Top Fintech Influencers in 2021

If you've ever paid with your phone, exchanged money with an app, or updated your bank account online, you're still a member of a multibillion-dollar industry. It's known as fintech, and it's transforming markets all over the world. Fintech is an abbreviation for financial technology; it sounds easy, doesn't it?

The word "fintech" refers to a broad variety of products, technology, and business models that are transforming the financial services sector. It encompasses everything from cashless transfers to crowdfunding sites, robo-advisers, and virtual currency.

Many people find it difficult to keep up with the ever-changing market. Fortunately, there are a plethora of fintech gurus all over the world who consistently post the most pertinent tips, latest happenings, explainers, and commentary via their massively followed social media accounts.

These are some of the most trustworthy and respected fintech influencers of 2021, whom you can track to stay up to date on the latest developments in fintech, markets, technology, finance, among others:

Spiros Margaris

Spiros Margaris is a senior adviser, venture capitalist, futurist, and keynote speaker. He works with Wefox Group, SparkLabs Global, Mediastalker.ai, Canopy.rent, STC Pay, Better Plant Sciences Inc., and F10 Accelerator.. 

He is the first international influencer to be awarded "The Triple Crown." Furthermore, Onalytica named him the No. 1 foreign FinTech, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) influencer (05/2018). Onalytica has named Spiros the No. 1 global FinTech influencer (02/2020). Refinitiv named him the No. 1 Finance Influencer (08/2020). He regularly appears in the top three positions of established global industry influencer rankings. 

He has delivered keynote addresses at major FinTech and InsurTech conferences. In addition, he delivered a TEDxAcademy Talk. For the enterprise applications provider SAP, he wrote an AI white paper titled "Machine learning in financial services: Changing the Rules of the Game." He was the first non-IBM keynote speaker at Europe's largest IBM event, "2019 IBM Systems Technical University" (10/2019).

Follow Sipros Margaris: Spiros Margaris on Twitter I Spiros Margaris on LinkedIn 

Jim Marous

Jim Marous, a globally recognized financial market strategist, co-publisher of The Financial Brand, owner and publisher of the Digital Banking Report, and host of the top 10 banking podcast, Banking Transformed, has been named one of the most prominent people in banking and a Top 5 Fintech Influencer to Follow. Marous advises on all aspects of digital transformation in the financial services industry.

Marous, a sought-after keynote speaker and author in the financial services industry, has been published by CNBC and CNN, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Financial Times, The Economist, The American Banker, Accenture, and Cheddar, and has spoken to crowds all over the globe. Jim has also briefed the White House on banking policies and is a frequent contributor to several publications and podcasts.

Follow Jim Marous: Jim Marous on Twitter I Jim Marous on LinkedIn 

Theodora Lau

Theo is a public speaker, blogger, and strategist who aims to spark creativity in the public and private sectors for the benefit of underserved demographics and to build a more sustainable community. She is the founder of Unconventional Ventures, which focuses on creating and expanding an ecosystem of financial companies, businesses, startups, developers, venture capitalists, and accelerators to help meet unmet customer needs, with a particular emphasis on women and minority investors.

She actively coaches and advises entrepreneurs in the financial services and healthcare/caregiving sectors as part of her job. Onalytica rated Theo as the No. 1 Women in Finance, and she was called one of 44 "2017 Innovators to Watch" by Bank Innovation, as well as a LinkedIn Top Voice for Economy and Finance.

Follow Theodora Lau: Theodora Lau on Twitter I Theodora Lau on LinkedIn 

Steve McLaughlin

He is the FT Partners' founder, CEO, and managing director. In 1995, Steve began his investment banking career at Goldman Sachs, where he focused on financial technology firms. At the age of 32, he left Goldman Sachs to launch FT Partners, seven years later. He has consistently led and grown the company for nearly 20 years and is widely regarded as one of the undisputed pioneers of Fintech capital raising and M&A advisory.

McLaughlin has received numerous industry awards, including Investment Banker of the Year from The Information, and is regularly ranked as one of the world's most prominent people in Fintech. Steve has a BSBA from Villanova University and an MBA from the Wharton School.

Follow Steve McLaughlin: Steve McLaughlin on Twitter I Steve McLaughlin on LinkedIn 

Brett King

Brett King is a world-renowned futurist and speaker, International Bestselling Author, and television personality who is still dreaming about the next 50 years. In his 2018 State of the Nation Speech, President Xi Jinping referred to his book Augmented on the subject of Artificial Intelligence. In 2019, his book Bank 4.0 was named Russia's Best Book by a Foreign Author. CB Insights inducted him into the Fintech Hall of Fame in 2020.

Brett has appeared at TED, Wired, Techsauce, Singularity University, Web Summit, The Economist, IBM's World of Watson, CES, SIBOS, and several more events in over 50 countries. He has featured on CNBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, and Bloomberg as a commentator. He has delivered live speeches to interactive audiences of over 42 million people. He previously consulted the Obama administration on Fintech policies and now consults with regulators and bank boards around the world on technological transition.

"Breaking Banks," the world's top-rated radio show and podcast on fintech, is hosted by King (180 countries, 7 million listeners). He is the CEO and Founder of Moven, a profitable mobile start-up that has raised over US$47 million to date and offers the world's first mobile, downloadable bank account in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Russia, and New Zealand.

Follow Brett King: Brett King on Twitter I Brett King on LinkedIn 

Chris Skinner

Chris Skinner is widely regarded as one of the most prominent figures in technology, as well as an independent analyst on financial markets and fintech from his blog, the Finanser.com. His most recent (sixteenth!) book, Doing Digital, shares digital transition lessons learned from interviews with BBVA, China Merchants Bank, DBS, ING, and JPMorgan Chase. 

ValueWeb explains the effect of Fintech and how mobile and blockchain technology are transforming the face of finance in order to create a value internet. Banks must become digitalized as a result of the new internet of value, and Modern Bank offers a thorough overview and study of the fight for digital banking, as well as tactics for businesses to succeed.

Digital Human, which was published in March 2018, expands on these two topics while also looking at the larger context of digitalization and how it is a transition in that it requires everybody from the plains of Africa to the mountains of Tibet to be included.

Follow Chris Skinner: Chris Skinner on Twitter I Chris Skinner on LinkedIn 

Simon Taylor

Simon Taylor is 11:FS's Co-Founder and Blockchain Practice Lead. Simon has been immersed in financial services technology for as long as he has been employed and is regularly named one of the most prominent individuals in Banking, Insurance, and Fintech by banks, colleagues, and business bodies.

Simon led Blockchain Research and Development at Barclays, where the bank became the world's first to conduct a live trade finance exchange over a Blockchain / DLT with a real consumer connected. Today, Simon advises governments, regulators, and some of the world's biggest banks, financial institutions, and corporations on how Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) can affect their businesses in the short, medium, and long term. Prior to this, Simon worked on the Barclays www.thinkrise.com program and occupied a variety of positions in payments, finance, and telecommunications.

Furthermore, Simon is a co-host of both Fintech Insider, Europe's #1 Industry Podcast, and Blockchain Insider, the fastest expanding business podcast and the hub of Blockchain awareness and first-rate interviews.

Follow Simon Taylor: Simon Taylor on Twitter I Simon Taylor on LinkedIn 

David Sandström

David is currently the Chief Marketing Officer at Klarna and a member of the company's executive management committee. David joined Klarna in 2017 and oversaw the fintech company's comprehensive brand transition from a traditional financial institution to a forward-thinking luxury brand. He is in charge of everything related to design, public relations, communication, and brand.

During his tenure at Klarna, he oversaw many ground-breaking marketing campaigns that drew worldwide exposure, including collaborations with high-profile celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg. David was the CEO of one of Sweden's leading advertising companies before joining Klarna.

Follow David Sandström: David Sandström on Twitter I David Sandström on LinkedIn 

Jack Dorsey 

Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976)[5] is an American billionaire internet pioneer and philanthropist who co-founded and is CEO of Twitter as well as the founder and CEO of Square, a financial payments firm.

Jack's influence extends far beyond the finance market, and he didn't really start there to begin with. When it comes to fintech growth, many consider Square, the company under his guidance. to be one of the fastest and most influential companies around the globe. 

Square's actions during the first COVID epidemic set a precedent for the entire sector and the business community in general. This alone qualifies him as one of the Top Fintech Influencers today.

Follow Jack Dorsey: Jack Dorsey on Twitter 

Linas Beliūnas

Linas is a business developer, sales professional and FinTech strategist who strives to make an impact and change the world. For the better. Currently he is a part of Flutterwave, where he is leading the company's expansion in Europe. 

Flutterwave is a MasterCard, Greycroft, and Y Combinator backed payments technology company headquartered in San Francisco. The company is changing the way people do business online.

He is often regarded as one of the most powerful influencers in the crypto space. On Twitter, he often posts in-depth coverage of the evolution of the crypto assets industry, as well as related news about how blockchain technologies and fintech business models are transforming the financial landscape.

Follow Linas Beliūnas: Linas Beliunas on Twitter I Linas Beliunas on LinkedIn 

Anna Irrera

Anna Irrera is a Reuters London Chief Correspondent who covers the financial services industry and technological advances at some of the world's biggest financial institutions. In her job, she works on stories about Wall Street and Silicon Valley, such as cryptocurrency and their underlying technologies, blockchain, peer-to-peer lending, and online investing.  Anna previously worked with Reuters in New York as a team leader for financial firms coverage and a fintech correspondent.

She joined Reuters in 2016 after covering fintech for more than three years at Financial News, a Dow Jones newspaper in London, where she was instrumental in expanding the publication's fintech coverage. She joined Dow Jones as an online correspondent for Financial News in 2012, after moving to the UK from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she worked at Reuters' English language foreign service.

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Bruno Diniz

Bruno is the co-founder of Spiralem (a financial industry innovation consultancy), the Head of South America at FDATA (Financial Data and Technology Association), and a professor at FGV's Fintech school, the FDC Global Digital Finance Program, and the USP ESALQ MBA. He also speaks and writes for FEBRABAN's Noomis website, EXAME Magazine, and Cointelegraph, a digital cryptocurrency network.

Bruno Diniz was called the most prominent person in the Brazilian Fintech sector by the European portal INVYO Insights in 2016. He was ranked the ninth most prominent individual in Iberoamerica by Finnovating Consulting in 2018, and the first among Brazilians. In 2019, he wrote "O Fenômeno Fintech," the first book on Fintech written by a Brazilian author and published by Alta Books.

Follow Bruno Diniz: Bruno Diniz on Twitter I Bruno Diniz on LinkedIn 

Amit Goel

Amit is the founder of MEDICI. Various agencies regularly rank him as a Global and Asia Top 100 FinTech specialist. He is committed to bringing actionable #FinTech content, perspectives, a global FinTech forum, a Global FinTech ranking, and other developments to the ecosystem.

In India, Amit serves on the FICCI's FinTech committee. Has served as an adviser to a number of prominent FinTech startups. Amit founded MEDICI (formerly LTP), which is widely regarded as the world's leading FinTech network. It has profiles of 12k FinTech startups from around the world, divided into 40 groups, as well as based analysis.

Amit has a deep experience in policy and business research, and he has represented companies in payments, commerce, and technology spanning from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500. In the past, he developed and successfully expanded GrowthPraxis, a consultancy and analysis firm. GrowthPraxis' Payments, Money, and Commerce vertical has expanded rapidly in recent years.

Follow Amit Goel: Amit Goel on Twitter I Amit Goel on LinkedIn 

Nik Milanovic 

Nik Milanovic Contributor Share on Twitter Nik Milanovic is a fintech and financial inclusion enthusiast, with a decade of work across mobile payments, online lending, credit and microfinance. The opinions expressed in his articles do not reflect those of his employer(s). More posts by this contributor We need new business models to burst old media filter bubbles Now more than ever we need fintechs to lead on consumer transparency 

Nik Milanović has spent the past decade working in FinTech. He writes for This Week in Fintech and is a FinTech columnist for TechCrunch and Forbes. He is a fintech and financial inclusion enthusiast, with a decade of work across mobile payments, online lending, credit and microfinance. The opinions expressed in his articles do not reflect those of his employer(s). At Google, Nik works in the FinTech domain. He has previously worked at Petal and Funding Circle. In his free time, he advises FinTech startups through the Barclays-Techstars partnership.

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Enrico Molinari

Enrico Molinari is a momentum shifter and marketing innovation boss. He teaches economics and fintech, omnichannel marketing management, and digital communications methods at the university level. As a director in a high-tech company with added value and in multinational startups, he was in control. He works with the European Commission as an external representative and specialist evaluator. He is also the Unioncamere - Chambers of Commerce of Industry & Agriculture Thought Leader for the Introduction of New Technologies (AI, IoT, blockchain, big data e analytics, CX & payments). On IR40, keynote speaker, international press blogger, and digital innovation thought leader.

Enrico was also named one of the top ten most prominent individuals in communications creativity, digital change, and enterprise technologies by the Research Foundation (Silicon Valley, USA). He is the President’s Spokesperson for the Confassociazioni and VP in Confassociazioni Banks & Finance for FinTech, InsurTech, PropTech PayTech-Digital Payments, representing 700 Associations, 1,225,000 members and 211,000 foreign companies.

Follow Enrico Molinari: Enrico Molinari on Twitter I Enrico Molinari on LinkedIn 

Alex Jiménez

Alex is the Chief Strategy Officer at Extractable, a digital strategy, architecture, and data analytics firm focusing on the future of finance. His other previous expertise included overseeing Digital Banking and Payments Strategy and Innovation at Rockland Trust and heading technology strategic planning for the CIO's office at Zions Bancorporation.

He has been called on many industry influencer lists, including those for FinTech, RegTech, Blockchain, InsurTech, Innovation, and Digital Marketing. He has appeared in Irish Tech News as well as the Independent Community Bankers of America's (ICBA) Independent Banker. For his contributions to banking creativity, the ICBA called him Indie Banker of the Month in December 2015.

He has been featured in The Financial Brand, Finovate, CFO Outlook, CIO Insights, and Irish Tech Reporting. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Financial Brand, American Banker, and Boston Business Journal, among other publications. Alex is a frequent speaker at industry meetings, most recently at Finovate Spring 2018 and 2019, the AFP Utah Chapter Meeting Spring 2018, Omnichannel Banking Transformation & Strategy Conference, January 2018. 

Follow Alex Jiménez: Alex Jiménez on Twitter I Alex Jiménez on LinkedIn 

Vitalik Buterin

Vitaly Dmitriyevich "Vitalik" Buterin is widely regarded as the creator of the blockchain Ethereum. Ethereum (and its commonly traded currency, Ether) is an open-source blockchain framework that helps people to create decentralized apps. It was launched in 2014. These "DApps" are being used in a variety of fields, like gambling, gaming, and finance.

Ethereum's valuation has increased by upwards of 130 percent in 2021 already, while buyers and entrepreneurs investigate the cryptocurrency's future in the field of DeFi. Ethereum now has a market cap of more than $215 billion, and with the latest release of Ethereum's EIP 1559 update, stakeholders may see much more exponential development from the coin in the future. 

Follow Vitalik Buterin: Vitalik Buterin on Twitter I Vitalik Buterin on LinkedIn 

Andreas Staub

Andreas Staub holds an economics degree from the University of Zurich and has over 15 years of management and finance experience. He is a professor and examination specialist on various topics at various universities of applied sciences (Swiss Finance Institute, IFZ Finanzdienstleistungen Zug) (retail banking, strategy, corporate governance and others).

His extensive analytical understanding does not prevent him from profiling himself via project and program frameworks through strong praxis execution skill. He is the Raiffeisen Group's Head of Corporate Development and Digital Transformation.

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Note: The above list is in no particular order and has been curated after studying multiple websites and channels with the possibility of omission of some other great influencers.