The Present and Future of Financial Technology – A tool for financial inclusion with Doreming

We increasingly hear references to ‘FinTech’ in our everyday. No longer solely a topic of interest to the financial or computing media, it is frequently the subject of lifestyle and news stories. But how many of us understand what we mean by the term? What exactly does financial technology encompass?

 

In 2015, over 75% of Internet users in the UK made a purchase online. 60% of us use internet banking, and many of us are increasingly using cards in mobile wallets on our phones to make payments in shops. These solutions are just some the applications of FinTech most visible to the general consumer – and the pace of change is remarkable. London has positioned itself at the centre of the FinTech revolution. Initiatives from national and local government, as well as financial and technological industries serve to attract investment and industry leaders driving change both for us as individuals and as businesses. Among those working in this field are significant numbers of people who have come to London from Japan.

 

Through a series of linked seminars, the Japan Society is celebrating this new phase in the UK-Japan relationship, while exploring the opportunities and challenges presented by the new technology in many different spheres of activity. Focussing on four people, working under the broad umbrella of FinTech, we will investigate some of the ways in which it will have an impact our future lives.

 

This first seminar will feature Tomohiko Nakamura, Country Manager of Doreming Ltd, UK. A spin-off from Kizuna Japan, Doreming provides real time payroll services to companies, which allow them to give employees easy access to their earnings and greater control of cash flow. Operating as a social business, Doreming aims to increase financial inclusion and support people with limited access to banking services.

 

In his presentation, Tomohiko Nakamura will share his own experience, as entrepreneur and now as UK representative of a Japanese start-up company. He will look at the contribution financial technology services can make in meeting the challenge of social inclusion and helping ‘to end poverty in all its forms’, the first of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Following an open session for questions and discussion, the evening will conclude with an informal networking reception. We are extremely grateful to Mitsubishi Corporation International (Europe) Plc for generously hosting this seminar.

 

Tomohiko Nakamura is Country Manager of Doreming Ltd, UK. He helped Doreming become the first Japanese started company in the FinTech 100, and has presented at the Innovate Finance Global Summit, Global Expansion Summit, Singapore FinTech Festival. He has featured on The Banker, and the BBC.

 

Prior to joining Doreming, he co-founded two startups, and learnt successes and failures from running his own company. Between 2007 and 2014, he was an analyst at BNP Paribas in Tokyo and London.

 

Tomohiko Nakamura first came to the UK at age 6, when his father had the chance to research at The Computer Laboratory, Cambridge University. He was educated in the UK and studied Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, London. He believes social impact, profit and growth can work together to determine the success of business and the economy.

 

The series will continue in the autumn with seminars led by Akio Kurata founder and CEO of Equity-X, Ali Adnan co-founder of Authlete and Makoto Fukuhara, Managing Director of Skwile. Each seminar will focus on a different application of financial technology.

 

This event is fully booked, but to register for a place on the waiting list, please call the Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk.