Hello and welcome to FinTech Profile
Hello and welcome dear reader.
I’m Ewan and I’m the founder and editor of FinTech Profile. Since 2006, I’ve been chronicling the rise and rise of the mobile world over at my other site Mobile Industry Review. I watched, predicted, agitated and delighted as the amazing march of technology, apps and services began. When I started writing, you were lucky if you could walk off the plane in another country and get a telephone service, let alone be able to ‘Whatsapp’, ‘Instagram’ or ‘Facebook’ anyone, anywhere at anytime.
The mobile world has changed beyond all recognition in just 10 years. Now it’s the turn of the Financial world.
The mobile and financial worlds have been meeting for some time now. Ever since the first mobile banking apps arrived, I’ve been watching and observing developments. But now, when it seems almost every day brings a new startup specifically focusing on the financial industry, I thought it was time to start documenting what I’m seeing.
Instead of producing a news and commentary site much like Mobile Industry Review, I’ve decided to try something different. I’m aiming to publish profiles of Financial Technology (“FinTech”) players. I’m not planning on anything overly complex. However I am looking for a bit of detail — something more than the usual two sentences of detail I often come across in “Top 50 FinTech Startups” style posts around the web.
So don’t expect much in the way of ‘news’ or ‘op-ed’ style content. Instead I’m looking to publish an on-going series of what, why, where, how features on some of the most exciting FinTech companies that have caught my attention.
Motivations
My motivation for establishing this site is three-fold:
- First, I work in and around the Financial world often as a consultant. I need to have somewhere to store and easily refer to the companies I want to watch and remember.
- Second, as I mentioned, I want a bit more detail than the boiler-plate two sentence description. Often the press releases and websites don’t tell the full story, particularly the background and intentions of the founders.
- Three, I hope this will grow to become a useful resource for others working around the Financial world, particularly if you’re working for a big player currently (or about to be) disrupted by one of these new breed of FinTech stars.
New and Old
I am using the word ‘startups’ often when referring to FinTech Profile and of course, I am particularly interested in new startups addressing the FinTech sector. However there are plenty — and I do mean plenty — of existing, established players who are either already working in the sector or have a new offering for the sector. I think they deserve attention too. Indeed they’re often the ones that I find most difficult to discover.
Getting Profiled
The profile process I’ve got mapped out with the team (hello Emma, Shauna, Roland — more on them in later posts) is pretty straight-forward. We’ll email companies we’ve identified (or, those who contact us to ask to be profiled) a list of set questions. They then send back responses to each, along with a logo and (perhaps?) a headshot of one the founders. We’ll then compile this into a post and get it live. I am giving some thought to possibly adding a bit of commentary alongside each, but I haven’t decided yet.
I’ve no preference over company size. Although I think it might be a little weird to write about Intel or Microsoft as FinTech players given they are a) huge and b) operate in so many different markets. I feel they might be a little bit too diverse to be featured. However I could imagine profiling one of their divisions, departments or products that specifically deals with the FinTech world.
Identifying the Best
I’ve got a big long list of companies I’d like to profile. But it’s not exhaustive. So I would very much welcome your suggestions (contact us). I don’t mind if you’ve got a vested interest, if you work there, if you’re their PR, or if your friend is the founder! My interest is in compiling a good selection of FinTech company profiles. So please get in touch.
Costs, Sponsorship and Advertising
FinTech Profile is funded by me and wholly owned by me. I don’t charge for profiles and there’s (obviously?) no charge for reading. We do have access to quite a lot of industry data though and that is chargeable if you’d like access. You can hire me too — I do a nice line in ‘the rise of mobile and the implications for your industry’ keynotes. I’m available for consulting days, projects and I do have a bit of time for advisory and non-executive tasks. I am also open to discussing sponsorship or advertising on-site.
Newsletter
Would you like to get regular updates from FinTech Profile? I think it would be useful to a least open and scan to see if there’s anything of interest. You can sign-up free of charge here and you can unsubscribe at any time. And I won’t use your email for anything else.
Right, with that all out the way, I think it’s time we got started.
Standby for the first profile…
