Rodrigo García de la Cruz, CEO of Finnovating and Vice President of the Spanish Association of FinTech and InsurTech (AEFI), has been appointed as the first president of the Global FinTech Alliance (GFA) for the next three years. This innovative alliance brings together more than 100 countries and four major regional networks, including the European Digital Finance Association (EDFA), the FinTech Iberoamerica Alliance (FIA), the Africa FinTech Network (AFN), and Digital ASEAN & Digital Philippines & IDEA. In the short term, the GFA plans to include more regions, aiming to connect the global digital finance industry, facilitate the globalization of companies in the sector, and promote financial inclusion.
The GFA has also appointed its inaugural board of directors, a significant step in its establishment process. The founding members elected regional presidents for Africa, America, Asia, and Europe:
- Amor Maclang will serve as the president for Asia, representing Digital ASEAN, Digital Philippines, and IDEA. She is a pioneer in building digital ecosystems in the ASEAN region, committed to global digital connectivity.
- Niklas Sandqvist has been appointed as the European president. With extensive experience in the European sector, he is the co-secretary general of the European Digital Finance Association and a serial co-founder of several industry communities, such as Fintech Norway, Nordic Initiative, and EDFA.
- Roberto Vargas will be the president for the Americas, representing the Fintech Iberoamerica Alliance. He currently serves as the president of the Fintech Iberoamerica Alliance and the Fintech Association of Peru, and is the CEO of Betriax.
- Segun Aina will be the president for Africa, representing the Africa Fintech Network. He currently serves as the president of the Africa Fintech Network, president of the Fintech Institute, and chairman of the Opolo Global Innovation board.
Rodrigo García de la Cruz is also a founding member of the Fintech Iberoamerica Alliance, the European FinTech Alliance, the Spanish Association of Fintech and InsurTech (AEFI), and the International Digital Economies Association (iDEA). Additionally, he is the CEO and founder of Finnovating, a matching platform that connects 30,000 companies across 160 countries to innovate and conduct B2B business. According to García de la Cruz, “The Global FinTech Alliance is poised to be the United Nations of FinTech, where in a single global institution we can give voice to an ecosystem that today unites nearly 50,000 startups and scaleups worldwide.”
By appointing its board of directors and establishing strategic partnerships, the Global Fintech Alliance is prepared to drive transformative change in the global digital finance landscape, fostering collaboration and innovation across borders.