Bankia : Candidates of the Bankia Fintech by Innsomnia international program opt for financial inclusion and blockchain technology

• The process to select the startups that will form part of this programme, from the 37 candidate projects from 12 countries, has now begun
• The selected companies will start working with Bankia and Innsomnia in April
• Bankia's CEO, José Sevilla, visited the headquarters of the accelerator and chatted with members of the 14 companies in the national programme

Fintech solutions that encourage financial inclusion among people with the greatest difficulties accessing traditional banking systems or the flow of credit, have a significant presence among the 37 candidates that have applied to the first Bankia Fintech by Innsomnia international programme, Spain's first fintech incubator and accelerator based in in Valencia marina.

Bankia's CEO, José Sevilla, visited the offices of Bankia Fintech by Innsomnia and chatted with members of the 14 companies that are currently going through the acceleration program. He commented that the projects submitted to the international programme included various proposals to improve access to finance around the world.

'These types of social and financial inclusion proposals mainly come from Latin America, where fintechs could trigger a genuine social revolution, since the banking sector has still not managed to reach a significant proportion of the population and these fintechs could achieve this through the financial services they provide via mobile phones', noted Sevilla.

This first international programme includes a large number of startups from the Americas, which have expressed an interest in accelerating their projects in Spain through Bankia. Mexico, the epicentre of the Latin American fintech world, leads the ranking in terms of the number of candidates (9), followed by Colombia (8), USA (3), Peru (2) and Brazil (2). In Europe, companies have applied from the United Kingdom (5), France (2), Italy (1), Ukraine (1) and Latvia (1). The remainder come from Israel (2) and Australia (1).

The candidates being analysed also include proposals related to blockchain technology, which promises to revolutionise online transactions and internal banking processes making them instantaneous as well as more secure and transparent. Risk management and alternative ratings applied to loans and other financial services, for example, also have an important presence among the candidates.

Consideration of users' social network activity also features among the submitted projects as a relevant factor in getting access to credit, insurance and other sources of financing.

All of the proposals, as well as the nine Spanish companies that have also submitted applications, will be included in the Bankia Fintech Club by Innsomnia - a permanent communication platform for the international fintech ecosystem that will share online training and networking and facilitate exchanges between its members. The club also includes the fintechs that applied to Bankia's national program, both the 14 successful applicants that began their incubation process in November and those that applied to the program but were not finally selected.

The incubation process for the international program will begin in early April and will last for 16 weeks, during which time companies will receive mentoring from Innsomnia and tutoring from Bankia's professionals.

The incubator-accelerator operates a collaborative system, which means that startups are not required to relinquish part of their capital to join the program. Instead the intention is to offer these companies the option to provide their services to the bank.

Spain's first fintech incubator and accelerator

Bankia Fintech by Innsomnia is the first incubator and accelerator in Spain that specialises in the banking sector of the future. Some 40% of the Spanish fintech sector applied to its first programme. There are currently 215 fintechs operating in Spain and some 15,000 internationally. Although London is the international capital of this new sector, companies are weighing up whether to remain in the City, move to an EU country or create spin-offs (subsidiaries) in the European Union.

During the launch period for the international program, Bankia Fintech by Innsomnia gave presentations in London, Paris, Mexico City and Bogota. These meetings were used to gauge the level of interest among Latin American fintechs in connecting with Europe and, conversely, for Anglo-Saxon companies taking the reverse route.

The development of regulations in many countries in this sector is currently a concern for fintechs, both in terms of the restrictions that may be imposed and regarding their ability -or inability- to operate in certain markets depending on where their headquarters are based.

Some startups therefore view Bankia's project as an opportunity to create a spin-off outside of their home territories in order to expand their operational scope.