From 17 to 19 October 2018, the Forum was attended by over 1,400 participants from 37 countries. Three plenary discussions, 12 sectional discussions, three round tables and seven public lectures took place.

Participants of the plenary discussion ‘New Competitors and New Alliances. FinTech as a Driver of Competitive Market Development’ covered issues relating to competition in the introduction of financial technologies in the banking sector, the development of ecosystems, and the role of the regulator in the development and application of financial technologies.

“The approach we could relate to is that elements of infrastructural nature, which are important for all market participants, should be either created by the government or backed by the government. This ensures all market participants have equal access to the infrastructure. We believe that infrastructural elements such as the remote identification system, the fast payment platform, or the digital profile infrastructure for digital finance should be created as nationwide infrastructure that everyone should join, and then the financial institutions should compete on the basis of services and new technologies,” said Elvira Nabiullina, Governor of the Bank of Russia.

At the same time, experts noted that protection of personal data is important in the adoption of Big Data in financial technologies. “Some are ready to fully open up, some are not. And I am confident that it is important to establish personal data protection. We must ensure that people have the ability to manage their data,” Ms. Nabiullina said.

Using and protecting personal data was also the focus of attention of participants in the plenary discussion ‘Data – The New Oil?’. The analysis of large data sets benefits banks and their customers, because studying the client’s profile allows them to offer products for which there is a real need, but individuals should be able to protect their privacy, experts said. “Most people are inclined to believe that data is a person’s property, and many would like be responsible for decisions regarding what information to provide and whom to provide it to. In addition, a digital profile would be a good instrument for banks and other institutions, as it would allow them to automatically receive data—with the client’s consent—upon request, rather than to have to consult a large number of government sources,” the session’s moderator Olga Skorobogatova, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia, said, summing up the results of the discussion.

The plenary discussion ‘FinTech as a Platform: From Pilot Versions to Real Solutions’ was dedicated to a debate over the actual projects that the regulator is implementing together with the market participants, as well as the prospects for their further development.

One of the most important projects is the remote identification system and the fast payment platform. “These are projects that help the market participants to develop other projects and explore other opportunities,” Olga Skorobogatova said.

Another infrastructure project is the Marketplace. “The Bank of Russia is creating a regulatory environment that allows emerging aggregators to collect offers from different financial service providers. Now the main goal is to create Bank-Client services, which would enable a bank to sell its services remotely. Marketplace represents a new phase in development, when an individual gets access to services provided by many banks through one piece of software installed on a device,” said Sergey Shvetsov, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia. He also noted that Marketplace would benefit competition. “The minimum service package that we would like to bring to market should include compulsory third-party vehicle insurance, government securities, personal deposit accounts, and possibly some sort of investment products. Then the market would be able to decide what else should feature in the Marketplace; perhaps, not only financial products,” he added.

Participants of the discussion also touched upon the project to create a personal digital profile. This service would allow companies to receive information from various sources about the customer, with their consent.

“I am pleased to hear that, from the regulator’s standpoint, we create products that are, as they say, a must-have. This is the time when it is important to join forces in doing only what truly benefits everyone,” Olga Skorobogatova concluded, as she invited all participants to discuss progress made on implementing infrastructure projects a year from now at FINOPOLIS 2019.