FinTech Week: From future payments to blockchain revolution

For the first time in Lithuania hosts Rise Vilnius FinTech Week which takes place from 22 to 26 October 2018 in Vilnius. Everyone interested in the FinTech industry will have the opportunity to hear more about the development of this field in Lithuania, its future perspectives, challenges and insights on the latest achievements directly from the leaders of the financial technology sector. This week the Global FinTech community Rise Vilnius invites to participate in their organized events, seminars, discussions and meetings, and the networking sessions on the most relevant FinTech topics.

According to Mariano Andrade Gonzalez, the executive director of Barclays Group Operations Centre in Lithuania, this event is an excellent opportunity for FinTech representatives to discuss in what direction Lithuania is heading and how to achieve goals that were set.

“For the first time in Lithuania we will hold an entire week-long discussion with the best FinTech experts and analyse the financial technology ecosystem. This country has many talented and competent IT experts who makes us look quite bright on the FinTech map and I believe that soon we will be able to call Vilnius the new Singapore. In my opinion, in the near future people will be looking for new possibilities to pay less for bank transfers and payment tendencies will become even more innovative. Therefore, I believe that Lithuania is making its relevant steps into FinTech era and we are determined to greet it,” says Gonzalez.

During Rise Vilnius FinTech Week, representatives of banks and startups, financial experts and everyone who is interested in this specific field will be able to listen to the top presentations such as the future of blockchain and its perspectives both in Lithuania and in the Globe, the alliance between banks and FinTech startups, the relevance of sandboxes today and its prospects, the future of payments,  Lithuanian FinTech strategy and its importance in the Baltic region and in Europe.

On the opening day of FinTech, Mantas Katinas, the managing director at Invest Lithuania, has introduced an overview of the financial technology sector in the country:

“When it comes to foreign countries, our FinTech cluster already claims to become a brand identity. It is the only market niche which in the nearest future can single out Lithuania as the leading country in the world. Here companies from Singapore, Israel and other technologically advanced countries not only find a progressive regulatory environment that allows to introduce their solutions in Europe, but also a constantly growing community which makes it possible to expand and develop these solutions. To justify the ambition, Lithuania must attract at least 3 world-class players in the upcoming two years,” says Katinas.

Paulius Vertelka, the director of FinTech Lithuania Powered by Infobalt, who has also participated in the discussion about FinTech strategy in Lithuania, expressed his opinion that despite of being caught on the vortex of FinTech’s success, Lithuania should not rest on its laurels.

“Today our goal is to raise the global awareness of Lithuania as a country of trusted FinTech companies – to show our uniqueness, to tell our exceptional success story and to pass on our good practice to others,” says Vertelka.

FinTech week was opened with the speech of the Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius. Throughout the week we will hear the experiences and insights shared by Natan Avidan, Founder and Manager of ORCA Alliance, Vytautas Kašėta, President at Crypto Economy Organisation, Danielius Stasiulis, founder of Startup Division and co-founder of BitDegree, Laimonas Noreika, CEO at Desico, Tomas Drakšas, co-founder at Edgeless, Gytis Labašauskas, Chief Marketing Officer at WePower, and Gediminas Misevičius, Open Banking Partnership Manager at Swedbank. The week will culminate with the lecture on FinTech innovations held by Ugnius Savickas, Design Thinking instructor, and the networking dedicated for enthusiasts of financial technologies.