Fintech influencers to follow for 2019

Fintech is alive and well in the financial services industry. With so much innovation and digital transformation underway, it can be challenging to stay current with developments. This listing of global fintech influencers is offered as part of a solution to that problem.

Yet, as the global fintech universe continues to expand and morph into more specialized areas – such as paytech, insurtech, lendtech, wealthtech, AI, crypto/blockchain – there are more areas of expertise, more online discussions and many more people engaging in those discussions. In other words, there are other influencers, in addition to the people listed below, that are worth tuning into if you have business interests in any of the above areas.

A few quick words on methodology, a more detailed explanation of which you will find In the FAQs below the lists. These lists are based on data analysis using a commercially available third-party tool. I do not choose people to be on or off the lists (so please don’t lobby me to get on a list or be disappointed with me for excluding you). Rather, people appearing on the lists are ranked according to various scoring criteria.

What’s new this year is that I’ve presented the top influencers ranked by three different criteria: Insider Score, Network Centrality and Emerging Score. As a bonus, I’ve also included 100 of the top organizations (non-individuals) that are fintech influencers.

Finally, these people (and organizations) are all designated as influencers by virtue of their online activity on social networks. They are the most followed, shared and engaged people discussing fintech topics online. In short, if you want to move a message through the word-of-mouth, global fintech network, these are the people who do it best. There are many, many other people who have expertise, insight and influence on fintech topics who are not as active online, therefore they will not appear on any of these lists.

If you want to stay apprised of key developments in this exciting and rapidly changing technological space, these are some great people to start paying attention to!

Fintech Influencers Ranked by Insider Score

Insider Score is simply the number of other insiders in this network who are following an account (on Twitter). The higher the rank, the more of the over 3000 people and organizations analyzed that follow that person.

1. Chris Gledhill | @cgledhill | LinkedIn | London, England
2. Jim Marous | @JimMarous | LinkedIn | Cleveland, OH
3. Spiros Margaris | @SpirosMargaris | LinkedIn | All Over the World
4. Sebastien Meunier | @sbmeunier | LinkedIn | New York, USA
5. Bradley Leimer | @leimer | LinkedIn | San Francisco, CA
6. David M. Brear | @davidbrear | LinkedIn | London
7. Brett King | @BrettKing | LinkedIn | New York + 30,000 feet
8. Chris Skinner | @Chris_Skinner | LinkedIn | London
9. Elon Musk | @elonmusk | LinkedIn |
10. Duena Blomstrom | @DuenaBlomstrom | LinkedIn | Global
11. Nick Bilodeau | @FinMKTG | LinkedIn | Toronto, Singapore and everywhere in between
12. Anna Irrera | @annairrera | LinkedIn | New York, NY
13. Devie Mohan | @devie_mohan | LinkedIn | London | Amsterdam
14. Florian Graillot | @FGraillot | LinkedIn | Paris, France
15. Simon Taylor | @sytaylor | LinkedIn | London, UK
16. Simon Cocking | @SimonCocking | LinkedIn | Dublin, Ireland
17. Andreas Staub | @andi_staub | LinkedIn |
18. JP Nicols | @JPNicols | LinkedIn | Seattle
19. Bill Sullivan | @WFSULLIVAN3 | LinkedIn | Wyndham, VA
20. Ron Shevlin | @rshevlin | LinkedIn |
21. Minh Q. Tran | @Minh_Q_Tran | LinkedIn | London, Paris, Zurich, Luxembourg
22. Oliver Bussmann | @obussmann | LinkedIn | ZRH | LON | NYC | SIN | HKG
23. Steve Tunstall | @TunstallAsc | LinkedIn | Singapore
24. Nektarios Liolios | @nekliolios | LinkedIn | London
25. Matteo Carbone | @MCins_ | LinkedIn |
26. Liz Lumley | @LizLum | LinkedIn | London, UK
27. Koen Vanderhoydonk | @KVanderhoydonk | LinkedIn | Belgium
28. Sam Maule | @sammaule | LinkedIn | Jacksonville, FL
29. Rebecca Lynn | @VCRebecca | LinkedIn | Menlo Park, CA
30. Susanne Chishti | @SusanneChishti | LinkedIn | London based – Global Passion!
31. Danielle Guzman | @guzmand | LinkedIn | Brooklyn, NY
32. Matteo Rizzi | @matteorizzi | LinkedIn | Lisbon, Portugal
33. Vitalik Buterin | @VitalikButerin | LinkedIn | Earth
34. Michael Mellinghoff | @Mellinghoff | LinkedIn | London
35. Imtiaz Adam | @DeepLearn007 | LinkedIn | London
36. Claire Calmejane | @ccalmeja | LinkedIn | London
37. Ricardo Vidal | @RicardoVidal | LinkedIn | Hamburg, Germany
38. Theo Lau | @psb_dc | LinkedIn | Washington, DC
39. Peter Barkow | @BarkowConsult | LinkedIn | Dusseldorf, Germany
40. Marc Andreessen | @pmarca | LinkedIn | Menlo Park, CA
41. Nadja Schlossel | @Ypsilon_Zett | LinkedIn | Hamburg, Germany
42. Mike Quindazzi | @MikeQuindazzi | LinkedIn | Los Angeles, CA
43. Antony Peyton | @TonyFintech | LinkedIn | London
44. Dave Birch | @dgwbirch | LinkedIn | Woking, the last not-Smart City
45. Steve McLaughlin | @FTPartners | LinkedIn | Silicon Valley
46. Christophe Langlois | @Visible_Banking | LinkedIn | London
47. Matt Dooley | @mattldooley | LinkedIn | Hong Kong / London / Melbourne
48. Yann Ranchere | @tek_fin | LinkedIn | Around the world
49. Alex Jimenez | @RAlexJimenez | LinkedIn | Silicon Slopes, UT
50. Sally Eaves | @sallyeaves | LinkedIn | London | Dubai | Bristol
51. Ronald van Loon | @Ronald_vanLoon | LinkedIn | Netherlands
52. Eileen Burbidge | @eileentso | LinkedIn | London
53. Patrick Barnert | @pbarnert | LinkedIn | Zurich
54. Huy Nguyen Trieu | @Huynguyentrieu | LinkedIn | London
55. Bryan Clagett | @Clagett | LinkedIn | Williamsburg, VA
56. Amit Goel | @amitTwitr | LinkedIn | Airplanes
57. Alex Nech | @FinTechSummary | LinkedIn | London, England
58. Lars Markull | @LarsMarkull | LinkedIn | Berlin, Germany
59. Nigel Walsh | @nigelwalsh | LinkedIn | London
60. Frank Schwab | @FrankJSchwab | LinkedIn | Germany
61. April Rudin | @TheRudinGroup | LinkedIn | New York City
62. Anne Boden | @AnneBoden | LinkedIn | London
63. Kristian Feldborg | @k_feldborg | LinkedIn | London, England
64. Andre M. Bajorat | @ambajorat | LinkedIn | Hamburg
65. Marvin Stone | @MarvinStone | LinkedIn | Houston, TX
66. Rob Findlay | @robfindlay | LinkedIn | Melbourne, Victoria
67. Andreas M. Antonopoulos | @aantonop | LinkedIn | 56 countries and counting
68. Sabine VanderLinden | @SabineVdL | LinkedIn | London
69. David J. Maireles | @davidjmaireles | LinkedIn | BER | MAD
70. Jules Ratcliffe | @JulesRatcliffe | LinkedIn | London
71. Timo Dreger | @insurtechforum | LinkedIn | Berlin, Deutschland
72. Jason Bates | @JasonBates | LinkedIn | London / Rutland
73. Damien Cabadi | @Damien_CABADI | LinkedIn | Luxembourg
74. Fred Wilson | @fredwilson | LinkedIn | New York City
75. Oscar Neira | @NeiraOsci | LinkedIn | Zurich, Schweiz
76. Nasir Zubairi | @naszub | LinkedIn | Luxembourg, London
77. Tanya Andreasyan | @TanyaBankTech | LinkedIn | London, England
78. Philippe Gelis | @Pgelis | LinkedIn | London
79. Megan Caywood | @MeganCaywood | LinkedIn | London, England
80. Tamara McCleary | @TamaraMcCleary | LinkedIn | Boulder, CO
81. Tiffany Hayden | @haydentiff | LinkedIn | Detroit
82. Thomas Power | @thomaspower | LinkedIn | London, England
83. Dave Maddox | @thinkpayments | LinkedIn | Atlanta
84. Brian Armstrong | @brian_armstrong | LinkedIn | San Francisco, CA
85. Antonio Grasso | @antgrasso | LinkedIn | Europe
86. Jan Wichmann | @jan_wich | LinkedIn | Munich
87. Mike Butcher | @mikebutcher | LinkedIn | London
88. Claire Cockerton | @clairecockerton | LinkedIn | London, UK
89. Matt Elton | @fintech_matt | LinkedIn | UK | Europe | Canada
90. Dr. Robin Kiera | @stratorob | LinkedIn | Hamburg
91. Tom Blomfield | @t_blom | LinkedIn | London
92. Sascha Dewald | @sascha_dewald | LinkedIn | Berlin, Germany
93. Michael Fisher | @Fisher85M | LinkedIn | Vernon, CT
94. Jim Harris | @JimHarris | LinkedIn | Toronto, Canada
95. Don Tapscott | @dtapscott | LinkedIn | Toronto, Miami, Airplanes
96. Barry Silbert | @barrysilbert | LinkedIn | New York
97. Nick Szabo | @NickSzabo4 | LinkedIn |
98. Patrick Siegenthaler | @psiegen | LinkedIn | Zurich, Switzerland
99. Faisal Khan | @babushka99 | LinkedIn | Istanbul, Turkey
100. Andrea Silvello | @SilvelloAndrea | LinkedIn | Milano
101. Tim Cook | @tim_cook | LinkedIn | Cupertino
102. Oscar Williams-Grut | @OscarWGrut | LinkedIn | London
103. Christian Konig | @finanzprodukt | LinkedIn | Zurich/Ho Chi Minh/Singapore
104. Jon Matonis | @jonmatonis | LinkedIn | Vilnius, Lithuania
105. Neira Jones | @neirajones | LinkedIn | United Kingdom
106. Urs Bolt | @UrsBolt | LinkedIn | Switzerland
107. Richard Goold | @GooldRichard | LinkedIn | London
108. Helene Li | @helene_wpli | LinkedIn | Hong Kong, Singapore
109. Boris Janek | @electrouncle | LinkedIn | Dusseldorf
110. Xavier Alvarez Forn | @xalvarezforn | LinkedIn | Barcelona
111. Brad van Leeuwen | @BradvanL | LinkedIn | London
112. Rodrigo Garcia Cruz | @rgarciadelacruz | LinkedIn | Spain
113. Paul Graham | @paulg | LinkedIn |
114. Gemma Godfrey | @GCGodfrey | LinkedIn | London
115. Oliver Christie | @OliverChristie | LinkedIn | New York
116. Lex Sokolin | @LexSokolin | LinkedIn | New York
117. Kilian Thalhammer | @kilian2002 | LinkedIn | Munich
118. Jochen Siegert | @jochensiegert | LinkedIn | Bonn, Frankfurt & Berlin
119. Matteo Gamba | @sliver86 | LinkedIn | Berlin, Germany
120. Christian Meiske | @CMeiske | LinkedIn | Hamburg
121. Dr Louise Beaumont | @LouiseHBeaumont | LinkedIn | London
122. Penny Schiffer | @PennySchiffer | LinkedIn | Zurich, Switzerland
123. Taavet Hinrikus | @taavet | LinkedIn | worldwide
124. Pierre F. Suhrcke | @PierreSuhrcke | LinkedIn | London – Zurich – HongKong
125. Christine Duhaime | @cduhaime | LinkedIn | Canada
126. Dr Leda Glyptis | @LedaGlyptis | LinkedIn | London
127. Neil Cattermull | @NeilCattermull | LinkedIn | London, England
128. David Bundi | @DavidBundiRisk | LinkedIn | Switzerland
129. Marc Hochstein | @MarcHochstein | LinkedIn | Bronx, NY
130. Joseph Lubin | @ethereumJoseph | LinkedIn | Brooklyn, NY
131. Roberto Ferrari | @ferrarirobtweet | LinkedIn | Milan – Italy
132. Matthias Kroener | @Kroener_M | LinkedIn | Munich
133. Falk Rieker | @FalkRieker | LinkedIn | NYC | LON | HKG | SIN
134. Tobias Baumgarten | @aboutfintech | LinkedIn | Hamburg, Deutschland
135. Max Levchin | @mlevchin | LinkedIn | SF, CA
136. Balaji S. Srinivasan | @balajis | LinkedIn | Stanford, CA
137. Chris Richards | @finteched | LinkedIn | Canary Wharf, London
138. Fred Ehrsam | @FEhrsam | LinkedIn | San Francisco, CA
139. Patrick Coomans | @patrickcoomans | LinkedIn | Antwerp, Belgium
140. Anna Bennett | @AnnaB_Tech | LinkedIn | United Kingdom
141. Anthony Schmitt | @BourseetTrading | LinkedIn | Paris, Bordeaux, France
142. Damir Bogdan | @Damir_Bogdan | LinkedIn | Switzerland and Silicon Valley
143. Ugo Setti | @ugosetti | LinkedIn | Brussels, Belgium
144. Markus Gnirck | @mgnirck | LinkedIn | Singapore
145. Nigel Verdon | @nigelverdon | LinkedIn | London
146. Paolo Sironi | @thepsironi | LinkedIn | Frankfurt am Main
147. Georgia Hanias | @GeorgiaHanias | LinkedIn | London
148. Ralf Heim | @RalfHeim | LinkedIn | Frankfurt am Main, Hessen
149. Marc P. Bernegger | @marcpbernegger | LinkedIn | Zurich, Switzerland
150. Jill Castilla | @JillCastilla | LinkedIn | Edmond, Oklahoma

Fintech Influencers Ranked by Network Centrality

Network centrality ranks a person’s connection to more of the sub-communities within this group and represents an alternative way to look at influencer in the network.

1. Chris Gledhill | @cgledhill | LinkedIn | London, England
2. Rebecca Lynn | @VCRebecca | LinkedIn | Menlo Park, CA
3. Bradley Leimer | @leimer | LinkedIn | San Francisco, CA
4. Imtiaz Adam | @DeepLearn007 | LinkedIn | London
5. Tamara McCleary | @TamaraMcCleary | LinkedIn | Boulder, CO
6. Simon Cocking | @SimonCocking | LinkedIn | Dublin, Ireland
7. Jim Marous | @JimMarous | LinkedIn | Cleveland, OH
8. Sebastien Meunier | @sbmeunier | LinkedIn | New York, USA
9. Matt Dooley | @mattldooley | LinkedIn | Hong Kong / London / Melbourne
10. Ronald van Loon | @Ronald_vanLoon | LinkedIn | Netherlands
11. Nick Bilodeau | @FinMKTG | LinkedIn | Toronto, Singapore and everywhere in between
12. Sally Eaves | @sallyeaves | LinkedIn | London | Dubai | Bristol
13. Sam Ball | @thesamball | LinkedIn | UK
14. Spiros Margaris | @SpirosMargaris | LinkedIn | All Over the World
15. Koen Vanderhoydonk | @KVanderhoydonk | LinkedIn | Belgium
16. Marc Hochstein | @MarcHochstein | LinkedIn | Bronx, NY
17. Rodrigo Garcia Cruz | @rgarciadelacruz | LinkedIn | Spain
18. David M. Brear | @davidbrear | LinkedIn | London
19. Steve McLaughlin | @FTPartners | LinkedIn | Silicon Valley
20. Michael Mellinghoff | @Mellinghoff | LinkedIn | London
21. Matteo Carbone | @MCins_ | LinkedIn |
22. Marc Andreessen | @pmarca | LinkedIn | Menlo Park, CA
23. Antony Peyton | @TonyFintech | LinkedIn | London
24. Yann Ranchere | @tek_fin | LinkedIn | Around the world
25. Peter Barkow | @BarkowConsult | LinkedIn | Dusseldorf, Germany
26. Minh Q. Tran | @Minh_Q_Tran | LinkedIn | London, Paris, Zurich, Luxembourg
27. Marvin Stone | @MarvinStone | LinkedIn | Houston, TX
28. Oscar Neira | @NeiraOsci | LinkedIn | Zurich, Schweiz
29. Duena Blomstrom | @DuenaBlomstrom | LinkedIn | Global
30. Jeff Scott | @jeff77006 | LinkedIn | Montevideo, Uruguay
31. Steve Tunstall | @TunstallAsc | LinkedIn | Singapore
32. Brett King | @BrettKing | LinkedIn | New York + 30,000 feet
33. Thomas Power | @thomaspower | LinkedIn | London, England
34. David J. Maireles | @davidjmaireles | LinkedIn | BER | MAD
35. Philippe Gelis | @Pgelis | LinkedIn | London
36. Amit Goel | @amitTwitr | LinkedIn | Airplanes
37. Cyril Coste | @CyrilCoste | LinkedIn | London, UK
38. Ricardo Vidal | @RicardoVidal | LinkedIn | Hamburg, Germany
39. Frank Schwab | @FrankJSchwab | LinkedIn | Germany
40. Christophe Langlois | @Visible_Banking | LinkedIn | London
41. April Rudin | @TheRudinGroup | LinkedIn | New York City
42. Brian Roemmele | @BrianRoemmele | LinkedIn | transcendence
43. Ron Shevlin | @rshevlin | LinkedIn |
44. PJ Hanard | @pjhanard | LinkedIn | London
45. Jules Ratcliffe | @JulesRatcliffe | LinkedIn | London
46. Anna Irrera | @annairrera | LinkedIn | New York, NY
47. Andreas Iten | @pouderi | LinkedIn | Zurich
48. Megan Caywood | @MeganCaywood | LinkedIn | London, England
49. Charles d’Haussy | @charlesdhaussy | LinkedIn | Hong Kong
50. Theo Lau | @psb_dc | LinkedIn | Washington, DC

Fintech Influencer Ranked by Emerging Score

Emerging Score looks at the Insider Score as a factor of the age of their social account (Twitter). In other words, a person who quickly gets a lot of Insider followers will be ranked most emergent.

1. Sebastien Meunier | @sbmeunier | LinkedIn | New York, USA
2. Spiros Margaris | @SpirosMargaris | LinkedIn | All Over the World
3. Matteo Carbone | @MCins_ | LinkedIn |
4. Michael Fisher | @Fisher85M | LinkedIn | Vernon, CT
5. Kristian Feldborg | @k_feldborg | LinkedIn | London, England
6. Simon Cocking | @SimonCocking | LinkedIn | Dublin, Ireland
7. Timo Dreger | @insurtechforum | LinkedIn | Berlin, Deutschland
8. Antony Peyton | @TonyFintech | LinkedIn | London
9. Damien Cabadi | @Damien_CABADI | LinkedIn | Luxembourg
10. Steve Tunstall | @TunstallAsc | LinkedIn | Singapore
11. Susanne Chishti | @SusanneChishti | LinkedIn | London based – Global Passion!
12. Alex Nech | @FinTechSummary | LinkedIn | London, England
13. Nadja Schlossel | @Ypsilon_Zett | LinkedIn | Hamburg, Germany
14. Sally Eaves | @sallyeaves | LinkedIn | London | Dubai | Bristol
15. Theo Lau | @psb_dc | LinkedIn | Washington, DC
16. Devie Mohan | @devie_mohan | LinkedIn | London | Amsterdam
17. Nick Bilodeau | @FinMKTG | LinkedIn | Toronto, Singapore and everywhere in between
18. Chris Gledhill | @cgledhill | LinkedIn | London, England
19. Helene Li | @helene_wpli | LinkedIn | Hong Kong, Singapore
20. Joost Walgemoed | @joost_walgemoed | LinkedIn | Amsterdam, The Netherlands
21. Antonio Grasso | @antgrasso | LinkedIn | Europe
22. Anna Bennett | @AnnaB_Tech | LinkedIn | United Kingdom
23. Matt Elton | @fintech_matt | LinkedIn | UK | Europe | Canada
24. Bill Sullivan | @WFSULLIVAN3 | LinkedIn | Wyndham, VA
25. Christian Ross | @c_ross_blanco | LinkedIn | Nederland
26. Mike Quindazzi | @MikeQuindazzi | LinkedIn | Los Angeles, CA
27. Regina Schrempf | @SchrempfRegina | LinkedIn | Zürich
28. Jim Marous | @JimMarous | LinkedIn | Cleveland, OH
29. Ugo Setti | @ugosetti | LinkedIn | Brussels, Belgium
30. Ari Paul | @AriDavidPaul | LinkedIn | Antarctica
31. Pierre F. Suhrcke | @PierreSuhrcke | LinkedIn | London – Zurich – HongKong
32. Florian Graillot | @FGraillot | LinkedIn | Paris, France
33. Huy Nguyen Trieu | @Huynguyentrieu | LinkedIn | London
34. Michael Berns | @AIThoughtLeader | LinkedIn | Europe
35. Bradley Leimer | @leimer | LinkedIn | San Francisco, CA
36. David M. Brear | @davidbrear | LinkedIn | London
37. Michael Mellinghoff | @Mellinghoff | LinkedIn | London
38. Eric Salzmann | @Salz_Er | LinkedIn | Zurich, Schweiz
39. Nicolas Lacour | @NicoLacour | LinkedIn | Paris, France
40. Anthony Schmitt | @BourseetTrading | LinkedIn | Paris, Bordeaux, France
41. Elon Musk | @elonmusk | LinkedIn |
42. Oscar Neira | @NeiraOsci | LinkedIn | Zurich, Schweiz
43. Andreas Staub | @andi_staub | LinkedIn |
44. Imtiaz Adam | @DeepLearn007 | LinkedIn | London
45. Brett King | @BrettKing | LinkedIn | New York + 30,000 feet
46. Tanya Andreasyan | @TanyaBankTech | LinkedIn | London, England
47. Tiffany Hayden | @haydentiff | LinkedIn | Detroit
48. Chris Skinner | @Chris_Skinner | LinkedIn | London
49. Nick Biggam | @nick_biggam | LinkedIn | London and Dublin
50. Chris Burniske | @cburniske | LinkedIn | New York, USA

Top 100 Fintech Organizations

Ranked by Insider Score (see above).

1. TechCrunch | @TechCrunch | Website | San Francisco, CA
2. FINTECH Circle | @FINTECHCircle | Website | London based, Global passion!
3. Finextra | @Finextra | Website | Everything fintech, worldwide
4. Innovate Finance | @InnFin | Website | London
5. Finovate | @Finovate | Website | Seattle, WA
6. Bank Innovation | @BankInnovation | Website | New York
7. FinTechInsider | @FinTechInsiders | Website | London, England
8. The FinTech 50 | @TheFinTech50 | Website | Europe … and beyond
9. Fintech Switzerland | @FintechCH | Website | Switzerland
10. Sbootcamp FinTech | @sbcFinTech | Website | LDN, NY, SG, MUM, MX, MEL
11. FinTech Futures | @FinTech_Futures | Website | London UK
12. Paris Fintech Forum | @ParisFinForum | Website | Paris, Ile-de-France
13. CoinDesk | @coindesk | Website | New York, USA
14. FINTECH Innovate | @FTCInnovate | Website | London
15. Money20/20 | @money2020 | Website | New York & London
16. FinTech HK | @FinTechHK | Website | Hong Kong
17. FinTechInnovationLab | @FinTechLabLDN | Website | London
18. 11:FS | @11FSTeam | Website | Worldwide
19. Next Money | @nextmoney_ | Website | Global
20. Level39 | @Level39CW | Website | Canary Wharf, London
21. FinTech London | @FinTechLondon | Website | London
22. Holland FinTech | @HollandFinTech | Website | Amsterdam
23. Fintech Singapore | @FintechSIN | Website | Singapore
24. Blockchain | @blockchain | Website |
25. Swiss FinteCH | @finnovationCH | Website | Zurich, Switzerland
26. The Financial Revolutionist | @Fin_Revolution | Website | Brooklyn, NY
27. American Banker | @AmerBanker | Website |
28. FinTech Lab | @FinTechLab | Website | New York, NY
29. Canvas Ventures | @CanvasVC | Website | Portola Valley, CA
30. Coinbase | @coinbase | Website | San Francisco, CA
31. Empire Startups | @EmpireStartups | Website | New York & San Francisco
32. PYMNTS | @pymnts | Website | Boston, MA
33. Fintech Germany | @FintechGermany | Website | Deutschland
34. finleap | @finleap | Website | Berlin
35. Daily Fintech | @DailyFintech | Website | Decentralized
36. FinTech Feed | @FinTechFeed | Website | London
37. FinTech Compliance | @FinTechComply | Website | London, England
38. France Fintech | @FranceFintech | Website | Paris, France
39. MEDICI | @gomedici | Website | Charlotte, NY, Bangalore, SFO
40. FinTech Forum | @FinTechForum_DE | Website | Frankfurt, Germany
41. Monzo | @monzo | Website | United Kingdom
42. Railsbank | @railsbank | Website | London
43. Ripple | @Ripple | Website |
44. CB Insights | @CBinsights | Website | New York, NY
45. The FINTECH Book | @TheFINTECHBook | Website | Global
46. FinTech DC | @FinTechDC | Website | Berlin
47. Starling Bank | @StarlingBank | Website | United Kingdom
48. NewFinance | @NewFinance | Website | Global
49. Breaking Banks | @Breakingbanks1 | Website | New York City
50. Techstars | @techstars | Website | Global
51. The Financial Brand | @FinancialBrand | Website | United States
52. Burnmark | @burnmark_ | Website | London, England
53. Fintech Finance | @fintechf | Website | England, United Kingdom
54. Tech Nation | @TechNation | Website | United Kingdom
55. Bitcoin Magazine | @BitcoinMagazine | Website | Nashville, TN
56. Insurtechnews | @insurtechnews | Website |
57. Finance2.0 – FinTech | @finance20ch | Website | Zurich
58. The Paypers | @ThePaypers | Website | Global
59. Bitcoin | @Bitcoin | Website | Worldwide
60. Wharton FinTech | @whartonfintech | Website | Philadelphia
61. Yodlee Developer | @YIDeveloper | Website |
62. FinTechStage | @FinTechStage | Website | Barcelona, Spain
63. N26 | @n26 | Website | Berlin, Germany
64. Fintech Consortium | @FinTechCo | Website | Singapore
65. Ethereum | @ethereum | Website | worldwide
66. mietwise | @mietwise | Website | Munich, Bavaria
67. Cointelegraph | @Cointelegraph | Website |
68. BAI | @BAI_Info | Website | Chicago, IL, USA
69. EU FinTech Community | @FinTechNL | Website | Amsterdam
70. TransferWise | @TransferWise | Website | Global
71. Atom bank | @atom_bank | Website | Durham, England
72. Fintech Worldwide | @FinTechWeek | Website |
73. IBM FinTech | @IBMFinTech | Website | Armonk, New York
74. Future Of Money | @fintech_Innov | Website |
75. BlockchainAge | @BlockchainAge | Website | Worldwide
76. Revolut | @RevolutApp | Website | London-based
77. SwissFinanceStartups | @SFS_CH | Website | Switzerland
78. LendIt Fintech Conference | @LendIt | Website | New York City
79. Bankstil | @Bankstil | Website | Paderborn/Germany
80. AXA Venture Partners | @AXAVentures | Website | Hong Kong
81. BitPay | @BitPay | Website | Atlanta
82. SAN InnoVentures | @SanInnoventures | Website | London, UK
83. Bitcoin Foundation | @BTCFoundation | Website |
84. The Fintech Times | @thefintechtimes | Website | London, England
85. Hyperledger | @Hyperledger | Website | San Francisco, CA
86. AltFi News | @AltFiNews | Website |
87. R3 | @inside_r3 | Website | New York, NY
88. Fidor Bank UK | @FidorUK | Website | London, England
89. Funding Circle UK | @FundingCircleUK | Website | London
90. fintech Portugal | @FintechPortugal | Website | Portugal
91. InsurTech Rising | @InsurTechRising | Website | London, England
92. FinTech Connect | @fintech_connect | Website | United Kingdom
93. ConsenSys | @ConsenSys | Website | Brooklyn, NY
94. Mobile Payments Today | @MobilePayToday | Website |
95. EXECfintech | @EXECfintech | Website | Frankfurt on the Main, Germany
96. Fintech China World | @FintechChinaW | Website | China & the World
97. PaymentsSource | @payments_source | Website | New York, New York
98. SwissCognitive – The Global AI Hub | @SwissCognitive | Website | Switzerland
99. CCN | @CryptoCoinsNews | Website |
100. FinTech Weekly | @fintech_weekly | Website | Cologne, Germany

FAQs about Influencer Lists

Are influencer lists useful?

Good influencer lists identify people with subject matter expertise who have developed considerable online audiences that follow them. These influencers typically have attracted the attention and earned the respect of other knowledgeable people in their industry.

A good influencer list is very valuable and can be very useful in a variety of ways.

Good influencer lists can function as excellent starting points for tuning into and understanding the best thinking on an issue. Fintech is a perfect example. While we used to rely on trade journals and conferences to keep up to speed on new developments in the fintech space, innovation is moving so fast these days that influencer lists and the curation and sharing that these influencers facilitate is one of the best ways to stay up to date between meetings and live events.

Influencer lists are always going to be the product of objective and subjective analysis, relying on both quantitative data and qualitative observation. Even the choice of what quantitative data we are using to measure “influence” is subjective. And as we each observe a variety of influencers, some of them stand out as more influential to us than others – and this is also subjective. So, in the end, influence is highly subjective and we should not be expecting that anyone else’s list will reflect our own set of preferred influencers.

See: Influencer lists: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Why are influencer lists criticized?

The idea of the influencer list has come under attack over the past years and there are some reasons that might explain this.

Influencer lists are no longer a novel concept. As more lists have appeared, there has been a decrease in their quality and many are published primarily as click bait. There are also more people referencing (and perhaps, in some cases, even overplaying) their ranking on influencer lists as a bona fide credential, while others question the legitimacy of the predominantly quantitative social networking criteria used for most of these lists.

All of this has led to some legitimate public criticisms of influencer lists, and how they are perceived and used. Critics argue that influence is hard to measure and people tend to make too much of appearing and ranking on lists – with which I generally agree.

However, it’s a mistake to dismiss influencer lists because they are still useful tools if understood and used properly. I have previously written a defence of influencer lists and argued for why we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Can you do influencer outreach and engagement without a list of influencers?

No. If you want to systematically reach out to influencers, whether it’s to stay current on industry developments, promote your product or service, find a source for your media story or a speaker for your conference, you need a list to start from.

And that’s a critical point: influencer lists are starting points. They are the product of one person’s perspective or one analytic criterion. By listening to and engaging with an initial list of influencers, you can define who is most influential for your purposes and discover other influencers not found on the list.

What is influence and can it be measured quantitatively?

It goes without saying (yet, I’m saying it) that influence is a far more complex and nuanced concept than something that can be reduced to social media follower counts and engagement statistics. Many real-world influencers are not online, or not as active online as others. And to a degree, in some cases a significant one, online visibility can be the result of “gaming the system” successfully.

To this, I say: “so what?” Influence is a highly subjective concept, whether it’s online or offline. Consensus may emerge within communities around the influence of certain individuals, but such consensus is never universal and always subject to change. While influence has a qualitative aspect, it almost always has a quantitative aspect as well, because a “consensus” implies that there are a good number of people in a community whose agreement confers influence on a person.

And this is a key point: Influence cannot be declared but must be conferred upon a person by others.

People who have cultivated good reputations with large online audiences have leveraged the online system to the benefit of their online visibility. They have attracted relatively larger numbers of followers or followers who themselves have large audiences, who read their content and share it with others. Their influence and reach are indeed focused online, and in some cases limited to the online sphere, but it’s still a form of influence – and it’s an increasingly important one.

Is ranking the most important aspect of an influencer list?

No, absolutely not. When influencer lists get published, every person on the list wants to see where they are ranked. While this is a natural, human response, it would be a mistake to conclude that ranking is the most important aspect of any list.

Ranking is highly subjective, taking into consideration a variety of quantitative measures that are weighted according to the author’s or analyst’s algorithm. Who’s really to say whether a person’s total number of Twitter followers is more or less important than who is following and paying attention to what that person says? Is it more valuable to have an audience of 50,000 Twitter users or to have an audience of 500 of the most influential of those Twitter users?

Influencer lists are collections of thought leaders with specific knowledge, a geographic home base and a unique set of interests. Depending on your objectives, some influencers on this (or any) list will be more important to you than others.

Plus, the value of any influencer list should be seen, not only in terms of the first-degree connections (who’s on the list) but the broader second-degree connections (who’s in the networks of the people on the list). Every person on this list is a node connecting you to their own network of connections and influencers.

A good influencer list is only a starting point for discovery and engagement. 

How can influencer lists be helpful to you?

Good influencer lists have many benefits for many people. Here are some ways to use this list of Fintech Influencers to Follow in 2019:

• Anyone can follow these people on Twitter to stay on top of developments in fintech.
• Journalists and reporters can find experts for articles and news stories.
• Event planners can find potential speakers for events. (But don’t assume someone is a good speaker, just because they’re on a list.)
• Business leaders in fintech startups can use this list to network with other industry leaders.
• Marketers and public relations professionals can find industry experts that might be interested in knowing about their clients’ products and services.
• Influencers note on this list themselves can increase their visibility, reach and influence by building relationships with people on this list.

Why is influencer outreach and engagement such an important business strategy these days?

Influencer outreach and engagement is, in my opinion, the antidote to declining organic reach in social networks. 

Of course, you can do more paid promotion and advertising as a way to attract attention online – that’s precisely what the social networks want you to do. But, as powerful as paid media can be at the right time and in the right place, it is far better at winning clicks and eyeballs than hearts and minds. And as soon as you stop paying, you stop getting the benefit.

If you want engagement and influence, you need to work through the gatekeepers to your target audiences – the influencers. You need to earn their attention and respect. You need to build relationships and add value for them. That kind of influence has staying power.

Hence, the growing importance of influencer outreach and engagement as a necessary component of B2B digital strategies in recent years.

Methodology for creating this list

As in previous years, this list was developed using a commercially available social media analytics tool (Little Bird, now part of Sprinklr) which offers a powerful engine for crunching large volumes of social media data. The software compiles a list of online influencers that frequently communicate on topics related to “fintech” and then looks at the inter-relationships among these accounts. The software scores influencers in a variety of ways and three of those scores have been used to rank fintech influencers: Insider Score, Network Centrality, and Emerging Score.