Fintech has been around for quite some time, but it’s only now that it’s become the life and soul of the party. Exciting technological innovations and major global investment have done away with its tired old suit and made it a little bit sexy. Gone are the days when technology marketers working in other niches, fearing immense boredom, were scared off by the big F (Finance). Many are now following the money and running with the fast pace of change to join a Fintech company. After all they have the skills to market technology, what shifts is the target market they have in focus. Don’t think this is solely limited to banks and accountancy firms though as Fintech has spread to retail and even to consumer solutions.

It’s certainly a sector that caught the eye of Carly Lake, our Fintech specialist marketing recruitment consultant here at marketingmoves. She certainly knows a lot more about the sector than most so what better than to pick her brains and fill in the gaps in our knowledge as painlessly as we can…

So Carly, what is FinTech?MM-Fintech-2

Carly: In really simple terms, its new technology that is changing the way finance is run.

Is it going to disrupt the finance sector?

Carly: ‘Disruptive’ is a business buzzword these days, but that’s exactly what is already happening. It’s wider than that though with Fintech is impacting banks, retailers, and even individuals.

Where are the industry hotspots?

Carly: London is a real hub for the sector and with some strong players here I think it will stay that way. There’s also New York and Singapore. Surprising to some, a few Scandinavian capitals also make my list: Oslo, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki.

Why did you choose to build up a niche in the FinTech space?

Carly: Well, I think FinTech’s going to change the world in a lot of ways. I’d say it’s an exciting space and there’s enormous potential from a recruitment perspective. There’s more room for marketers from related sectors like finance, IT and technology, to move into the space. A lot of people aren’t aware of the possibility but it’s definitely a growing space. With global investment in Fintech reaching over $16.6 billion in 2015, you can bet there’s going to be a significant return on that.

From a personal perspective as well, I spent 9 years working within financial services before moving into technology recruitment, so this is naturally a sector that would be of interest to me. It’s a meeting of two worlds.

It’s pretty big space isn’t it? I know it’s taken you some time to map it out.

Carly: Big and growing, always growing. I’m still mapping it out. Just to give you an idea, McKinsey identified 12000 FinTech companies last year.  It’s a complex sector as well for the uninitiated.  I find it’s best to break it down into categories. Some may disagree with my groupings here, but to make my life easier I’ve looked at these 10 main areas:

  1. Marketplace lending
  2. Personal and business finance management
  3. Payment solutions: consumer, backend (i.e. or e-commerce merchants) and Point of Sale
  4. Equity financing, crowdsourcing and retail investing
  5. Institutional investing
  6. Security for financial transactions (though I’m stepping into my colleague’s Nathan’s territory here, as he’s our real security expert at marketingmoves)
  7. Tech improvements to banking infrastructure
  8. New interfaces with banking services
  9. International money transfer services
  10. Financial data and research

Ok, I must say that doesn’t sound like the most exciting list…

Carly: No, perhaps not the bare bones laid out like that. It’s a complex space and people switch off. That’s where marketers come in. It’s their job to drum up enthusiasm for these new solutions, to make them accessible to customers – business and consumer – and help them understand their advantages. It’s my job to find those bright marketing visionaries who will be as disruptive as the technologies they promote in getting these key messages across.

Where is this marketing talent coming from?

Carly: Honestly, the industry needs both tech talent, used to marketing software solutions for example, and finance talent, with a good understanding of key markets, to drive it forward. Of course, the best scenario is a candidate with experience of both worlds – technology and finance. But we’ve found that pure tech marketers have also bridged that gap well and been able to make a positive impact on their company’s performance. Transitioning from targeting a range of markets with their strategic campaigns, they successfully narrowed their focus to financial or related markets to achieve some solid marketing wins.

Is there a kind of marketer that’s most in demand?

Carly: As technological innovations continue apace and companies in the sector pluralise, there are lots of opportunities for marketers. There’s a particularly big demand for technical marketers, for example marketing operations specialists and data-driven marketers. Unsurprisingly data scientists, that rare new breed of demi-marketer, are in demand and we’ve been developing a new datascience specialism at marketingmoves to that very end.

If you’re a Fintech company or a candidate with a strong interest in the FinTech sector, get in touch with Carly Lake on clake@marketingmoves.com to discuss how we can help you.

 

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