The future of payments is at stake at the HEC Incubator
Part of the HEC Incubator Spring 2018 Batch, the startup Fintecture, co-founded by Faysal Oudmine (H2009), is disrupting traditional bank card networks.
Founded nearly three years ago and part of the HEC Incubator Spring 2018 Batch, the startup Fintecture, co-founded by Faysal Oudmine (H2009), Tatiana Rozoum, Anjan Som and Reda Charai, is developing a technological and regulatory platform that enables it to connect to all European banks in a standardized manner to initiate transactions or access bank account data. In 2019, the startup obtained the required license to operate from the financial regulator (ACPR), a license already "passported" in all EEA countries.
Based on the PDS2 regulation, the new platform built by Fintecture "PayByBank" has created a new bank-to-bank payment collection method, disrupting traditional bank card networks.
Fintecture now enables its customers (merchant sites) to increase their conversion rate, strengthen their security and improve cash flow by speeding up the availability of funds. All this while reducing transaction costs by 40%!
With a single connection Fintecture offers access to all European banks in a standardized way in compliance with regulations. The startup also allows other Fintechs to use its platform to develop their own use cases.
Open banking is moving from utopia to reality in Europe. PSD2 regulation empowers many use cases capable of shifting the landscape of the financial industry and online retail in Europe.
In addition, PSD2 regulation creates one of the largest, most accessible and most harmonized markets in the world that Fintecture is seeking to leverage.
Meet Faysal Oudmine (H2005): his ambition, his team, ...
Who are you?
An adult with a childlike curiosity.
An eternal optimist tempered by methodical realism.
A builder driven by unbridled ambition...
A man (too human) with his sensitivities, his successes and failures
...a hardened but still passionate entrepreneur...
How did you take the "big leap" to start a new business?
After HEC, I started my career as a financier at Lehman Brothers and Nomura Bank in Paris and London. However, I couldn't resist for long the sirens of a vocation that manifested itself from my childhood: entrepreneurship.
I co-founded my first company at the end of 2009 in education in Africa. We were lucky, we were an immediate success. Two years later the structure was sold to maximize its chances of development. Then, I co-founded with the same partner (Reda) a PropTech, active in more than 10 African countries as well as an agricultural operator in Morocco, from which we left in 2017. It should be noted that the three companies created still exist and continue to develop, even if my greatest pride remains the teams that we have managed to federate around us and which are the basis of these successes.
Why did you launch Fintecture?
After ten years of entrepreneurship, encouraged by the positive results of my first three companies and aware of my strengths and weaknesses, I wanted to tackle a larger market. And what more challenging market than the payments market? Moreover, it allowed me to make a link with my first career in finance.
Then I met my co-founders Anjan and Tatiana, respectively specialists in Open Data in the banking environment and financial regulation. They had already started working on the new regulation (PSD2) and banking APIs and we shared, and still share, the same vision on the future of payments.
We started by working together to get to know each other better, creating a Proof Of Concept on a bank (BBVA) before officially creating Fintecture in January 2018.
What kind of risks were you willing to take?
The most important thing is the stakes, taking a risk is ultimately only a consequence.
We had to invest and work without income for almost three years, with no guarantee of launch. We depended on the financial regulator (payment institution licence) and the banks (integration into the banks). Nevertheless, my previous projects allowed me to have a relatively comfortable financial situation, which allowed me to be 100% focused on the success of Fintecture.
Today we are licensed throughout the European Economic Area and we are connected to almost all French and British banks.
Why did you want to join the HEC Incubator?
The HEC Incubator has brought us a lot and continues to do so today. High quality support provided by the incubator's team and mentors, but also by relevant experts for each of the issues we encounter.
The environment, of the incubator in particular and of Station F in general, is very stimulating and encourages pro-business meetings.
How do you see yourself in 10 years?
An adult ten years older, but still a child through ambition and curiosity.
A father increasingly concerned about the state of the world we are leaving to future generations.
An entrepreneur by vocation, tackling ever more ambitious challenges. With more positive impact on the planet and its guests. A manager concerned about passing on his passion and sharing his vision with those around him.
How did you finance the first stages of Fintecture?
Before the GO Live we needed to build the technological platform and obtain the approval of the regulor. It took more than two years of hard work and success.
For us, it was important to self-finance its first steps by accompanying Fintecture until it met its market. We were fortunate to be able to self-finance these first long steps thanks to our respective experiences. We were also able to benefit from significant financial support from BPI and Wilco.
Now that we have validated a strong traction on our solution, we are launching a first round of dilutive financing.
What do you see as the key to success?
Whether for Fintecture or for my previous ventures, the individual and collective quality of the team remains the key success factor. In the startup environment, there is a lot of talk about the importance of the team but very few realize how decisive the team is. The road to success is often long and full of pitfalls. Only a determined, complementary team that shares the same ambition will be able to take up the challenge.
"When you dream alone, it's only a dream, whereas when you dream with others, it's already a reality. "Hélder Câmara