Thursday 07 December 2017 10:13 am

Legal and General digital chief Maarten Ectors on why fintech startups shouldn’t be focused on disruption

Fintech startups should concentrate on solving the problems currently faced by business, Legal and General’s digital chief has said.

But they are often concentrating on finding solutions further along the horizon, said Maarten Ectors who joined the FTSE 100 insurer five months ago.

Businesses are facing several challenges, some of which could be solved with blockchain technology, particularly in the insurance industry, he said.

"I used to work in hi-tech and I had a million solutions and five paying customers with problems. Here [at L&G], we're talking about the opposite, with a million paying customer problems, and very few good solutions," he said speaking at a conference in London.

While many tech giants have succeeded following the Silicon Valley mantra of "move fast and break things" disrupting traditional industries, fintech has moved towards a closer collaborative approach in recent years between the traditional financial services companies and newer startups.

"It's about constructive innovation, not disruptive innovation," Ectors told City PM.

Ectors, who previously led the Internet of Things (IoT) division at the company behind Ubuntu software, said L&G is already working on an innovative new pilot with real customers that will be unveiled in the coming months.