How Inbank’s founder Andrea Agostinone’s business interests span from Baltics to Dubai

How Inbank’s founder Andrea Agostinone’s business interests span from Baltics to Dubai

By Deepak Jain Published: Thu 2 Mar 2023, 5:18 PM Last updated: Thu 2 Mar 2023, 5:21 PM

Cryptocurrencies and the blockchain have been the talk of the town in the last decade. Whereas cryptocurrencies have seen their precipitous highs and lows, the fintech sphere has been quietly evolving as new innovations become an organic part of modern-day life. Some financial experts believe the era of financial technology started in the 1950s when the first credit cards were mailed to some 60,000 Fresno residents in California; others date it back to the 1970s when ATMs began to take the world by storm. Opinions differ on this account with some pundits arguing the origin of fintech goes back to first wires with payment orders in the late 19th century. What experts do agree on is that fintech has been an increasingly vital aspect of society since its inception.

One of fintech's invisible parts is the so-called embedded finance. Embedded finance represents the placing of a financial product in a non-financial customer experience. This may first seem like nothing new as businesses other than banks, such as retail chains, airlines, and supermarkets have been offering financial services (Costco, Amazon Prime rewards, Walmart rewards cards,