FinTech Scotland’s Chair appointed as Non-Executive Directors to the CFIT board

The Centre for Finance, Innovation, and Technology (CFIT) has appointed Stephen Ingledew OBE, to their board as an independent non-executive director.

CFIT, established in early 2023, operates at the crossroads of government, regulators, and industry, serving as a central force for collaboration within the financial innovation space. It aims to set priorities, drive solutions, and foster growth within the UK fintech sector.

Alongside Alex Marsh, Former Head of Klarna UK, Stephen will bring invaluable experience and insights to the CFIT team. As independent non-executive directors, both him and Alex will bolster CFIT’s governance and facilitate the formation of expert coalitions comprising professionals from finance, technology, academia, and policy makers.

Stephen Ingledew OBE is an influential advocate for openness, creativity, and inclusivity in the financial world. With an impressive track record in driving collaborations across UK regional fintech clusters, Stephen will chair CFIT’s Remuneration and Nomination Committee. His expertise in selecting board members and executive directors ensures a balance of skills, independence, and knowledge, critical for CFIT’s success in fostering innovation and collaboration.

Stephen commented:

“I am thrilled to have been appointed NED for CFIT. Having set up Fintech Scotland in 2018 to deliver positive economic outcomes through financial innovation, I have first hand experience of driving collaborations across diverse stakeholders and organisations and can bring my expertise to the team as we, jointly, lead the charge for financial innovation across the UK.”

To read more about this announcement visit the CFIT website

Scottish Fintechs present at Money 2020, Europe’s largest gathering of fintech innovation

FinTech Scotland and Scottish Development International (SDI), the international arm of Scottish Enterprise, have joined forces to bring a group of eight fintech firms to Money20/20 in Amsterdam from 6th to 8th June 2023.

Money20/20 is the largest fintech event in Europe bringing together over 7,500 attendees from over 2,300 companies coming from over 90 countries. Global leaders, new challengers, tech giants and the fastest-growing start-ups will get together for 3 days to explore opportunities and share knowledge, trends, expert insights, new ideas and make the connections to prepare for what’s coming next in the fintech ecosystem.

The Scottish consortium is part of a UK wide representation, connecting fintech SME’s peers, clients and investors from across Europe.

The coming together of this UK delegation continues to show the opportunity fintech represents for the UK economy. It also demonstrates the cohesiveness of UK fintech with representation from across the UK Fintech National Network involved. FinTech Scotland and SDI will be alongside other fintech hubs including FinTech Wales, FinTech North, Innovate Finance to name a few.

The eight Scottish fintech firms selected to showcase their innovative technologies at Money20/20 are Zumo, DirectID, Autorek, Modulr, BR-DGE, Level-E Research, Waracle and Teradata. They represent some of the best of what Scotland’s thriving fintech cluster has to offer and will showcase their cutting-edge solutions to a global audience.

The 8 fintech firms will provide practical demonstrations of their innovative solutions to investors and potential partners from across Europe at a spotlight event organised on the UK pavilion.

Commenting on the partnership, Nicola Anderson, CEO at FinTech Scotland, said:

“We are delighted to see such a strong delegation of Scottish fintechs attending Money20/20. This is a fantastic opportunity for these companies to showcase their innovative solutions.”

“As FinTech innovation across the UK and Scotland continues to thrive, we can expect to see more exciting developments from this innovative sector in the years to come. International growth remains a strategic priority for fintech SMEs and we’re focused on partnering with SDI to deepen connections with priority markets”

Alongside the potential export opportunities for Scottish fintechs at Money20/20, SDI inward investment specialists will also be there to highlight the opportunities in Scotland for international companies considering global growth.

Scotland is now home to more than 220 homegrown and international fintechs, spanning the full spectrum of financial technologies from payments to blockchain, from open banking to regtech.

Reuben Aitken, Managing Director of International Operations at Scottish Enterprise, said:

“With a rich history in financial services, internationally renowned universities and an innovative tech scene, Scotland’s fintech sector enjoys an incredibly strong global reputation.

“Money20/20 is Europe’s largest fintech event and we look forward to joining FinTech Scotland in showcasing the very best our fintech sector has to offer, opening doors for Scottish firms to international markets and delivering investment opportunities here in Scotland in the process.”

To attend the Scottish fintech showcase on Tuesday 6^th of June at UK Pavilion B20 please email contact@fintechscotland.com.

FinTech Scotland is recruiting a Strategic Innovation Director

FinTech Scotland is recruiting for a new role, the Strategic Innovation Director, who will be responsible for leading and evolving the innovation strategy outlined in the FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap. This appointment is vital and will drive the strategic direction of fintech innovation in Scotland, working across all priority stakeholders and alongside FinTech Scotland’s CEO to advance the fintech opportunity in Scotland and the UK.

The role of the Strategic Innovation Director is critical in the future development of the cluster, building on successes so far and leading the cluster’s innovation strategy and its implementation. Specifically, the StrategicInnovation Director will initially be responsible for establishing a new fintech centre for innovation that focuses on innovation in Financial Regulation ”“ The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab. This project is critical and supported by the UK government, large financial and professional service institutions, regulators, fintech entrepreneurs, and universities.

The Strategic Innovation Director will implement an industry-led strategy and work in partnership with leaders across the cluster to enable the success of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab. They develop a program of work that will help advance responsible innovation and technology adoption in financial regulation, developing and growing strategic relationships with professional and financial services, regulators, and academia, managing multiple stakeholders’ interests, leading collaborative cross-sectoral actions to advance common opportunities and challenges, supporting delivery of the broader FinTech Scotland strategy. Working as part of the FinTech Scotland senior leadership team they will drive continued fintech cluster excellence.

In summary, this new role of the Strategic Innovation Director is vital for the future development of FinTech Scotland, driving innovation strategy and its implementation, and establishing the Financial Regulation InnovationLab in collaboration with the industry’s leading stakeholders. The successful candidate for this role will bring leadership, business skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with leaders across the cluster to ensure the success of this critical project. The role provides a unique opportunity to play a part in shaping the future of finance and fintech in Scotland and across the UK.

Interested or know someone who could be?

Read more

Lloyds Banking Group launches Innovation programme

Lloyds Banking Group has opened applications for its Launch Innovation program aimed at discovering potential FinTech partners. The 12-week program is designed to foster collaboration with FinTechs and InsurTechs, and successful applicants will work with the Group to further develop their business. The top performers will have the opportunity to run a commercial experiment in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group, potentially leading to a further partnership. Last year’s participant, Caura, received a £4 million investment from the Group. The Launch Innovation program aims to support emerging FinTech and InsurTech companies.

The program provides FinTechs and InsurTechs with expert guidance from Lloyds Banking Group, enabling them to develop their businesses further. The most successful applicants will be invited to participate in a commercial experiment in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group. The Launch Innovation program was highly successful in 2022, with Caura receiving a £4 million investment from the Lloyds Banking Group FinTech Investment team. Applications for 2023 are now open, and successful applicants will have access to senior management and subject matter experts, who will provide valuable insights into working with large financial institutions. The Group’s FinTech Investment Team will also review applications and have funds available to invest in seed to Series B businesses.

Kirsty Rutter, FinTech Investment Director at Lloyds Banking Group, stated:

“Our ambition is to become the best bank for FinTech and InsurTechs to work with, and we recognise that better collaboration with FinTechs and InsurTechs is key to delivering exceptional service and enhancing our capabilities. We are excited to hear from this year’s applicants and to explore ways to build the bridge between the needs of our business and personal customers and the FinTech community.”

Standard Life partners with FinTech Scotland on responsible investing

Standard Life, the UK’s most prominent long-term savings and retirement business, has launched its second annual Innovation Forum. The focus of the forum this year is to find and develop innovative solutions to help pension customers become more engaged with their investments, especially in terms of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors. The winning fintech partner will work alongside Standard Life to implement their solution for over three million customers.

The Innovation Forum aims to embed sustainability and prioritise the environment and people’s well-being in Standard Life’s operations. It seeks to find a fintech company that shares a commitment to responsible investing and can bring the benefits of digital innovation to savers. Potential ideas include ways to visualise how customer pensions are invested, methods to evaluate investments through ESG lenses, or demonstrating how investing responsibly now can lead to positive outcomes in the future.

This initiative is a collaboration between five organizations: TCS’s Co-Innovation Network (TCS COIN™) innovation ecosystem, Fintech Scotland, Women In Banking & Finance (WIBF), and Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE). The Innovation Forum builds on the success of last year’s event, which was won by Behavioural Finance, an Edinburgh-based company that uses psychometric testing to help users understand how their personality affects their relationship with money. Standard Life plans to introduce the wealth personality test developed by Behavioural Finance to some of its customers, with the goal of expanding it to more customers later this year.

This year’s Innovation Forum will follow a similar process, with fintechs presenting their innovative solutions to senior leaders across Standard Life and the wider Phoenix Group. Each shortlisted participant will work closely with a Standard Life mentor to refine their proposal before a long-term partnership is established with the winning company.

Standard Life’s Managing Director, Pensions and Savings, Colin Williams, said:

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Standard Life to connect with creative thinkers to enhance our proposition development and better support customers to engage with their investments and understand the impact they have on the world. This is key to our Group’s wider social purpose and sustainability strategy and follows the transition of £15bn of workplace assets to our new sustainable default fund. We are looking forward to hearing from innovators from across the FinTech Scotland, TCS COINTM and broader start-up community.”

Fintech Scotland Chief Executive, Nicola Anderson, said:

“We’re delighted to be partnering with Standard Life and Phoenix Group for a second year in a row to bring innovation and better outcomes to its customers. The first iteration of their Innovation Forum in 2022 was a real success and we’re very excited to see Standard Life’s plans for integrating the technology from Behavioural Finance into customers’ journeys. This year, they’ve set themselves an even bigger challenge as they’re looking to bring more innovation to ESG investing. Customer outcomes are directly linked to environmental and social issues, and vice versa – bringing this relationship to life is vital as we move towards a net zero future. At FinTech Scotland we identified Climate as one of the 4 key areas of focus in our Research and Innovation Roadmap and this innovation challenge will help us achieve our goal to move towards greener finance and have the sector contribute to the net zero agenda.”

Companies interested in applying can do so here.

Lloyds Banking Group and FinTech Scotland launch innovation challenges

For the third year in a row, Lloyds Banking Group has partnered with FinTech Scotland to launch an innovation lab, which aims to address some of the biggest challenges facing the financial industry. The Launch Innovation Lab is a collaborative initiative that brings together experts from Lloyds Banking Group and fintech businesses from all around the world to develop innovative solutions to complex problems.

The Launch programme is focused on four key challenges:

The first challenge, curating targeted financial planning and added value services that meet customer needs, is focused on developing personalised financial planning services that meet the needs of each customer. The aim is to provide customers with customised solutions that address their unique financial needs, rather than offering generic financial products.

The second challenge, harnessing data to enrich customer relationships, is focused on using data analytics to gain insights into customers’ behaviours and preferences. The Launch programme will explore ways to use these insights to enhance customer experience by offering personalised services, improving customer engagement, and providing tailored financial advice. By leveraging data analytics, the lab aims to improve the quality of the customer experience and build stronger relationships with customers.

The third challenge, providing the most inclusive colleague and customer experiences, is focused on creating a culture of inclusivity within the organisation. The Launch innovation programme will explore ways to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace and customer experience. This will include developing policies that promote diversity and inclusion, creating inclusive products and services, and improving accessibility for customers with disabilities. By doing so, it aims to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for both employees and customers.

The fourth challenge, exploring sustainable choices for customers and IT operations, is focused on developing sustainable solutions for the financial industry. The lab will explore ways to reduce the environmental impact of financial products and services, such as reducing paper waste and promoting sustainable investments. The lab will also focus on developing sustainable IT solutions that reduce the energy consumption of IT systems and promote the use of renewable energy sources.

The wildcard challenge invites proposals that do not fit into these four challenges. This challenge is an opportunity for innovators to present their ideas to Lloyds Banking Group, even if their proposals do not fit into the four main challenges. The lab welcomes innovative ideas that have the potential to transform the financial industry and create value for customers.

For more details and to enter those challenges visit this page.

New national hub to turbocharge FinTech growth

The government just launched the national centre for FinTech called the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), designed to propel the sector’s growth globally.

CFIT is backed by £5.5million of funding from the Treasury and the City of London Corporation and will enhance growth and innovation by promoting businesses and generating job opportunities across the sector.

The hub was unveiled at an event in Leeds yesterday and also intends to publicise the advantages of new and inventive technology that will expand consumer options, decrease costs, and improve efficiencies.

The CFIT is the first of its kind and will facilitate businesses in achieving a truly global presence, supporting approximately 2,500 organisations and tens of thousands of jobs in the UK.

Commenting on the launch, Nicola Anderson, CEO at Fintech Scotland said:

“The CFIT launch is a key milestone in achieving the UK’s fintech ambitions, embracing innovation across all cities and regions. The Centre’s coalition approach very much aligns with the execution of FinTech Scotland’s cluster strategy in advancing fintech growth.

“We are excited to be working with CFIT in leveraging the opportunities in Scotland and the whole of the UK, which will provide further momentum in delivering our ten-year FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap enabling us all to harness the fintech opportunity across the UK.”

Howard Wimpory, KYC Transformation Director at Encompass Corporation, comments:

“It is encouraging to see the government provide this support to the FinTech industry and, widely, digital transformation, which creates opportunities for growth while also assisting economic recovery. The UK technology sector overall has huge potential, with innovation at a high, and support of this kind can help organisations to harness the solutions within it to their advantage.

“Widespread effort to help organisations truly unlock the potential of digital transformation is how strong, long-term value will be created throughout industries, and particularly financial services. These organisations must now recognise the importance of utilising the new and emerging solutions at their disposal, which not only add business value, but also help to protect the nation against the ever-evolving threat of financial crime.

“Realising these goals requires businesses to embark on or accelerate their digital transformation journeys, embracing state-of-the-art cloud powered technology to overhaul manual processes and instead trust in automation, which brings long-lasting operational benefits to power success.”

Charlotte Crosswell OBE, Chair of CFIT, said the launch

“represents a significant moment for the UK’s FinTech sector and our economy more widely. This organisation will enable us to come together as a sector to start breaking down barriers that the FinTech sector is facing while creating a clear path for our homegrown FinTech companies to achieve global scale, impact and success.”

Boost for Scottish fintech cluster as Morgan Stanley enters collaboration with FinTech Scotland

FinTech Scotland, the cluster management body, has announced a new strategic partnership with Morgan Stanley, further strengthening the growth of the financial technology innovation and excellence across Scotland and accelerating the fast-growing sector’s global connectivity.

Morgan Stanley joins FinTech Scotland’s existing strategic partners including financial services firms, academia, technology solution providers and public sector organisations, to further enhance the development of Scotland’s fintech cluster through the support of strategic initiatives and the harnessing cross-regional collaboration.

For Morgan Stanley, a significant technology participant in Scotland, partnering with FinTech Scotland opens up new engagement opportunities with cutting-edge technology providers, a key part of Morgan Stanley’s fintech innovation strategy.

The collaboration will also support the firm’s Multicultural Innovation Lab and accelerator programme, that promotes financial inclusion and provides access to capital and expertise for early-stage technology and technology-enabled start-ups led by entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.

This partnership demonstrates Morgan Stanley’s continued commitment to Glasgow and broadens its support of the Scottish technology ecosystem. The firm has a workforce in excess of 2,000 in Glasgow and recently announced further investment in local talent, providing career opportunities to over 200 young people as part of its largest graduate recruitment programme to date.

The investment bank will get involved in the collaborations that continue to progress the FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap, driving innovation in Financial Regulation, Climate, Open Finance and Payment & Transactions.

Commenting on this new partnership, Khalid Rafiq, Glasgow Head of Technology at Morgan Stanley said:

“We are thrilled to deepen our ties with the Scottish fintech community and to help foster the growing start-up ecosystem. Playing an active role within the Fintech Scotland cluster not only ensures we are fully supporting our local community, it gives us the chance to share our expertise and deepens our commitment to foster technology talent and diversity so as to drive innovation and business value in the buoyant Scottish marketplace.”

Nicola Anderson, Chief Executive at FinTech Scotland said:

“We’re looking forward to working with Morgan Stanley, building even more global connectivity as we continue to build, grow, and advance the FinTech Scotland Cluster.  Plans for the year ahead will see more fintech innovation in capital markets and further support to enable greater diversity in fintech innovation. Morgan Stanley’s strategic engagement will enable further fintech innovation and opportunities in Glasgow which continues to see fintech growth, building Scotland’s national reputation for fintech innovation.”

Smart Data Foundry’s inaugural board announced

Smart Data Foundry just announced its inaugural board in order to accelerate its mission to solve societal issues though the use of financial data.

Member of the board are:

• Zachery Anderson, Chief Data Officer, NatWest Group
• Professor Kim Graham, Provost, University of Edinburgh
• Stephen Ingledew OBE, Chair, FinTech Scotland
• Fiona Duncan, Independent Strategic Advisor, the Promise
• Professor Chris Speed, Director, Edinburgh Futures Institute

They join  Chair Dame Julia Unwin and Chief Executive Officer Frank Gauld.

Founded in 2020, the not-for-profit organisation, has delivered a number of groundbreaking data projects in collaboration with financial institutions including research into the impact of Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis on the over-50s.

Dame Julia Unwin commented:

“Our mission to unlock the power of data has struck a chord with leading figures in academia and Financial Services so much so they have been motivated to join us and bring about change. We have demonstrated that we can work collaboratively to create clarity through data which can inform policies and decision-making. We want to inspire financial innovation and with this team, I am confident this ambition can be realised.”

Stephen Ingledew OBE, Chair, FinTech Scotland adds

“Scotland has one of the fastest growing Fintech clusters in the UK, if not the world. Essential to financial innovation is the ability to access and share data, and the groundbreaking work that Smart Data Foundry is leading to create synthetic data unlocks the huge opportunities to inspire financial innovation that will benefit so many consumers and businesses.”

Zachery Anderson Chief Data Officer, NatWest Group said: 

“NatWest Group were the first UK bank to partner with Smart Data Foundry and safely share data. Data helps us make better decisions and power research into areas that complement the wider NatWest purpose to champion potential, helping people, families and businesses to thrive.”

Frank Gauld says:

“This marks an important milestone in our history. As a young and growing business, to have the ability to attract such a talented board tells me we’re on the right track. 2022 was a year characterised by delivery for Smart Data Foundry.

“Our ground-breaking work with the FCA to generate and supply synthetic data to support their work to tackle the growing problem of Approved Push Payment (APP) Fraud is a great example of how we’re inspiring innovation in Financial Services. And we continued to support UK Government with a regularly updated COVID Economic Dashboard, creating an enduring record of how consumers saved, spent and earned before, during and after a pandemic. This level of insight is critical for policymakers to make decisions based on large-scale empirical data, no longer having to depend on survey data.”