Israeli startups will be able to obtain advice from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), it was learned during a conference for advanced fintech technologies in Atlanta attended by 18 Israeli fintech companies.
The CFTC has set up a consultation mechanism for fintech companies seeking to offer products in the futures market. The guidelines to be given in this framework will enable these companies to develop projects that conform to the regulations in this market. The CFTC also published a call for the submission to it of advanced technological solutions for monitoring activity in the futures market.
The conference in Atlanta, initiated by the Israeli consulate for the southeastern US and the American-Israel Business Connector (Conexx), was held for the second successive year. 150 people attended the conference this year, including representatives of the Israeli companies, Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP), and heads of the Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) innovation division.
The conference discussed the important questions in the fintech sector - technologies for the safe, rapid, and orderly transfer of payments between financial institutions and credit companies and merchants.
Among the topics discussed were the security of payments and technologies for protecting against fraud and other cyber crime, the process of adopting technologies by institutions and companies, the regulatory system and how supervision of the new payment systems and technologies, which are pushing the banks aside, will develop. The status of the consumer and how he or she consumes the new services (such as Venmo, PayPal, and Apple Pay), were also discussed, as were the trends in the switch to new communications and payments platforms.
In addition to the Israeli consulate and Conexx, the Israeli economic representative in New York, the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute, representatives from the Federal Reserve System, the Greenberg Traurig law firm (which hosted the conference), the Aprio accounting firm, global consultant firm Accenture, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and Atlanta Fintech (a roof organization of fintech companies in Atlanta) helped organize the conference.
The conference enabled the Israeli companies to display their products to all those attending, followed by one-on-one meetings with industry leaders and representatives of banks. The Israeli companies averaged 10 such meetings each.
Israeli Consulate General in Atlanta Ambassador Judith Varnai Shorer thanked the participants for making the conference a success, and the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its part in paying for the event. She said that the more than 400 Israeli fintech companies could find many partners in Atlanta. She mentioned the marketing assistance provided by the Ministry of the Economy and Industry Foreign Trade Administration and aid programs such as the Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation, which offer funding for joint R&D projects.
Bank Hapoalim head of fintech and business development Haim Pinto and Hanna Blumenau, head of digital platforms at the bank, presented the fintech sector from the perspective of a financial institution in Israel. Pinto said that the bank was looking for a substitute for the credit card, which has been with us for decades, and that it was investing great efforts in developing payment systems adapted for cellphones. "This will be a leading platform at the sales point level," he said.
JVP partner Yoav Tzruya said that the market in Atlanta held very great potential for Israeli fintech, cyber, and data analysis companies. He explained that Atlanta had an unusual concentration of companies on the Fortune 500 list, and a group of extremely significant players in the fintech sector. According to Tzruya, Israeli companies should consider a permanent presence there.
The chief software architect of the Wells Fargo bank said that most customers did not yet realize the importance of information security; they believe that the safety of their money is the most important thing. Barry McCarthy, EVP & head (division president) of First Data Corporation, a huge company that developed the Apple Pay payments system for Apple Corporation, said that Israeli companies wanting to offer his company innovative products should concentrate on payment security in the sales process and fraud prevention, means of cutting costs in the payment process and its verification, and means of bringing the service to the customer (consumerism).
Conexx president Guy Tessler said that the conference was an example of the importance of having Israeli companies meet potential strategic partners. He noted that 70% of all money transactions and credit transactions in the US, amounting to trillions of dollars, passed through Atlanta.
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on May 29, 2017
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