The Monday mindset: 16 January 2017
Fintech zeitgeist! Welcome to the first in a new series of brief reports. Every Monday, we might look back at last week; look ahead to this week; share a few thoughts (our own or others); or discuss anything that catches our eye. Anything goes, so here goes.
Rome versus Carthage. Britain versus France. History shows us that great empires fought – with a clear winner emerging in every duel.
Fast forward to our 21st century and we have India versus China. Both are locked in an economic (and non-military) battle, with the latter on top with its economy. But when it comes to fintech, you could argue India has the upper hand.
The news is full of Indian banks, payments and digital drives. When I first looked at both nations, I would have said India were way on top. However, that would be wrong. In terms of China’s fintech – the country is very active and there are numerous reports and stats that show its fintech scene is enormous.
But perhaps what China is doing is more domestic-focused…. and perhaps they are not as good at getting the word out. The nation needs to tell the fintech world more.
Fintech tweet of last week goes to this one from Benedict Evans, who works at Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley:
If you think voice UIs are the future, verbally describe, aloud, everything you see and touch on your phone today.
— Benedict Evans (@BenedictEvans) January 12, 2017
The question of voice user interfaces (UI) on phones is certainly not something that I write about every day, but this tweet caught the eye (and the eyes of many others). I’d prefer no voices, just the silent use of phones. The world is noisy enough.
As you read this, yours truly is in Hong Kong this week for a fintech tour courtesy of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office. During the trip, I will also be reporting on the launch of the StartmeupHK Venture Programme.
I have visited the place twice before, and it will be interesting to see how it compares to Singapore. Both are of comparable size and intensity. We’ll let you know and publish news reports and reviews this week and next.
At Banking Technology, we get invited abroad and are always keen to report on the different fintech scenes. Recently, we were in Toronto and Vilnius, Lithuania. But I wonder if there are countries which our readers feel are under reported? Let us know.
Interested in contributing to our Monday Mindset? Get in touch with our editorial team.
