FinTech Taipei 2021 Kicks off with Forum, Demonstrations
2021 has been a momentous year for fintech. Following the COVID crisis, adoption has accelerated globally, resulting both in new applications and intensified interest in old ones. Meanwhile, regulators are becoming increasingly aware of the possibilities and risks arising from new parts of the financial ecosystem. In particular, forward-looking governments are thinking about ways to actively monitor and shape financial flows, rather than to just respond to them.
Through forums with international experts and demonstrations by leading companies, FinTech Taipei 2021 – Taiwan’s premiere event for the emerging sector – explored these themes and more. At the Forum on Thursday, October 28, practitioners and scholars from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden, Australia, Poland, Singapore, Israel, and Germany discussed digital governance, digital transformation, digital payments, and digital lifestyle. Through the discussions, participants gained new perspectives on the multitude of new directions in which the sector is evolving.
Jean Chiu, Vice Chairperson, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), gave opening remarks, outlining the efforts of the FSC to promote Taiwan’s digital transformation. “The FSC continues to formulate fintech laws, promote the Regulatory Sandbox and business pilots, and set up fintech incubators to accelerate the innovation process. In the future, we will also promote open banking and cooperation between banks and technology companies.” The FSC, which is Taiwan’s financial regulator, also served as advisor for FinTech Taipei.
Meanwhile, Chairman Wu Chang-shu of the Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance (TABF) noted, “Payments have perhaps experienced the most obvious change, but increased digitization ultimately affects every aspect of financial services. The rapid digitization of the financial services industry poses serious challenges to banks, both internally and externally.”
The Forum was preceded by two FinTech Demo Days, in which domestic and foreign startups in a variety of areas introduced their products and business models. On Friday, October 29, meanwhile, the FinTech Taipei Talks discussed the themes of fintech Integration, innovation, and application; new financial service models; and international unicorn startups. The final session featured the financial cloud service provider Snowflake and online money transfer firm Wise (formerly TransferWise).
The event also featured a virtual talent fair, Clubhouse VIP room, and podcast. Due to the pandemic situation, this year’s forum was held in online format, allowing international participants to share their insights without the need to travel. Like the financial sector as a whole, FinTech Taipei is adapting to changing realities with innovations in format and content. For more information, please visit https://www.fintechtaipei.tw/en
We look forward to seeing you at next year’s event!