Velez: Fintech startups should obtain banking licenses instead of avoiding regulation
David Vélez · David Velez: How AI Changes The Future of Finance | E1059 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Sep 11, 2023 · at 38:13
David Velez is the co-founder and CEO of Nubank. He discusses why fintech founders should embrace full regulation and banking licenses despite valuation concerns.
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“The sense is that in a lot of our geographies, entrepreneurs try to almost do everything except embracing the space, except becoming a bank. Because of some arguments that if you became a bank, then your valuation multiple was going to be lower and you're going to be valued less. We remember, I remember discussing that argument and saying, who cares? First, we have to build this business and then we don't care. We will care about valuation. It doesn't really matter. And I think that has partly won't be one of the reasons why a lot of these businesses have become in backlash because regulators have been, have seen businesses doing financial services that really look like banks. And not our banks. And in reality, they should have just embraced the space since the very beginning.”
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