Fintech Athens 4.0 came to a successful conclusion
With 465 participants, 45 speakers, and 12 panels, “Fintech Athens 4.0”, the forth two-day international Greek Fintech Hub, came to a successful conclusion.
The opening ceremony took place on Thursday 30 October at the Great Hall of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUoA) and continued on Friday 31 November at the Karatzas Building, one of the most emblematic NBG buildings. The conference ended on Friday afternoon with the speech of Mr. Petros Koumtsakos, prof. of Computing in Engineering and Sciences, Applied Mathematics, at Harvard University and Visiting Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, at the Melas Building. The conference aimed at bringing together European and international bodies from the field of Fintech. At the conference, the contribution of AI to Fintech, the credit/financial and payment systems, the public and private sectors, education, tourism, and the creative industries were discussed. At the same time, the impact of AI on banking operations and its role to empower startups was highlighted.
On the first day, the event was opened by Mr. Aristides Samitas, Vice Rector of Finance and Development of NKUA. Mr. Gikas Hardouvelis, Chair of the NBG Board, represented NBG, gave a welcome speech and highlighted the role of AI in the transformation of Fintech and the mutation of industries worldwide.
On the second day, the conference was opened by Mr. Ernestos Panayiotou, General Manager of NBG Transformation, Strategy and International Activities. Mr. Panayiotou noted that for another year the Bank is looking for partnership opportunities focusing on Fintech, which will be innovative and will create added value. He also stressed the fact that AI is a new key element of the Bank's strategy, which focuses on its ongoing transformation process, its commercial and business model, and the experience of its customers. Next, Mr Nikolaos Thomaidis, Vice President of the Administration Council at NKUA, Mr Emmanuel Givanakis, Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority UAE of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Mr Ioannis Tsakiris, Deputy Minister for Development and Investments, and Mr Haris Lambropoulos, President of the Hellenic Development Bank for Investments SA (HDBI) and Member of the Board of Directors of EIB & EIF, addressed the meeting.
The annual Fintech Athens conference is an initiative of Smart Attica ΕDIH and was held with co-funding by the EU. It was organized by NBG and the Greek Fintech Hub.
The Greek Fintech Hub is a Fintech initiative in Greece and other developed economies.
With the aim of strengthening Fintech entrepreneurship, funding innovative businesses in the sector, linking Fintech with research conducted in universities and other research centers, as well as enhancing awareness and networking with similar initiatives abroad, NBG has designed a series of actions:
• Organization of Fundraising events;
• Collaboration with Italian and Spanish banks participating in relevant startup funding schemes;
• Participation in the European Crowd Dialog initiative;
• Organization of monthly Fintech Talks;
• Organization of annual Fintech conferences in the sub-sectors of creative industries and tourism.