Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria : The 10 global fintech trends

'The best way to predict the future is to create it'. This phrase coined by Peter Drucker, probably the most influential author on business management in the 20th century, served Luis Maldonado, state economist, IE Business School professor and advisor to the IFC (an arm of the World Bank focused on driving private investment in developing countries) to end a discussion on the future of fintechs organized by the entrepreneurial platform Finnovista. Nothing has been written but these are the 10 trends that are currently shaping the future of the sector in the short- and medium-term.

1. Traditional banking has changed strategy

The relationship between banks and 'fintech' startups has evolved from mistrust to collaboration and 'now the banks themselves are directly doing fintech', Maldonado says. This expert gave as an example the development of 'roboadvisors' within banks themselves when the trend was to reach agreements with specialized fintech and use their 'roboadvisors' as a white label. He pointed to Marcus, the new division of Goldman Sachs ' digital retail banking, 'which shows that banks have the unusual ability to disrupt from within'.

BBVA is an example of collaboration with fintechs thanks to its 'create, adquire, invest and partner' strategy. During the last year, BBVA's New Digital Business area has fostered several investments and acquisitions in the sector, as well as the creation of new startups, like Denizen, Tuyyo and Azlo.

2. From unbundling to rebundling

Unbundling is a term used in financial jargon to refer to separating the complete offer of a traditional bank into dozens of separate services. This is the strategy that fintechs have followed until now: offering niche financial services. But now they are staring to shift direction by focusing on rebundling. Through agreements among fintechs themselves, they are enriching their offer by offering more services. A good example of this is the N26 strategy.

In this new context, as Francisco González, BBVA's Chairman has pointed out, banks have the opportunity to become service providers, platforms (or marketplaces) for financial and non-financial services.

3. Fintechs are increasingly global

Monzo and Revolut announced it was going into the U.S. market, while going in the opposite direction, the U.S. firm Robinhood is disembarking in Europe.

Denizen, one of the companies that emerged in BBVA's New Digital Businesses area in San Francisco this year, offers a global bank account facility for expatriates and people who need to manage their money internationally, operates through APIs and represents a clear example of BBVA's focus on open banking ahead of the rollout of PSD2.