Spain, which is specifically designed for education about the Fintech ecosystem.