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I think it’s more interesting than that, because unless you do robotics (which requires skills in electrical engineering) then banks are our leading tech compan
by jaabe 8y ago
I think it’s more interesting than that, because unless you do robotics (which requires skills in electrical engineering) then banks are our leading tech companies in Denmark.
The most impactful piece of Danish software in recent years, that I can think of, is an app called MobilePay. It lets you pay for things, send or request money from friends, stuff like that. It’s made by a bank.
I mean, we do have a few unicorn startups, but most software-companies build rather boring stuff with JAVA or C# and sell it to boring companies or the public sector.
Then there’s the benefits, but it’s really hard to compete on that in Denmark, because a lot of them are set by law and you can’t beat the public sector anyway. I work at a muniplacity, at significantly lower pay than I could get in the private sector.
But I get 15 weeks paid maternal leave (as a man), 6 weeks paid vacation, paid sick days, flexible hours, paid leave on the first and second day of a child’s sickness, two-four days of paid leave per child under 11, 15% pension, all sorts of insurances and 25.000dkr a year for additional education.
And when I said significantly more in the private sector, it’s exactly like you say, not an extra $100k a year unless I leave Denmark.
But as far as the premise of the article goes, I’d say that banks are tech companies in 2019.
- skybrian 8y agoGoogle has a small office in Aarhus. I wonder if that's true of any other tech companies?
- zubairq 8y agoYeah, Denmark hasn't done much recently, but if you look at the history of inventions in IT made by Danes, you have a lot of important stuff including: - Google Maps - Ruby On Rails - Skype - PHP - C++ - Google V8 (The JS engine behind Chrome) - C# - Unity
- jaabe 8y agoOh absolutely, and couldn’t you add C# and Unity to that list or am I remembering wrong? A lot of those things leave Denmark though. We don’t have that many interesting tech houses that actually stick around. I think there is an important distinction between “made by Danes” and “made in Denmark” when we’re talking about companies.
- zubairq 8y agoThanks, I added them!! Yes, very good point. Most important things made in Denmark or by Danes eventually move out! I wrote about it here too: https://thenordicweb.com/startup-comic-silicon-valley-vs-denmark/ https://thenordicweb.com/startup-comic-silicon-valley-vs-den...
- goodpoint 8y agoI'll make sure to stay away from Denmark.
- C1sc0cat 8y agoPlaying devils advocate here - why would I really need that? In the EU you have tap and go for small amounts "buying a coffee, bus ticket" and chip and pin for larger items s using your debit or credit card. Why not write people a cheque or just use cash - the problems with using internet banking and phones (you have heard of the ss7 problems) If the Head of the Bank of England doesn't use online banking ill do the same as her.
- regularfry 8y agoBecause cheques and cash are both less convenient. Convenience wins in the end.
- mcv 8y agoChecks and cash don't work very well on the internet. Besides, checks are ancient tech; cumbersome, inconvenient, with no discernible upside, so nobody uses them anymore as far as I know. I don't know MobilePay, but in Netherland we have Tikkie (also made by a bank), which makes it really easy to send a payment request in a text/whatsapp message. Then you pay the request through iDeal, which is the standard Dutch internet payment system supported by all banks. Tikkie is used to split bills, pay babysitters, collect money for events or to buy a present for someone together. Banks absolutely need to be tech companies. If US banks aren't, I suppose that explains why banking in the US is still decades behind in so many aspects. (I've heard some workers in the US still get a check they need to cash to get their salary, bouncing checks is still a thing, and of course there's credit cards, which are woefully insecure, but fill the holes in primitive payment systems.)
- C1sc0cat 8y agoThis wasn't about CNP / Internet usage - its about replacing cash in physical transactions.
- hvidgaard 8y agoMobilePay is not really about paying in a store. You can do that too, but the real force is that anyone with a cellphone can send and receive money on the spot to other MobilePay users as long as you know their number. Local football team cannot justify the cost of having a card terminal, but can have a MobilePay phone and get donations and payment for coffee and cake at an event. You don't need cash on hand for paying for something you found through facebook marketplace. You can use it for keeping your childrens class funds for activities, or a gift account on your workplace. It's seriously disruptive for the more and more cashless society.
- badpun 8y ago> But as far as the premise of the article goes, I’d say that banks are tech companies in 2019. Tech companies are still tech companies in 2019, it’s just that some (many) countries barely have any. Denmark has Unity BTW.