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10 people to follow if you want a career in fintech

25 Apr 2017

If you want to work in the exciting and innovative world of fintech, following these top influencers and role models on Twitter is a good place to start.

Fintech Week

The fintech industry continues to grow with a huge number of start-ups popping up around Ireland and across the globe.

As technology continues to advance, the big players of the finance and banking sector have had to play catch-up to the innovative start-ups.

The good news is that the number of fintech roles available to those interested has grown. Not only are there more fintech jobs available, but there are more types of roles for designers, developers and data scientists, to name but a few.

With that in mind, you might like your Twitter news feed to be a bit more fintech-oriented as you head into the industry yourself. We’ve compiled a list of 10 top role models and influencers to get you started with your career in fintech.

Matt Flannery (@mattflannery)

Co-founder of lending non-profit Kiva and socially conscious financial company Branch, Matt Flannery is a major fintech start-up player.

Flannery led Kiva’s growth from a pilot project to an established online service that has lent more than $700m to low-income entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, Branch is a for-profit “branchless bank” for Africans, which has made nearly a million loans in Tanzania and Kenya.

Flannery will be speaking at Inspirefest 2017 this July.

Anna Irrera (@annairrera)

As the financial correspondent at Reuters, Anna Irrera is a strong, knowledgeable voice on all things fintech and blockchain.

Prior to her position at Reuters, Irrera spent four-and-a-half years writing about fintech for Financial News, a Dow Jones online newspaper based in London.

Irrera is an essential person to follow to stay on top of fintech industry news.

Stephen Moran (@moranste)

Stephen Moran is currently the head of research at Bank of Ireland (BOI) Innovation. He has been working at BOI for more than a decade, and he also works with BOI Workbench to provided mentorship support for early-stage tech start-ups.

Moran works with the European Banking Federation and the Euro Banking Association to help shape EU policy on cryptocurrencies.

As an industry expert, Moran is an important person to follow if you want a career in fintech.

Devie Mohan (@devie_mohan)

Devie Mohan is a fintech marketing strategy and research professional with years of experience working with industry giants and start-ups, including Goldman Sachs, Thomson Reuters and IBM.

Last year, she was named the seventh most influential person in UK fintech by City AM, and ninth most influential person in fintech globally by Jax Finance.

Mohan is also a keynote speaker on fintech innovation and CEO of Burnmark, a research company that publishes fintech newsletters and reports.

Dave Tighe (@Davetizer)

David Tighe is the head of innovation at BOI, with 16 years of retail banking experience behind him.

Tighe has been a driving force behind numerous digital initiatives at BOI, including its willingness to work with fintech start-ups.

On Twitter, you will find Tighe posting and retweeting all things fintech, from industry news to interesting features that will introduce you to the sector.

Elizabeth Lumley (@LizLum)

Elizabeth Lumley has experience as a global specialist commentator on regulations, risk, investment, retail and global transactional banking.

Formally working at Startupbootcamp, which dealt exclusively with fintech start-ups, Lumley is now the managing director of thought leadership at Rainmaking, a global cooperative of entrepreneurs.

Based in London, Lumley is a strong voice in fintech and a must-follow for anyone starting their career in the industry.

Richard Lumb (@RichardLumb1)

Richard Lumb is group chief executive of Accenture’s financial services operating group, which serves clients in the banking, capital markets and insurance industries.

Lumb also leads Accenture’s Fintech Innovation Lab in New York, London and Hong Kong.

He is a prominent writer and commentator on the fintech industry, and has contributed to a number of publications including: Financial Times, The Wall Street JournalForbes and Harvard Business Review.

Hazel Moore (@hazel_moore)

FirstCapital co-founder Hazel Moore has fully embraced the digital banking world.

A prominent figure in the fintech industry, Moore spoke at Inspirefest last year about how banks were not using the valuable data they were collecting.

As an industry expert, Moore is an essential person to follow, and is a particularly strong role model for women who want a career in fintech.

Oliver Bussmann (@obussmann)

Oliver Bussmann is a global fintech executive, keynote speaker and industry expert.

Bussmann’s experience spans across 25 years in various financial roles in UBS, SAP, Allianz, Deutsche Bank and IBM.

He has also founded his own advisory company, providing coaching services in digital transformation, innovation and business model recreation. His Twitter account is replete with information on fintech and blockchain.

Leanne Kemp (@leanne_kemp)

With a wealth of successful start-up companies under her belt, Leanne Kemp has a strong background in emerging technologies, business and insurance.

Kemp is the founder and CEO of Everledger, a global start-up that uses blockchain, smart contracts and machine vision to assist in the reduction of risk and fraud for banks, insurers and open marketplaces.

She is the person to follow for blockchain and insurtech, and will also be speaking at Inspirefest 2017 this summer.

Inspirefest is Silicon Republic’s international event connecting sci-tech professionals passionate about the future of STEM. Book now to get your Early Bird Tickets.

Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

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