Disrupt Finance Conference 2015: "Conventional business models are being reshaped by innovations"

New FinTech trends are revolutionizing the finance industry. Conventional business models are being reshaped by innovations. On one side this signifies that certain traditional business areas are about to fold in the medium term, but on the other side new interesting business potentials are emerging.

To drive the digitalization of the local financial institutions forward and to transform the Swiss financial center to a co-creator of new industry trends, the Disrupt Finance Conference was organized in Zurich. Therefore the Zürcher Kantonalbank, Credit Suisse, PostFinance, SIX and Swisscom joined their forces and supported the two-day event that was organized by the Impact Hub.

Fostering exchange between startups and financial institutions

The objective of this conference was to foster the exchange between aspiring startups, established financial institutions and FinTech experts. The intensive program included keynote speeches from industry experts and presentations of startups to provide insight into the newest trends. In workshops and pairing sessions the content was deepened to enable a proper learning.

The 9 invited startups presented their business models and technologies in the areas of block chain, identification, security, digital banking and wealth management.

Several key messages emerged, e.g.:

• The Swiss banking sector should build on its strength in security and advance data security and trust in a digital world
• To develop Zurich as a leading FinTech hub, local actors need to connect stronger to other hubs (London, San Francisco, Singapore) across the globe
• Banks need new expertise: Rather than traditional bankers, financial institutions will require professionals in data, artificial intelligence, algorithms, and community building

The next Disrupt Finance conference will take place in Zurich in November 2016.

More information online: http://disrupt.finance/