During the Fintech bootcamp, our group got the chance to spend a few days in London. Bootcamps are a period of three weeks during which students focus on a subject of their choice. The FinTech bootcamp was the first of its kind ever held at Vlerick, aiming to study the impact of digital disruptors like PayPal and TransferWise on traditional banking models.

Spending three days in London gave us a sneak peak of the local scene coined the center of FinTech.

Our program started in Canary Wharf, at the heart of the banking world. Our group observed the surroundings from the prestigious ‘Level 39’, a FinTech incubator nestled at the eponym level of a skyscraper. The view was breath taking.

The rest of our British adventure brought us to other financial hotspots like ‘Startupbootcamp’, another incubator where selected start ups get 3 months of coaching to boost their growth. We met with 3 entrepreneurs in residence who shared their stories, namely Mondo. Mondo is a 100% digital bank. Jason Bates, co-founder explained the vision of the company to become the ‘Google of banking’. Cool stuff!

Later in the day we received a warm welcome at WorldRemit. WorldRemit started in 2010 to facilitate remittances, that is sending money to one’s family abroad, a habit popular within families spread all over the world. WorldRemit offers this service online with competitive fees. Today the company has grown into a 250+ employees business. I really liked the three women involved in finance, communications and HR who presented the purpose of their jobs.

An evening conference at Imperial College addressing the clash between usual financial processes and innovative ones like the Bitcoin for instance closed our day.

Before heading back to Belgium we paid by a visit to a FabLab where 3D printing equipment is made available for anybody with a project. We got to handle drones, a mini satellite, phone chips and other tech gadgets.

Overall, this trip gave us a foretaste of what the coming years have to offer. Innovative services are on their way and we can literally not wait to see the tech prophecy realizing itself in the future.