Francisco Fernandez, CEO at Avaloq, says demand for innovation is significant, and he is proud of being a partner to the Asian financial industry on that journey.

Francisco Fernandez, how is Avaloq’s current business and future pipeline in the Asia-Pacific region?

There are plenty of activities going on, and the pipeline is full – we will very soon welcome two new Asian private banks to our Community.

Has the Warburg Pincus investment yielded any benefits in Asia to date?

When we started to partner with Warburg Pincus, we set up advisory boards across all regions, and we can clearly benefit from the board members’ networks. Warburg Pincus can arrange mutual introductions between banks or wealth managers and Avaloq, in Asia and the other regions.
 
Following the agreement with Deutsche Wealth in Singapore have you expanded on this? 

Yes, further banks now rely on our Singapore hub, from where we offer Software as a Service as well as Business Processes as a Service.

«We’re proud of being a partner to the Asian financial industry on that journey»

It has become an important part of our Global Processing Network, as we are increasing our footprint in the Asia Pacific region.

Are you monitoring the rapid financial technology progress in Asia? 

Definitely, and the speed of this progress is amazing. Chatbots, as just one example, have taken financial services by storm in China. South Korea intends to become a cashless society in a few years already. The demand for innovation is significant, and we’re proud of being a partner to the Asian financial industry on that journey. As an ecosystem, we can innovate together, and faster.

Is the growing use by both business and consumers of fintech influenced services a threat to your business?

No, it is an opportunity. First of all, we are of course a fintech ourselves, but we’re no start-up any more. We work very closely together with fintechs of all sorts, which can offer their solutions to our global customer base of over 150 banks which manage assets worth over 4’000 billion Swiss francs.

«Bitcoin is just one possible and the most well-known application»

The cooperation with the fintechs happens on the Avaloq Software Exchange, which I would describe as an «App Store» for banks. In addition, we have opened up many of our application program interface (APIs) on a portal dedicated to third-party developers, in this environment, over 1’200 developers try new things, discuss and co-innovate with our own software engineers. It’s a vibrant ecosystem.

Does Avaloq look at acquiring fintech firms? 

We already work very closely with fintechs, many of them have become partners, e.g. on our Software Exchange. To benefit from fintech innovation doesn’t necessarily mean an acquisition, we believe in partnerships within the ecosystem. But we wouldn’t exclude an acquisition if it makes sense from a technology, business and cultural point of view.

Jamie Dimon calls it a fraud and China is shutting it down, what is your view on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies?

Personally, I believe that cryptocurrencies, maybe Bitcoin, maybe others, are here to stay. The fascinating thing about Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies is the underlying technology, called blockchain. Bitcoin is just one possible and the most well-known application.

But is there is much more to come, blockchain technology can also be used to run public administrations entirely or partly, which we currently observe in Finland, Sweden or Dubai. Cryptocurrencies are very volatile at the moment, and I am curious to see how regulatory aspects will be addressed.

Francisco Fernandez is group chief executive officer at Avaloq the technology-driven financial services provider for wealth management, universal and retail banks. He is the principal shareholder of the Avaloq group. Fernandez’ goal is to contribute to the financial system’s stability by making financial institutions more secure, more efficient and more transparent.

Apart from his rational and analytical side, Fernandez has a musical side as well. He loves playing the piano to relax after a busy day.