I’m sorry to admit it, but I had never thought of France as a hotbed for fintech activity nor thought leadership…but I’m starting to change my mind after attending the most entertaining Paris Fintech Forum 25-26 January 2017.  The event drew over 1500 participants, as well as over 200 C-suite-level speakers and 130+ fintech booths and demonstrations.  The venue, the Palais Brognart, has to be one of the most splendid locales for running such an enormous enterprise.  It enabled many parallel events to be held without the sorts of distractions that have marred some of the larger meetings I’ve attended in “aircraft hanger” types of venues. 

From an SME finance point of view there was much to chew on, with panels on the role of fintech and the new opportunity it offers, on alternative lending, on alternative lending for larger SMEs – not to mention many other streams on regtech, payments reform and other topics of strong interest and application for SME finance.  I was honored to be asked as both a panelist (on the “new goldmine” that is SME finance fintech, in the main auditorium), and as a moderator (for a great group of speakers from Europe on why alternative financial institutions should be taken seriously in the SME finance market).  I like that Laurent Nizri, our main organizer, virtually banned powerpoint (except from the demos), and insisted on short, crisp structures where we all needed to get to the point. 

And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that in the “unstructured” time, one is in Paris, which lends itself to very productive informal networking opportunities. 

I’m still digesting a lot of the institutions and ideas I met in Paris, but I can say already that, while there are many, many conferences out there, and one cannot go to most, this one is well worth putting on one’s calendar for 2018.

By Matt Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum
He has over 35 years’ experience in private enterprise and financial sector development. He has worked for IFC for 10 years in various positions, including heading the advisory services for the financial sector in East Asia-Pacific (from Hong Kong). Prior to IFC he worked for 25 years in the private sector in management consulting and technology/small scale industry development. He holds A.B. and A.M. degrees from Harvard University, and M.Sc. and D.Phil degrees from Sussex University (UK), where his work focused on the management of technological change.