LFP203 – Fintech in Scandinavia/Nordics – Deep Origins and Reasons for Success w/Erik Bennerhult, CEO Naktergal

Scandinavia (Sweden/Norway/Denmark) and the Nordics as a whole (Scandinavia +Finland +Iceland) have massively outperformed most parts of the world in Tech and Fintech when considered compared to the relatively small sizes of the populations. Why is this and where is it all going? In this episode Erik who was part of creating the world’s first […]

Scandinavia (Sweden/Norway/Denmark) and the Nordics as a whole (Scandinavia +Finland +Iceland) have massively outperformed most parts of the world in Tech and Fintech when considered compared to the relatively small sizes of the populations. Why is this and where is it all going?

In this episode Erik who was part of creating the world’s first online mortgage bank in the late 90s, has been a CTO of many leading regional banks and is now founder and CEO of Naktergal discusses not just where the region is placed now in Fintech but the deeper origins of tech success before wrapping up with the outlook for Fintech in the region.

Naktergal offer a range of digital lending platforms for banks and Fintechs as well as modular add-on solutions for the inevitable weak-points in different existing legacy/big-brand tech solutions in banks.

Topics discussed include:

summer in the Swedish archipelago
Crimes of Passion series by Maria Lang set in 1950s Sweden
escape porn on YouTube – Kyles Cabin, Gone with the Wynns, Sailing La Vagabonde
lessons and parallels from round the world catamarans and the tech world in general
building the worlds first online mortgage bank in 1999 0 a world first
differences then and now and mentality needed and generated – both weaknesses therein as well as strengths
being a pioneer versus following on – comparisons of the first round the world pioneers with the ability of average folks these days leveraging improvements in tech to do the same today
the commercial challenges of being well ahead of the market
attitudes even in IT towards early adventures into Fintech
Erik’s background and experience inside banks as a CTO
the shift in ~2004/05 when software development became all about adapting to regulation not to improving consumer offerings
complex mutual history of Norway/Sweden/Denmark
how the Nordics went from great poverty 200 years ago to some of the greatest prosperity today
the key role of tech in this and the creation of tech high schools
the huge number of technology companies whether Volvo or Nokia through to Techs and Fintechs
Skype was founded by a Swede Niklas Zennström
the natural co-operation with the Baltics was set back by the USSR decades
Sweden has the leadership in Fintech in the region
geographic reasons behind the trajectory and the approach to tech
low population density leading to a need for distribution in general
note how key Scandinavian technology companies solve this one way or another Volvo (travel over large distances and very solidly built), Nokia (talk over long distances), Spottily (share music over long distances)
why the UK has been so creative – the role of common law versus continental law
the small size of local markets leading to the need for international expansion at an early stage
the ability to rapidly test on a small market before expansion
the important role of culture and motivation in leading to regional differences – the leveling out of these factors by neoliberalism
the importance of the Swedish banking sector large and local as a platform for the Fintech-ing
key players in regional Fintech – Tink, Klarna, iZettle, Luna, Swish, Vipps
no one common theme amongst these market leaders
Erik’s perspective on future trends

building on the shoulders of giants – every new generation of tech enables the next generation to proceed ever-faster
economic pressures leading to changes in behaviour and investment – not just crises but opportunities

Naktergal’s end-to-end product suites, regional footprint and future plans
an amazingly fast 142 day complete installation of a full banking system

And much more

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