An innovative banking sector is a good starting point for the development of the Polish FinTech sector on a European scale, stated guests of XXVII Economic Forum.
“For the time being, we are just starting out in the FinTech sector. If we want to make the next step, it is worth specializing in the given area, which we are good at, for instance in transactional security,” stressed Magdalena Borowik, strategic advisor to the Minister of Digitalization during the debate that was to answer the question whether Poland can become the FinTech centre in Central and Eastern Europe.
She pointed out that systemic support is of crucial importance, an element of which would be, for instance, a report summing up ideas to overcome the about 100 barriers limiting the development of FinTech in Poland, which a special task force in the Polish Financial Supervision Authority is working on. Julia Krzysztofiak-Szop, President of Startup Poland pointed out that we need a larger number of FinTech companies. To achieve the right scale it is not enough to have a few outstanding innovative banks. Banks play a significant role here, though. As Tomasz Bogus, President of Bank BGŻ BNP Paribas stressed, the support offered by large financial institutions, such as the BNP Paribas Group is important, as they may enable international expansion for FinTech start-ups. Without it, we will not become a regional player in the sector.
“Today it is impossible to become successful in the FinTech industry only in one country. The point is to address the solutions created in Poland not to 40 million but to a few billion people,” stressed Franciszek Hutten-Czapski, head of the Polish office of The Boston Consulting Group. He added that we must use technologically advanced banks to promote our FinTech solutions worldwide, which is also the role of consulting companies.
Jarosław Chudziak, Vice President of Accenture Poland, also pointed to the importance of marketing and promotion of Polish FinTech solutions and reminded that Poland belongs to global leaders in terms of innovations in the banking industry.
The Economic Forum in Krynica is the largest conference in Central and Eastern Europe. Every year the Forum organized at the beginning of September brings more than 3000 guests. These are political, economic, social and law leaders from over 60 countries in Europe, Asia and America.
