Fintech, which deals with the combination of technology and finance, is one of the fastest growing fields in the global high-tech world and in Israel in particular. In the last decade, thousands of companies have sprung up around the world developing new products and alternatives to traditional banking and financial services.
The Innovation Authority recognized the potential of the fintech market as early as 2011, and launched the “Financial Hub Security Centers” program, which aimed to encourage leading international financial institutions to establish R&D centers in the field of fintech (which at that time was not sufficiently developed in Israel ), And turn Israel into a global fintech center. As part of the program, two leading global banks, Citibank and Barclays Bank, have established R&D centers in Israel with the support of the Innovation Authority.
Today, Israel is already considered a developing fintech center, even compared to the rest of the world. There are hundreds of companies operating in areas such as loans, investment and savings management, payments and money transfers, clearing, capital markets, the insurance industry (Insurtech), crowdfunding, blanching and cryptocurrencies. The ecosystem has expanded with the entry of more global players, and today dozens of global companies hold financial-technological activity in Israel.
In addition, in recent years more international banks have entered Israel with the aim of establishing accelerators in the field of fintech, in parallel with the involvement of local banks in existing accelerators and increasing exposure to the world of fintech. Therefore, fintech is one of the most prominent areas into which significant capital flows, and a number of Israeli companies have even been issued on various stock exchanges around the world (including in the United States).
However, companies developing unique technologies in certain areas of the fintech market are still having relative difficulty in raising capital. These areas include companies engaged in the war on financial crime (fraud detection, identity management, money laundering prevention), blockchain (automation and security of smart contracts), cryptocurrencies (secure wallets, secure and / or cancelable transfers) and more. Therefore, the Innovation Authority continues to support fintech walls in which there is market failure or in areas that provide a unique advantage to Israel. At the same time, the Authority produces collaborations with the Securities Authority and encourages the existence of pilots in the country, so that the entire Israeli company can benefit from the technology developed in Hub Security.