Financial technology is ever-present in our daily lives – from paying bills to investing in stock markets. A robust ecosystem is required to enable fintech companies to innovate and scale up.
Madalina Rotaru is the CEO of Key Way Markets Ltd, the operating company of the online broker, CAPEX.com. Having attained a wealth of experience in the financial services domain, she is proficient in the various functions pertaining to online trading, including compliance, marketing, management and regulation Here she shares her thoughts as to why security is at the core of a robust fintech ecosystem.
Among the most disruptive advances that have come out of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution are the new financial technologies fintech and the closely related RegTech.
Through the adoption and integration of new technologies, we are witnessing a transformation of our lives.
And through the use of Artificial Intelligence and data-driven solutions, fintech providers have irrevocably changed the way organisations support customers in a range of areas. These include payments – with scan-and-pay mobile removing the need for cash or credit cards – to investing, whereby investors can benefit from algorithm-based asset insights via online interfaces or mobile apps.
As fintech gets ever more ubiquitous, developers find themselves in a virtual arms race with hackers and other bad actors – because when it comes to working with other people’s money, security is an issue firms cannot afford to ignore.
The challenge is magnified for startups and newer companies, which have a strong proof of concept but limited knowledge and resources to comply with industry best practices, especially in security.
International Financial Centres
This is where international financial centres can help, by providing an innovative and competitive ecosystem that nurtures start-ups and scale-ups whilst adding an additional layer of trust through robust regulation. A perfect example of an IFC providing a launchpad for growth comes in the form of the story of CAPEX.com, an online trading brokerage, which has experienced significant progress since establishing its presence at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). CAPEX.com has an established presence in Europe and in 2019, decided to expand to meet the needs of Middle Eastern retail investors.
Since establishing its base in Abu Dhabi in 2019, and receiving its license from ADGM’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority in early 2020, CAPEX has benefitted from ADGM’s advanced business environment and the many benefits that Abu Dhabi offers to ambitious, determined and digitally-savvy companies. Not only that, the Company has gone on to grow its personnel with ten new hires from the rich pool of talent that Abu Dhabi offers, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Operating in a robust yet secure ecosystem – the security of security, if you will – is a huge advantage and offers great assurance.
A vital part in enabling companies to flourish – and indeed continue to grow at a rapid pace – is being empowered by a supportive ecosystem. Being able to ensure security for customers is paramount and has helped create a strong appetite for financial products.
The confidence that the ADGM FSRA license instills is vast – as a locally licensed and regulated online trading broker, consumers have the sense of security that CAPEX.com operates with the oversight of a world-class regulator.
Collaboration
As financial technology continues to progress, fintech firms and established financial institutions will collaborate even more to drive innovation and ensure consumer demands. The success of each is reliant on the other. And for fintech , that success can even said to be reliant on security being at the heart of its ecosystem.
For certain, ADGM’s established ecosystem has enabled CAPEX.com to scale rapidly, while maintaining robust regulatory standards. In the first quarter of 2021, the firm witnessed a 45% increase in the number of traders, while its average monthly trades grew by an impressive 65%. These are figures helping to spur a targeted growth of 45% to 65% in 2021.
The rapid rise of fintech may have been spurred by disruption. But it is security that lies at the very core of a robust fintech ecosystem.
