The debate “Fintech – breakthrough solutions in financial management” at the XXXIII Economic Forum in Karpacz showed several original trends.
Krzysztof Kowalski, CEO of Eternis, stated that year by year more and more companies are implementing the fintech model with their services. To prove this thesis, he cited his own company, which has a fleet of cars and drivers for transport applications.
– We think we are a fintech because we give these people a chance to work. Where banks can’t and say, “we can’t give you a car because we can’t score you, so you’re a risk to us,” that’s where we come in. We take cars from the bank and give them to drivers, he explained.
There will be more and more services
Robert Szcześniewski, CEO of Soonly Finance, pointed out the current trends, pointing out that deferred payment services (buy now, pay later, BNPL) are developing increasingly dynamically in Poland and have already become a permanent presence in the non-banking sector.
– It is interesting that previously we were competing to see who would need to make fewer clicks, who would send a transfer to the customer faster and who would release the money faster. But with BNPLs it is different and additional infocontext appears when making purchases. In addition, BNPLs change habits. Now I can finance purchases differently, because, for example, I do not have the funds, so I will pay later, or I can simply use it to, for example, try on, check and then decide: buy or not – noted Robert Szcześniewski.
The second trend Soonly’s CEO pointed out is that companies are increasingly concerned about employee well-being. The emphasis on this aspect is leading to the emergence of new fintech services.
– A good example is the Patento service we launched, where we enable the client to use part of the salary they have already earned. Thanks to this, we increase their sense of security; so that they know that their financial cushion is slightly larger – emphasized Robert Szcześniewski.
When implementing this type of services, companies often ask themselves: do they require any integration from the IT team?
– We have already noticed that the service must be implemented in several ways, depending on the client’s wishes. This means that it can be either partial implementation on their side or a complete lack of the need for integration – noted the Soonly representative.
Piotr Brewiński, Vice President of the FinTech Poland Foundation, pointed out that the current trend is hyper-personalization and individualization of services. This allows for offering services to individual clients or small companies that were not available to them before.
– Thanks to the use of modern technology and artificial intelligence, financial institutions can offer very complex financial processes to clients for whom they have not been profitable so far – he explained.
Another important trend is the constant increase in the security of the financial sector. According to Piotr Brewiński, this will lead to the creation of a super application, an application thanks to which the customer will be able to use all services in one place – e.g. pay bills, order a taxi or buy tickets for a public performance.
– The development of security is important to us all here. Over the last five years, we have invested over USD 10 billion in security, securing payment transactions and preventing fraud – said Konrad Ślusarczyk, Director of Public Sector Relations CEE Visa.
He added that this investment paid off. In 2023 alone, Visa helped block fraudulent transactions worth $40 billion.
Technology friendly for all
The next topic raised was the issue of the elderly. Participants in the discussion did not agree with the thesis that current development excludes the elderly from its benefits.
– I am far from dividing the world into older and younger, because this division does not work. Generation Z and millennials were expected to easily adopt technology, and experience shows that this is not true. They also encounter barriers, although it is probably easier for them to adapt – said Krzysztof Kowalski.
He also emphasized that when digital banks introduced deposits, it was the elderly who were the first to open them. It was the same with the so-called Skype revolution at the beginning of the 21st century – the elderly who stayed in Poland quickly adopted this application to contact their loved ones abroad.
– Each task that we implement within the financial sector, aimed at facilitating access to services, does not close the space for solutions that already exist. More and more companies operate online, but if for some reason a customer is unable to use a service on the Internet, they can still go to another company or a bank and apply for the service on paper, just like 20 years ago – pointed out Robert Szcześniewski. – Our role is to expand the range of services, not limit it – he summed up.
Artur Zabielski, board member and marketing director of Provident Polska, noted that during the coronavirus pandemic, most customers learned to make transfers online. At that time, it seemed that traditional ones would become a thing of the past. However, the threat has passed, and some people have returned to traditional banking. He stated that some people, when making decisions such as home insurance, need someone sitting opposite them with whom they can talk about the benefits and risks.
In turn, Tomasz Górski, InPost Pay Product Director at InPost,He stressed that companies should adapt to the expectations of consumers, rather than impose their solutions on them.
– When offering services, we try to follow the customer. Our main channel for communication is a mobile application, which 12 million Poles have. But we also have a group of several million customers who stick to traditional forms of communication, such as SMS or e-mail. And we do not try to migrate them by force – he said.
Ziemowit Bagłajewski, deputy financial spokesman, summed up this part of the discussion with an analogy to two bottles of water. Theoretically, it is easy to unscrew them, but recently there have been attached corks that make it difficult and easy to spill.
– It’s the same with technology. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about a 15-year-old or a senior citizen, because the habits of the user are important. We can’t make them choose a specific bottle, but we can make the process of unscrewing it easier for them – he concluded.
Visible or invisible payments?
An interesting topic of discussion was the issue of whether payments can be invisible. Piotr Brewiński stated that the payment itself is not the goal of the user. They want to send a package, order a taxi, etc.
– And the payment is supposed to take place in the background and be as intuitive and even non-absorbing as possible – he noted.
Nevertheless, a certain group of Poles has a problem with rationally using their budget. The FinTech Poland representative pointed to the preferences of customers. Some will want to make payments quickly, while others, fearing loss of control, will hide some of their cash under the bed.
– I believe that if we go too far ahead with background payments, we will put society into debt – he said.
Krzysztof Kowalski stated that although, on the one hand, payment should be as much in the background as the customer expects, on the other – he sees the “erosion” of this system.
– Both payment, credit and factor are becoming more and more in the background – he emphasized. The Visa representative stated, however, that payments should be “absolutely in the background” and that is his company’s mission.
– We have a different opinion on this matter. We do not want full popularization of payments in the background, because we do not want the client not to notice that they have taken a loan. This could lead to excessive debt. Quite the opposite, we want the client to be aware that they have borrowed money – emphasized Robert Szcześniewski.
He added that lending without awareness could be harmful to lending companies for two reasons. First, they could be scrutinized by national regulators, and second, economic issues are decisive.
– All institutions that lend money make money not when the client takes it, but when the client gives it back – he concluded.
