The second Fintech Day will be held in Vilnius on Thursday, bringing together local and international experts in the field. The hottest topics - fintech sector issues in the face of the slowing economy, business optimisation, financial inclusion, money laundering prevention, climate fintech perspectives and many others - will be discussed.
The conference is organised by the Financial technology and sustainable innovation centre Rockit and Fintech Hub LT. Institutional and business representatives from the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, the Bank of Lithuania, the UK Embassy, Invest Lithuania, Ondato, Amlyze, Sorainen, Accenture, other start-ups, finance and legal advisors and venture capital funds will participate in discussions on the ecosystem’s challenges and perspectives. The participants of the conference will be welcomed by Gintarė Skaistė, the Minister of Finance.
According to Lina Žemaitytė-Kirkman, Head of Rockit, the conference’s programme is very strong because it has managed to attract well-known speakers and discussion participants from Lithuania and abroad.
“The members of the financial technology ecosystem are particularly active in Lithuania. This year’s co-organisers were supplemented by the Fintech Hub LT association, the company Ondato, and the German start-up Hawk AI, which has recently attracted significant investment. Such market players not only willingly share their knowledge, but also help to establish useful contacts with international experts. Although relatively small, the Lithuanian fintech community has become so mature that it sets an example for other ecosystems,” says L. Žemaitytė-Kirkman.
The Nordic approach: Lithuania’s achievements are impressive
This year’s conference will feature an abundance of guests from other countries. The co-founder of Nordic Fintech Magazine, former Senior Futurist of Nordea Group Digital, Chris Crespo, who is coming to the conference for the first time, says that it will be very interesting to get acquainted with the Lithuanian financial technology ecosystem.
“Lithuania is distinguished by the number of licences issued to fintech companies. This shows that the market regulator is progressive and strives to create a favourable environment. Of course, there are challenges everywhere, but this is an indicator of willingness to embrace innovation. In addition, Lithuania has a very strong entrepreneurial mindset. It is impressive that in a country with a low population, so many fintech companies have emerged in a short period of time.
Observing this from the distance, I can say that I have been thinking about Lithuania’s achievements a lot. How has this country become such a productive fintech innovator, how was this powerful combination of skills, business environment, and vision formed?” says C. Crespo.
When comparing the Nordic and Lithuanian fintech sectors, he sees many things in common.
“The level of digital knowledge of Lithuania and its Nordic neighbours is very similar. We are characterised by an advanced level of technological application and extensive use of national eIDs, which made innovations such as open banking easily to adapt. We are also connected by an openness to innovation and a low level of corruption, which is crucial for building the trust of international fintech companies,” says the editor of Nordic Fintech Magazine.
In his view, the Nordic countries and Lithuania have many opportunities to cooperate: “Nordic people are phenomenally aware of simplicity. Very often, such implementation of simplicity requires enormous technical knowledge. I believe that Lithuania’s competencies would allow for the rapid implementation of these Nordic visions. If the Nordic and Baltic countries jointly develop fintech specialisation areas, this region could dictate how the whole world handles its finances in the 21st century.”
During the Fintech Day, C. Crespo will take part in a discussion on the most relevant topics in the sector. According to him, there will be a lot of discussion on three issues: new EU regulations that will increase the homework for fintech companies; declining access to financing, which will affect companies that have not developed strong value and profitable business models; the processes of finding and retaining clients. According to the expert, this year it will be extremely difficult for fintech companies that create a single product or service to stay on the market.
The conference will be held on 9 February at the Rockit Centre (Gynėjų g. 14), from where it will be broadcast live on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@rockitvilnius1238.
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