Lecture 1 – Intro to FinTech

Home Exercise

Lecturer: Lyron Wahrmann

#1. Applying FIN Drivers on SoFi

We have presented in class financial

drivers of the FinTech transformation
(slides #9-14). Founded in 2011, SoFi is
an online personal finance company
that provides student loan refinancing,
mortgages and personal loans. Choose
3 drivers and explain their impact on
the creation of SoFi .

Driver 1 ___________________________________
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Driver 2 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Driver 3 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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#2. Applying TECH Drivers on Plaid

We have presented in class tech drivers of the FinTech transformation (slides #9-14). Founded in 2013,
Plaid built a technology platform, which enables applications to connect with users’ bank accounts.
blend, TransferWise & Robinhood are FinTech companies leveraging Plaid.

Blend makes lending simpler, faster, and

safer for everyone.

. Online money transfer service. .

.
. .
Invest in stocks, options, ETFs, and .
cryptos, all commission-free.

For each of them, explain in simple words how is Plaid used.

Blend _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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TransferWise _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Robinhood _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Conclude how aggregators like Plaid are enabling FinTech transformation:

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#3. TECH Drivers on Marco Polo

We have presented in class tech drivers of the

FinTech transformation (slides #9-14). One of
them is distributed ledger.
Trade Finance is an area in Financial Services
aimed to facilitate trade, by providing a variety of
mechanisms for creating trust between exporters
and importers, as well as by providing financing
solutions.
Traditional products include letters of credit &
bank guarantees.
Marco Polo, is a fast growing trade and working
capital finance network.

Watch the Marco-Polo promo-video and answer the following questions:

a) Explain in simple words what is an ‘open account’? ________________________________________________________

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b) What is the problem Marco Polo is trying to solve? To whom? _______________________________________________
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c) What is the market potential? _________________________________________________________________________________
d) Is the Distributed Ledger required for solving the problem? YES/ NO Explain: _______________________________
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e) What are the benefits of using Distributed Ledger ?___________________________________________________________
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 #4. eWallet rapid growth in Chinese market

We have analyzed in class the eWallet market (Slides 30-40. Undoubtedly China is THE global leader
in eWallets. The following are a set of enablers driving the Chinese growth:

a) High national Internet and mobile

penetration

b) A large e-commerce system with

domestic companies focused on
payments

c) Relatively unsophisticated
incumbent consumer banking

d) Accommodative regulations

For each enabler above:

i. Bring evidence to support them as growth enablers.
ii. Add a Stakehoder per enabler and map to the Eco-System Attributes. Explain mapping!

Supportive materials:
Citi GPS (2016) “Digital Disruption” p. 30-42, 45-47
J. L. Ngai, J. Qu & N. Zhou (2016). “China’s innovation engine picks up speed”. McKinsey
J. L. Ngai, J. Qu & N. Zhou (2016). “Disruption and Connection: Cracking the Myths of China Internet
Finance Innovation”. McKinsey
J. L. Ngai, J. Qu & N. Zhou (2016). “What’s next for China’s booming fintech sector?”. McKinsey
https://www.mckinsey.it/idee/whats-next-for-chinas-booming-fintech-sector
#5. Corporate innovation

Your corporate is considering launching an innovation lab (or more).

You were assigned to determine goals, location(s) and to propose an
operation model.
You are asked to prepare an executive summary (1/2 page).
To strengthen your pitch, use at least 3 lab examples from the CBInsight
report cbinsights.com/research/report/finance-corporate-innovation-labs/

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#6. Challenges of change

Read the following articles regarding the FSS

view on FinTechs in South Korea, and answer
the questions below:
• K. Bo-Eun (2019) “FSS chief tells banks to
watch risks from fintech”. The Korea Times
• S. Ji. Young (2019) “Korea’s financial
supervisor stresses ‘inclusive finance’
and ‘responsible innovation’ in age of
fintech”. The Korea Herald
What is the FSS? _____________________________
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Provide 3 examples of similar authorities in
other countries.
1. _________________ country _________________
2. _________________ country _________________
3. _________________ country _________________
According to these publications, what is the
FSS worried about? __________________________
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Try and find 2-3 evidence whether the corps you chose above have similar worries? ___________________________
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 #7. Regulators role in shaping change

In your home country:

Which regulatory bodies are dealing with
FinTechs? ___________________________________
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Find 2 concrete examples of regulators
removing barriers to enable change, and 2
concrete examples of regulators imposing
restrictions to maintain stability. Explain!
Removing barriers:
1. __________________________________________
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2. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Would you consider your country as embracing FinTech or not? Explain!
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#8. Bank of the future

Based on everything we have learnt today, suggest 3 main differences between the current banking system
and the one in 2030

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