World Economic Forum 2016 to Discuss Fintech Revolution

World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2016 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland on January 20-23, is expected to focus on fintech revolution with its theme being "Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution" this year.

“Indeed, across all industries, there is clear evidence that the technologies that underpin the Fourth Industrial Revolution [cyber-physical systems] are having a major impact on businesses”, says Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.

CBROnline reports that Dan Schulman, CEO, PayPal will discuss the implication of fintech revolution on the finance industry with the leaders of the financial services sector, including Managing Director of International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde. The panel will focus on issues including data privacy and regulation, digitisation and new business models.

Schulman will join John Cryan, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley's James Gorman, in a panel discussing how digitisation, data privacy and systemic connectedness are transforming finance.

Chris Larsen, CEO of Ripple, will also participate in the WEF at Davos later and will touch upon topics including the transformation of finance, the fintech revolution and fostering financial inclusion, as reported by Forbes.

The topic of digital currency and Bitcoin had been already addressed last year at Davos, CoinTelegraph reported. This year, one can expect to hear even more as many other Bitcoin and Blockchain supporters are attending the event including like Mauricio Macri and Evgeny Kaspersky.

Finextra reported that in a session on the fintech revolution, Lloyds of London CEO Inga Beale, ING chief Ralph Hamers, Swift boss Gottfried Leibbrandt and Visa president Ryan McInerney will discuss how new technologies and evolving customer expectations are transforming the ecosystem.

Also, Taavet Hinrikus, the CEO of TransferWise, will participate in a discussion on the "unicorn effect". TransferWise was one of three fintech firms, alongside Ripple and iZettle, to be named a WEF "technology pioneer" in 2015.