How technology opened up the financial industry

Although banks still use pneumatic tubes to send documents and money between cashiers and customers, technology in the financial industry has advanced rapidly in recent years. Fintech companies like Venmo are household names now.

Matt Harris, Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, first focused on the FinTech industry 20 years ago, when he “usually meant suppliers to banks [like Fiserv and FIS], and these companies made up essentially 100% of the universe that people thought of as financial technology. “

These vendors are still part of the fintech world, says Harris, but “the most exciting set of fintech companies” are the ones that “really compete with the incumbents in so many ways.”

And “modern fintech,” he adds, started with Jack Dorsey’s Square, which “had this very design-conscious, technology-driven founder who thought he could do better for, in his case, retailers. , and actually did better “.

“It really set the stage for other founders who started exploring other aspects of payments, then eventually lending, asset management, wealth management insurance, and soon dominoes. started to fall, ”said Harris.

Harris joins Michal Lev-Ram and Brian O’Keefe, hosts of Fortune genius idea, to discuss fintech and how the pandemic has led to massive growth in the category. Each week, the podcast explores how technology is reshaping our world.

Also on the show, Lev-Ram interviews Zachary Perret, co-founder and CEO of Plaid. And Brian O’Keefe speaks with Cristina Junqueira, co-founder of Nubank, an online bank based in Brazil.

“Nubank was launched from this place of outrage, wasn’t it?” said Junqueira. “Here in Latin America, especially Brazil, we’ve gotten used to paying some of the highest interest rates in the world, some of the highest fees in the world, and having one of the most horrific customer experiences. in the world.”

Founded in 2013, Nubank now has around 40 million customers in Brazil, has launched in Mexico and Colombia and is expanding its product line.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com