The Hocschule Luzern and the Institute for Financial Services Zug (IFZ) have published their “IFZ Fintech Study” for the fourth time. And the insights are by no means surprising for people who know the industry. The framework conditions for companies in the financial technology industry are still good. However, Zurich is still behind Singapore, where literally the mail goes off in terms of fintech.
Nevertheless, the growth rate in Switzerland is impressive after the number of Fintechs had increased by 16 percent last year. Whole 62 percent more Fintechs there was the end of 2018 than a year earlier, there are now 356 in number.
Blockchain sector is booming the strongest
The growth will mainly be supported by Fintechs in Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), whose number has tripled, according to IFZ. More than a third of Swiss fintechs are active in this area and most of them are based in the Crypto Valley. According to the study, the Zug site now counts 77 blockchain fintechs.
Traditional banks need to position themselves or they will become irrelevant
The results of last year’s study showed the path of the FinTech sector from hype to reality. This statement is confirmed this year by a further maturing and larger venture capital transactions. By contrast, the market for cryptocurrencies suffered a sharp correction. The FinTech market offered everything, depending on the segment and company.
It is not expected that the banks will be ousted by FinTech companies. However, the new technologies will take over part of the services and processes of traditional banks unless the banks prepare themselves in time. The winners of technological innovation are companies that have the right teams and the right culture to implement new technologies faster and more consistently