Fintech Switzerland and Germany: Financial Journey.

Undoubtedly, traveling is one of the most enriching experiences there is. It allows us to explore the world beyond our geographical and cultural barriers and gain new insights that broaden our horizons, open our minds, and push us forward. In a way, we all learn from and with each other. We are all teachers and learners.

Today we conclude our journey through Europe by visiting two countries, Switzerland and Germany, which also have a significant presence in the fintech world.

Each country is the result of its particular history, and in the case of Switzerland, there are three aspects that define it and are on everyone's mind: its chocolate industry, its watches, and its important banking sector. Switzerland boasts no less than 260 banking institutions, which explains why the most important fintech subsectors are wealth management and banking infrastructure.

As for figures, we can highlight the data published by ICEX (Economic and Commercial Office of the Embassy of Spain in Bern) which talks about a financing volume in 2017 of 130 million euros in venture capital. In addition to this, another 204 million euros were raised through ICOs.

According to this report, Zurich is the fintech hub for companies related to banking operations, and Zug is the center of crypto and blockchain innovation.

Switzerland Finnovating news map:

Regulatory institutions have agreed to maintain a regulated sector; currently, they must follow FINMA rules, but without hindering innovation. The Swiss government has also implemented, like in other countries, a regulatory sandbox as a testing space.

Currently, according to ICEX, 59% of Swiss banking institutions cooperate in some way with fintech companies, and 82% expect to increase these alliances over the next three to five years.

And through the Brandenburg Gate, we finally enter Germany. If this were a real journey, we would take a break with a beer and perhaps listen to music by Beethoven, Schumann, Bach, Wagner, Strauss, or Händel; a true luxury for the senses.

But what we can do is imagine that music playing in the background as we conclude this final analysis.

According to data from consulting firm Ernst & Young, there are already about 250 fintech companies in Germany, with a total of 13,000 employees. Most of them are in Berlin, totaling 70.

The financial supervisory authority is BaFin (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht). This entity highlights four categories: Financing, Asset Management, Payments, Other fintech.

Within the financing category, ICEX developed a comparison in 2015 with projections over time, from which we will highlight those related to crowdlending:

Number of Companies: 16, Number of Employees: 338

By years (mill. EUR): 2015 (330), 2020 (5000), 2025 (7000), 2035 (11000)

The fintech map published in Finnovating news gives us a more visual idea of the sector:

While Germany's influence is growing every day, the UK remains the leader in Europe. However, the future is uncertain due to Brexit, as a UK departure from Europe will leave a gap where Germany is positioned as the best candidate to fill it. The new scenario that emerges will also determine the new fintech map of the European Economic Area.