Change happens so fast that a company either innovates or can easily find itself in a position that it might need to close shutters. There is no middle ground, nor there is time to waste thinking about a future strategy, as the disruption of fintech firms and technology is already happening. Mobile wallets are becoming the norm and millions of clients turn to cutting-edge technologies that allow bank accounts to be opened with just a few taps on smart devices and portables.

Meanwhile, Big Tech has also started flexing its financial services muscle. Apple recently introduced its first ever Apple Card, showing its appetite to turn into financial services as its next big opportunity. Google Pay and Amazon Pay are also pushing their own payment platforms, while Facebook has confirmed rumours about issuing their very own cryptocurrency: Libra Coin. Their huge reach and well-utilised big data can be considered a serious threat to banking as we know it, as such fintech firms can leverage loyal customers and possess a truly global reach that cannot be easily matched by traditional banking institutions.

Up until today, fintech startups have been trying to disrupt banking with their innovative products and services. However, they have not been able to become particularly profitable as their immense growth has been fuelled not by earnings, but billions of dollars in funding from venture capitalists, who have been betting on future returns. At the same time, they have not been able to convince their clients to deposit large sums of money for two reasons. Firstly, they are seen as a secondary account used primarily when travelling or for fast international fund transfers. Secondly, emoney institutions (EMIs) cannot offer interest on deposits as the EU directive forces them to keep client funds on segregated accounts, not being able to reinvest them for business loans, for instance.

Partnerships in the air

The new era of financial services will see banks partnering with fintech firms for complimentary services. Instead of building their own product, banks can now outsource entire functions to more flexible startups that can deploy services in a much quicker and more efficient manner, while keeping the benefits of running it on bank rails, thus being able to protect client funds and provide interest. Therefore, deVere Group is among the first such companies that have grabbed this opportunity and can offer a fast go-to-market for mobile wallet implementation where speed is important.

This revaluation led to the creation of the Vault app for iOS and Android users in Europe, while international expansion in Israel, Turkey and the Philippines is already underway. We believe that this is a unique winning strategy that will accelerate digital transformation in emerging markets by securing a super-fast go-to-market that brings significant competitive advantage to the group’s valued partners. With a network of more than 70 offices across the world, over 80,000 clients and $12b under advisement, deVere has the ability to drive change in this sector and provide its clients with cutting-edge support and solutions. As part of this focus, the group is constantly working to recruit the very best talent from across the world.

Another key aspect of the group’s offering is its crypto services, which were launched in 2018 as the trend for online currencies began to really take off. Today, deVere Crypto is a pioneering cryptocurrency app, available for Apple and Android. It allows users to store, transfer and exchange major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Litecoin.

The group also offers deVere Core, a solution that responds to the seismic shift in client expectations currently being experienced by the financial advisory industry. Increasingly, clients not only want bespoke financial advice from an adviser but they also demand personal instant access to their portfolio anywhere and at any time. They want all their financial services needs to be dealt with online, preferably via their mobile devices. They want to be more hands-on than ever before. As such, the group created the Core app, which provides immediate access, communication, and monitoring ability, to meet expectations in terms of customer experience.

Overall, these developments will drive deVere Group to even greater success over the coming years and cement its position as a leader in the financial services and fintech. A testament to this investment is winning the “Most Innovative Financial Services Provider” at the FinTech Awards 2019, solidifying the group’s position into the fintech space.

BIO: Dimitris Litsikakis holds a BSc in Information Technology from Piraeus University and an MSc in Project Management from Lancaster University. He worked at IBM UK as a Project Manager delivering large-scale IT projects. He then joined Edenred Greece as Digital Transformation Manager where he led the entire digitalisation of the solutions offered by the company; issuing hundreds of thousands of prepaid cards to beneficiaries. In 2018, he was appointed Country Manager for Greece, Cyprus and Malta for Revolut. Now he is spearheading the digital transformation of deVere Group, a financial consultancy with a global presence, delivering fintech solutions. Since 2014, he has also acted as Athens Chapter Director for Startup Grind, which is an independent startup community actively educating, inspiring, and connecting entrepreneurs.

The post Banks need to buckle up to keep pace with fintech firms first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Despite its rather limited size, Malta has been a great environment for us to grow. LeoVegas started off with just five employees and today there are over 400 at the Malta office alone. As a gaming operator and employer, the Maltese market has a lot to offer when it comes to recruitment of competent talents, industry knowledge and opportunities connected to this.

The fact that Malta was the first EU jurisdiction to issue online gaming licenses was a major factor in attracting the most prominent operators of the industry. Over the years, more and more operators decided to open offices here and this trend started attracting a wider base of companies, including — but not limited to — gaming providers and payment gateways.

“We have been in Malta since October 2012 and one of the reasons we decided to base our operations here was because of the country’s advanced regulatory framework.”

– Director of Business Development Hanna Lerenius

We are lucky to be situated in the centre of Sliema with a newly-refurbished office space that more or less has it all, including terraces with almost 360 degrees views. We have worked closely with interior architects and designers to create a fun and functional working environment with plenty of space for social gatherings and events.

We sincerely believe that this initiative, among many others, makes LeoVegas the place to work for talented individuals looking for personal and professional growth. Our goal is not only to keep growing, but also to accelerate the growth. We have various short to long-term plans which should see our operations in Malta accommodating this growth. The coming years will be extremely exciting for us, as we are looking forward to seeing what the future has got in store.

New Spanish market raises hopes

We have high hopes for the Spanish market, as it is one of the biggest European markets that regulate both betting and casino games. The market has been regulated for quite a few years now and can definitely be considered one of the more mature regulated markets in Europe. At the same time, the market is growing at a high pace and we do expect both fierce competition and great opportunities.

As for any new market, it comes with a new culture to grasp and new customer and product requirements to adapt to. We have recruited native Spanish speaking personnel and an experienced country manager to make sure we will provide our players with a truly Spanish LeoVegas experience. We can definitely hear more Spanish in the corridors at the LeoVegas office in Malta.

At the same time as we are doing our utmost to tailor the LeoVegas experience to the Spanish market, we are also planning on utilising our strengths and our core – most importantly, our fantastic mobile casino product. We are entering the market with a very clear vision: “To provide the best casino experience on mobile to Spanish players”. We believe that no other brand has claimed that position and this is exactly what we have done successfully in other markets in the past. This is what we are aiming at doing in Spain.

Of course, we know that building a market and a solid player base takes time and effort. That being said, we are fully committed to making the Spanish market a success story and we prepare our business and operations accordingly.

With the entry into Spain, we also look forward to further leveraging our knowledge of operating in regulated markets. If one compares one regulation to another, there are always similarities and differences. However; the similarities always outweigh the differences. For each regulated market that LeoVegas enters, we are better prepared for the next, no matter if it comes to operational processes, marketing or product and platform development.

The latest European market that regulated was Sweden, with LeoVegas being one of the very first operators to receive a license. Because of the market’s size and strategic importance to LeoVegas as a group, obtaining the Swedish gaming license was a major milestone for us. It also means that from a Maltese operations perspective, we have experience from yet another regulated market, something which we, of course, are planning to leverage — we are ready and eager to take on Spain.

Data-driven marketing approach

At LeoVegas we measure all of our marketing activities closely both online and offline and we make decisions based on data and key performance indicators (KPIs) more than anything else — such as following a gut feeling, history or prestige.

As an example, we know the difference between customer value and different marketing sources on a quite granular scale and plan our investments based on that in a very agile way.

The result is more value for every single euro spent and important insights on where we need to improve. That can be anything from conversion rate in a specific part of the customer journey to how the audience perceives our brand communication in television commercials. This, of course, goes for all markets and is something that will be a critical success factor for us in the Spanish market.

BIO: As Director of Business Development, Hanna Lerenius is heading LeoVegas’ expansion into new markets and is driving initiatives to improve the scalability and efficiency of LeoVegas’ operations.

The post LeoVegas sees further expansion, vows commitment to new Spanish market first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.