FF Virtual Arena: Fintech Islands – Prepare for FOMO!

Pack your bags and slap on the SPF, because fintech is heading to Barbados! This October, investors, startups and industry headliners will be gathering in the Caribbean for Fintech Islands 2022, to connect and discuss the most important global trends happening in fintech. 

The region often gets lumped in with North America and the West, but this region offers a unique point of view from a population still in its developmental and nubile phase in its payments journey, whether it be crypto or cross-border payments. 

In this Virtual Arena, FF News are in conversation with Peter Stoute-King, the Practice Lead of Fintech for Techstars and Co-Founder of Fintech Islands, and Gabriel Abed, the Ambassador of Barbados to the United Arab Emirates. 

With big partners Mastercard, Visa, Republic Bank, and Unipet, the event seeks to bring fintech investors and creators together to discuss how technology in finance can truly be customer-centric. With a large amount of the Caribbean population being unbanked or limited in their access to financial services, it is imperative for the industry to develop products and solutions that include that demographic in their customer outreach. 

“In these challenges come potentially large victories [for fintech], in being able to bank those persons [unbanked] and being able to provide those financial technology products,” said Abed. “It’s important to be able to provide those financial products, whether it be in investing, or whether they be in payment channels. The reality is, a nation like Barbados has been thinking in this way and has been moving in this direction, given our challenges.” 

The fintech sector is paving the way for more inclusive and ethical financial products. With a global audience in mind, being exposed to customers from underserved regions in the world would do more to help financial institutions understand what services are vital and what connects different demographics. The event agenda includes talks on crypto and its use cases, the inclusivity afforded through embedded finance, and climate change.  

Caribbean-focused companies are the real stars of this event: WiPay, Wimco, Sagicor Bank, and eZeePayments.com will all join together to discuss solutions specific to the region.

“The way that we have designed it thus far has been new and different for the region. We’ve been very intentional in terms of what it is we are trying to build,” explained Stoute-King. “At its core, the event is about economic development and ecosystem development, but it’s really about folks doing business as well. So we’re trying to get a good balance between founders, investors, corporate executives, some policymakers and regulators.”

Effectively, Fintech Islands 2022 will be a convention where industry leaders will come together to solve a common goal: how can they make our services more accessible? With an exciting lineup of speakers and partners, it will be fascinating to see what ideas come out of the gathering and if it will set a new precedent for global fintech. 

Join our host Ali Paterson in conversation in today’s VA, who will also be flying over to Barbados in October for the event!