how can we build a product that is 10 times better than that which you ’ re already using ?’.”
With Airwallex , Butland is based in the UK , albeit responsible for expanding the company ’ s footprint into Europe . He is , understandably , a strong proponent of the UK ’ s position in the financial services and payments industry . “ Fintech isn ’ t a global , onesize-fits-all industry – it ’ s all about tailoring your product and approach to the region you work in ; we sell in China , for example , but that ’ s very different from the product we offer in Europe . If you look at payments , I think the UK is at the forefront in terms of regulation and market conditions , but I spend a lot of time with the Airwallex team in Asia Pacific , where they ’ re leading the way in terms of on the ground payments and moving money . In China , of course , there ’ s the development of super apps and other technologies , so every region is very different and that dictates how you operate .”
Regardless of region , technology has been the key driver of change in every sub-sector of financial services . In payments in particular , Airwallex has developed tech-driven infrastructure that enables low-cost , high-speed and transparent international collections and payments via API . “ We approached the problem in a very different way to incumbents that have a bricks-and-mortar presence , instead as a ‘ software layer ’ across the globe that can connect all banks and locations into one unified whole . What we offer is a complete platform that
31 fintechmagazine . com