The temptation to buy a FinTech company is higher now that the valuation of some businesses in the sector are declining in value, the head of technology at Deutsche Bank has said.

The comments come as a number of high-profile companies in the sector see their values decline significantly.

Last month it was reported that Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) giant Klarna was seeking new funding that would cut its valuation down to a third of the $46 billion valuation recorded last year.

Shortly after the news was published, the business announced it was cutting its workforce by 10 per cent.

During an interview alongside tech partner Google Cloud at Money 20/20 in Amsterdam, management board member and head of technology, data and innovation Bernd Leukert said it “would be wrong” to say the organisation had not thought about the potential of buying FinTechs at a lower price.

Google Cloud is partnering with the bank on its cloud migration and digitisation strategy.

Leukert explained that it is less the FinTechs themselves that the bank is interested in and more the talent at these organisations.

He said that while not every FinTech idea is successful, those working for failing FinTechs are “welcome to join” the bank as tech experts.

Digitisation strategy at Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank’s technology lead said that a “cultural renewal” was an important aspect of its digitisation strategy.

While the bank has an ambition to roll out technology solutions, he said, it also has a goal to incorporate the culture of Silicon Valley “into the DNA” of the organisation.

Daniel Holz, vice president EMEA North at Google Cloud explained that the migration strategy at the bank had started at the end of 2020.

The partnership hopes to have 100 applications running in a cloud native environment by the end of the year.

During the cloud migration the company has lifted and transferred existing applications and has started creating some cloud-first applications, including a cash flow optimisation platform.


Cryptocurrency plans


Deutsche Bank also said that while it is discussing with customers whether it can provide a custody service for cryptocurrencies, at the moment it is not planning on doing so.

Leukert said that the bank "needs more experience" to avoid falling into the trap of a compliance issue related to digital assets.

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