Interview with CEO Luigi Wewege

Luigi Wewege is the Chief Executive Officer of Vivier & Co, a boutique financial services firm offering private digital banking solutions to its clients worldwide. He holds a Master of Business Administration with a major in international business from the MIB - School of Management. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a triple major in finance, international business and management - cum laude from the University of Missouri - St. Louis. Notably, while Luigi was completing his undergraduate he executed a pilot study for the Federal Trade Commission during one of the most serious financial times for the American economy. The focus of the study was to examine and determine the accuracy of credit bureau information, with the research ultimately providing the impetus for a report which was presented before the United States Congress under Section 319 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. We have conducted an interview with him.

Who do you represent in jurisdictions across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe and South America?

Vivier Group offers financial services across five continents using privately held companies that eye investments in sectors such as financial services, venture capital, healthcare, management consulting and property development. The list of boutique financial services offered by Vivier & Co includes; savings and current accounts, international money transfer and escrow accounts to streamline international trades. My personal responsibility within the financial services group is to lead and motivate a worldwide team where he oversees all business divisions and functions which include; business development, compliance, customer service, finance, HR, IT, as well as for global sales, and marketing.

Which are your other non-executive positions + roles outside of Vivier?

Outside of Vivier I serve as the Non-executive Chairman of Nikau Global an international trade development company, as Partner/Director of Palmetto Global Ventures a bespoke financial management consultancy based in South Carolina, and am an invited member of Massachusetts non-profit The Young Entrepreneur Council. I am also the author of the book: The Digital Banking Revolution which is available in audio, kindle and paperback formats through all major online bookstores in over fifty countries

What do you foresee will be the new changes in the Fintech industry in the next 10 years?

Over the next decade financial service innovations will continue to contribute to a completely new way in which customers can bank, threatening the status quo of traditional retail banks, and redefining a banking model which has been in place for generations. These new technological advancements will facilitate the rapid emergence of digital banking firms and FinTech companies, leading to established banks being forced to swiftly increase their pace of digital adoption to stay relevant and stop mass client attrition to these agile financial start-ups. These threats will come at an inopportune time for banks due to mature markets currently experiencing stagnant growth. This coupled with decreasing profit margins due to the competitive pricing of new entrants, and financial customer loyalty becoming ever increasingly more tenuous.

How will the people be impacted by the mobile banking, check imaging, and smart watches advancement?

These are just some of the latest financial innovations assisting customers with a variety of ways in which to spend, move, and manage their money. Unquestionably many more of these types of financial innovations will be created over the coming years, to try to win the hearts and minds of customers and convince them to switch accounts. However, the extent of how far this innovation can be developed is still not known precisely, and for digital banking firms to continue their rapid growth will ultimately be bound to the reliability of new technology advancements, and their performance will also be directly affected either positively or negatively by this.

What was the most challenging decision you have ever made in your role as CEO of Vivier & Co?

I consider this when the company had to push back our timeline of expansion into Southeast Asia, as being the most challenging. What we hadn’t realized were the numerous challenges we would face, such as online connectivity being very low across much of the region. Also, many financial consumers there have never used an offshore financial services firm for their banking needs, and so the burden falls on the first movers like us to explain the benefits to the market.