Team Q&A: Caroline Albertini

I was born and raised in Paris and have now made the move to Barcelona with my family, initally for my husband’s work. Since then, he has accepted a new job in Paris and commutes back every week, but we decided to keep the family in Barcelona for my work and because we fell in love with the city.
 
After graduating from Paris Dauphine University with a degree in Finance and Economics, I spent eight years at Ernst & Young as Senior Manager in Audit and Consulting for the Financial Services sector. I then worked at the Haut Conseil du Commissariat aux Comptes as Senior Financial Inspector. I am now in my fourth year at Neo as Head of Internal Audit.
 
With three children aged one to six, there is not a lot of free time! But when we get the time, I like to be in the great outdoors – walking with my family in the forest or on the beach. Barcelona is the ideal place to be for all of this! 

At Neo, I am responsible for Internal Audit. I ensure that an annual control program is put in place and followed, and the implementation and application of internal procedures for all key business processes are regularly checked, monitored and reviewed. 
 
But in reality, my role is much broader as I also supervise the finance department. This involves managing relationships with external auditors, automation of accounting and regulatory reporting, preparation of business plans, budget monitoring and much more!
 
I also try to constantly improve communication between departments. Implementing a true culture of business partnering within the finance and audit departments remains one of my key objectives. This is slightly more difficult in a remote working environment. But our culture as a close-knit team means we have worked in full collaboration from day one. 

During my time at Neo, I have learned that the top five skills and attributes are: rigour, communication, creativity, flexibility and strong organisation. 

This world is quite new to me. Before joining Neo, I had only worked for more traditional clients in the financial industry.
 
However, I can testify that fintechs attract more and more traditional customers every day. This includes companies that would previously have not believed in a project like ours. This is because we are 100% committed to achieving levels of compliance and data security comparable to those of large banking groups. When this is coupled with strong digitisation of payments and hedging, it allows us to offer top quality service at a competitive price. 
 
Customer confidence is also further strengthened by the fact that Neo is one of the first fintechs to have been cleared by both the Banco de Espana and Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores.  

This is a rapidly growing sector which is illustrated by the number of new fintechs created every year. Fintechs are clearly seen as one of the key players for the future of financial services, as shown by the number of acquisitions made by the big banks and investment from VCs and other investors.
 
The trend in the financial sector, even more so in these times of Covid, is to provide a 100% digital offer at competitive prices, and tailor-made to customer needs. All of this criterion is fully met by Neo.
 
The future of fintechs in general, and of Neo in particular as one of the industry leaders, is bright!