The second Hachenburg Dialogue, a series of events dedicated to supervisory topics, was entitled “Fintechs in Germany before and after Wirecard & Corona – Business Models, Challenges, Visions.” The guest speaker this time was Alex Bierhaus, CTO and Managing Director of COMPEON, a full-service provider platform for small and medium-sized enterprises. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the associated restrictions on events meant that the evening presentation for the prudential-themed series of events took place in a virtual format for the first time.

In his presentation, Alex Bierhaus started by talking about the impact of digitalisation on the economy. He particularly emphasised that digital transformation is still in its infancy, before going on to discuss developments and trends in the banking sector, first and foremost. Mr Bierhaus believes that the banking sector is about to undergo digitalisation-driven structural change which will revolutionise commercial banking above all. High processing costs mean that many banks are no longer able to offer financing for small and medium-sized enterprises profitably, for instance. He therefore feels that the future of commercial banking lies in greater digitalisation.

One of the evening’s positive surprises was the scale of participation at the second Hachenburg Dialogue, with some 120 students and alumni following the invitation to the virtual presentation. This lively interest was also reflected in the number of questions asked by the audience. Under the moderation of Professor Andreas Igl, the organiser of the Hachenburg Dialogue, Mr Bierhaus took sufficient time to answer all questions. Overall, the presentation is likely to have helped participants to better grasp the impact of digitalisation on the economy, as well as raising the audience’s awareness of upcoming structural change in the banking sector.