My daughter (14) asked me the other day: “Dad, what is Fintech?”
I struggled for a second as I pondered the best way to encapsulate the Fintech phenomenon, and then it hit me:
Forrest Gump.
“Fintech is like a box of chocolates sweetheart. Each new company is a different flavor. Payments are milk chocolate, robo-advice is dark chocolate, trading is white chocolate, and so on. People in Fintech spend a LOT of time debating whose chocolate is better, but they are missing the bigger point.”
“What’s that?” she replied
“The price of sugar. At the end of the day it all boils down to that”
“Who controls the sugar?”
“The banks. That’s why they have to be there”
“But, you are missing one thing Dad,” she noted
“What’s that kiddo?”
“Who owns the box?”
“That’s easy. That’s China”
“Sounds to me that’s who your friends in Fintech need to make friends with,” and with that she was done.