Interview with Revolut – Challenger bank set to disrupt business banking
We spoke with James Gibson, Senior Product Owner at Revolut to speak about how the company is looking at disrupting the business banking sector.
We hear a lot about disruption in banking but that’s very often for consumers, do you expect the same happening to Business Banking?
Consumer experience has always been at the centre of disruption and as long as there are innovations or improvements that can be made to that in any industry – they will continue to be disrupted. Business banking is no different. Rubbish exchange rates, hidden fees and lengthy on-boarding times are issues we’ve already been able to solve and now we’re working on delivering innovative solutions to our business customers.
How would you rate the state of business banking at the moment in terms of experience and offering?
Products and services can always be better. What we can comment on is the surge of start-ups in the space – that just means there’s so much work to be done. Everyone is working to solve fundamental problems and deliver the basic solutions but soon we’ll see start-ups experiment with niche features and thats what will be exciting to watch.
How do you hope to change this at Revolut?
We’ve already impacted thousands of businesses across Europe by helping them with massive savings on exchange rates and avoiding any hidden or confusing fees. We’re now looking at building a one stop shop so that businesses can do almost everything in one place. For example, expense management with even more accounting tools to add to Xero and FreeAgent and even looking into launching acquiring in the near future.
Are there other examples around the world of companies who got it right according to you?
There are a lot of start-ups around the world disrupting industries and changing the way businesses and consumers think about product experiences. Companies like Uber, AirBnB, Apple have customer experience at the core of what they do and that’s a philosophy that we share as well. Of course, it is difficult to pin-point any companies that are doing everything perfectly which is great because it shows that even these established companies recognise the importance of continued progression and disrupting their own processes.
What does the future look like for business banking?
Bright and with lots of Revolut cards! Our vision remains similar to the quest we embarked on 4 years ago: ease of use for clients, automated processes where possible, fair and transparent pricing and technological developments that directly impact the finances of any business in any industry. We’ve done well on all of these points so far but we have much more to do!
What’s the next functionality you’re exciting about pushing to the market?
We’re super excited about the work that we’re doing around acquiring and we’re hopefully going to make some major announcements in the next year. We also listen closely to the feedback of our existing 100k+ businesses clients and it’s clear that UI and even more control over company spending are key topics so we will have some exciting updates on this area soon!
Discover Europe’s premier conference for credit scoring
It’s an exciting time to be working at the crossroads of finance and technology, helping businesses improve their customer journeys and making the most of new sources of data.
Credit Scoring and Credit Control XVI, Europe’s premier conference for credit scoring and related topics, will see 400 delegates from over 40 countries converge on Edinburgh between 27 and 30 August.
The lending market is changing more rapidly than ever before with rapid entry by lenders without branches, fintech startups with new services, open banking facilitating account moves as well as increasing regulations.
Every two years for the past 30 years, the conference has helped connect academics and practitioners. It is the agenda-setting forum for research and new methodologies for credit scoring and control, with talks covering a huge range of modelling issues such as machine learning, the use of new forms of alternative data, fraud prediction, interpretability of AI models, IFRS9, stress testing and SME risk modelling. Hear risk modellers opening their bonnet on their new developments and academics describing futuristic research that may set the agenda for the next decade.
Our previous event, in 2017, captured the mood of the time, with warnings that the growth in UK consumer debt had become a serious problem. Unsecured consumer credit had risen to £200bn for the first time since 2008. We heard fresh concerns about whether past models would be good into the future and naturally, concerns over Brexit. Two years on these worries still loom large!
I’m looking forward to hearing from our keynote speakers: Javier Frassetto, Chief Risk and Analytics Officer of LenddoEFL, leader in use of non-traditional data and identity verification; Diederick Potgieter, Risk Specialist at the Bank of England; and Paul Russell, Director of Analytics at Experian Consumer Services UK & Ireland.
The discussions that take place in Edinburgh this August will have a ripple effect across industry and academia for months and years to come.
Jonathan Crook
Director of Credit Research Centre,
Professor of Business Economics and Director of Research
University of Edinburgh Business School
The apprentice route to start in fintech
Origo apprentice Jack Scott recently became a permanent employee of the company. Rob Kingsbury talked to him about his decision to go the apprenticeship route and his experience of working at the Fintech
Jack Scott left school knowing he didn’t want to go to university and saw the apprenticeship scheme from QA, one of several open to young people in Scotland, as a route into a career in IT.
“I had studied social subjects and computer/IT subjects at school and I thought the latter best suited an apprenticeship and it was something I was really interested in,” Jack explains. “Also, as an apprentice you study on the job and you get paid for your time.”
The interview with QA was an initial chat, a technical test, followed by a more in-depth interview. Having been accepted on to the course his CV was passed to companies with openings for apprentices. Jack was looking for an apprenticeship as an infrastructure analyst. It wasn’t a shoe-in; Origo was the fourth company who interviewed him.
Apprenticeships are primarily work based (around 80% of the working week) giving apprentices practical experience as well as completing set modules and attending workshops and courses to build knowledge that is essential in the working environment.
Jack started his apprenticeship in November 2017. Origo had been interviewing for just one apprentice but two candidates stood out for them and they made the decision to offer both a place.
“On my first day, if I’m honest, I was bricking it,” Jack admits. “Tyler (the other apprentice) and me were given the task of building a computer, setting it up and installing all the software it needed. I’d never done anything like it, while Tyler was so much more technical than me, he was just getting on with it. I had to say, look I’m struggling here, can you help me understand what we’re doing?’ It was the start of an effective team.
Since then setting up computers to Origo specifications has become a regular part of their role. “Recently, everyone in the company got a new PC and we were tasked with building the computers, installing the software, setting up the security and doing the handover to the user, making sure they were comfortable with the new machine and how it worked.”
Now the two of them play to their individual strengths, Jack explains.
“Tyler is technical and I’m more of a people person, so he does most of the technical build and I take responsibility for the handover.”
It’s a team approach endorsed by the company.
“Origo is a really good company to work for. They are good at getting the best from people. There’s a job to be done but they look to what you are good at and really encourage you to develop.”
The apprenticeship Jack followed is a two-year programme including modules such as health and safety, customer service and technical fault diagnosis. An assessor came into the office on a monthly basis and there were set courses in both years ”“ a couple of two-week-long courses in year one and four courses lasting a week each in year two.
If there is one challenge he has had in the two years, Jack says, it is having confidence in his own abilities.
“I’m quite a confident person but being given work that was new to me but I could see someone else doing, like on my first day, that was hard. But it’s about knowing you can ask questions and getting your head down and getting on with it. Then, when you can do it, you love it.”
The most enjoyable part of his experience to date, he says, has been the people side of the job.
“It’s why I like the computer deployment side of the job now because I get to talk to new people.”
On 1 July Jack and Tyler became full-time Trainee Infrastructure Analysts with Origo. “I like the fact that we’ve gone from being apprentices to trainees. I think it’s the right title because I’m very aware that there’s a lot I still don’t know and there’s a learning process to go through.
“I’ve learned so much in the past two years. As well as doing things I’d never seen in my life before, I’ve improved my time management and I’ve become used to working in an office. I almost don’t recognise myself from where I was nearly two years ago. It’s been a fantastic experience.”
Jack says he’d recommend an apprenticeship in Fintech or technology in general.
“If you’re debating whether to go to University or getting a job, I’d recommend an apprenticeship. It’s the best of both worlds. You’ll have the study skills you’d get from University, as well as the practical skills from doing the job, and you get paid instead of building up student debt.“And there are so many apprenticeships in Scotland. It’s a really good opportunity.”
Fortnightly FinTech Fuse ”“ Here Comes the FinTech Summer!!
Yes, the FinTech Summer’ has certainly arrived but there has been no letup in the continuing momentum across the country when it comes to a plethora of innovation and collaboration initiatives.
Whilst each of the Fintech Scotland team has managed to grab a few days from the heat of fintech activity for a bit of summer sunshine to recharge batteries, the pace of activities has not waned
Summer of Innovation
Just before my summer vacation it was brilliant to catch up with Andy Smith and Jason Forsyth of Iceflo, the terrific fintech enterprise from Melrose.
The Iceflo team are now embarking on the next stage of their innovation journey and I’m looking forward to our trip soon down to the Scottish Borders to see the rest of the team.
Another wonderful fintech firm to reach a major milestone is the Sustainably and it was fantastic to see the inspiring Loral and Eishel Quinn announce their official launch at the start of July.
We used part of the Fintech Scotland board meeting to hear valuable insights from three awesome and market leading innovative firms from the community who are moving with amazing momentum.
Jude Cook and Andrew Pickett from Sharein, Callum Murray and Laura Bosworth from Amiqus and Colin Hewitt from Float all gave very engaging presentations, highlighting how Fintech Scotland can help firms who are scaling up.
This week it was great to meet up with entrepreneurs Ed Broussard and Craig Mackay of Mudano, a very exciting fintech data innovation enterprise which is growing at pace from its home in Edinburgh.
It’s fabulous to have the magnificent Mudano team part of the fintech community and looking forward to working with them on a number of collaboration initiatives
Similarly, excited to meet up with Eddie Curran and David of the very new fintech firm Open Banking Reporting (OBR) and hear about their exciting innovative proposition.
Also, great to see how OBR are part of the Addleshaw Goddard Elevate cohort, the prestigious growth programme along with the Amiqus team.
On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to meet up with Paul Coffey to hear about the innovative Birnham Wood and the plans Colin Green and Paul have to set up the exciting proposition from Australia in Glasgow
Great also to hear about how they are developing the enterprise in collaboration with the innovative David Lanc and Cyborn to develop the opportunity from Scotland.
Fantastic to have the innovative Andrew Duncan of Soar and John McHugh from Gigly from the fintech community at the Glasgow Economic Leadership meeting at the end of June.
This was a brilliant example of the power of collaboration across the range of financial services participants in ensuring that Glasgow is rightly recognized as a fast growing fintech hub.
Super leadership of the evening by Mark Napier of JP Morgan and looking forward to progressing the various collaboration initiatives.
Summer of Collaboration
Collaboration with the fintech community continues to be a hot subject in these summer months and one example of this is the new fintech accelerator programme we are working with University of Edinburgh and Sopra Steria on.
Great to meet up with Kerry Nicolaides from Sopra who is leading on this as they make terrific progress in moving to the initial launch with some valuable customer focused themes.
Mingaile Vaisnoraite from Sopra and I had the opportunity to share some of the details with Stephen Pearson and Scott Brunton from CYBG plc recently and how this collaborative fintech development could focus on the vulnerable customer considerations.
Thank you Stephen, for connecting me with Andy Fishburn and Alice Mulrooney of the Virgin Start Up team, we are very much looking forward to participating in the Glasgow fintech start up event in August along with the fabulous team from Castlight Financial
Over the summer weeks it has also been great to develop the collaboration with the inspiring Sam Bedford who leads the brilliant innovation team at CYBG. We very much looking forward to progressing our partnership with CYBG in engaging with the fintech community.
I’ve really enjoyed meeting up with the engaging Kristen Bennie of RBS over the summer weeks to explore how we further develop the collaboration with RBS in the months ahead. Also thank you Malcom Buchanan for RBS support of FinTech Scotland.
Many thanks also to Andrew Whyte and Maggie Craig of the FCA for the recent terrific catch up on FinTech Scotland’s ongoing collaboration with the regulator in supporting fintech developments.
As a forward thinking regulator, the FCA is a hugely important stakeholder as reflected by their valuable secondment of the brilliant Nicola Anderson to Fintech Scotland.
The early part of the summer has also seen meetings with a range of financial institutions to explore the further collaboration with the fintech community.
For example, great to catch up with Geoff Aberdein of Aberdeen Standard and Julian Ide of Martin Currie in Edinburgh then in Glasgow, Robert Keenan of Morgan Stanley to talk through connecting into the fintech developments.
Last week, Nicola and I very much enjoyed meeting David Durlacher, Duncan Jamieson, Ella Riesco and Calum Brewster of Julius Baer to consider mutual opportunities to work more closely in developing strategic fintech collaboration in wealth management.
Whilst we were in London, we had the chance to meet up with the inspiring Liz Brandt to hear about the fantastic strategic data innovation and collaboration work at Ctrl-Shift Ltd.
This was hugely exciting, and we are looking forward to seeing Liz in Scotland and taking this forward in the near future as it will be enormous value with fintech innovation and new enterprise.
Summer of Strategy
The strategic conversations have been very prominent over the Summer and I am very excited about the developing relationships which will support the fintech community growth
For example, valuable meetings with the team at BT, Michael Woodman, Dan Thomas, Craig Muirhead and Emma Cadzow.
Very much looking forward to the mutual strategic opportunities of working with the BT team in Scotland and globally across financial services to progress fintech opportunities.
Super strategic discussions also with John Innes of Leonardo as well as John Fraser and Madhan Murugesan of Cognizant, we very much valued their engagement and interest in working with FinTech Scotland.
Then I was more than happy to interrupt my summer holiday road trip south to catch up with Gary Kildare of IBM to talk through a very exciting strategic people skills initiative which it would be great to bring to Scotland. More to come on this soon, I hope.
On fintech skills and wider people opportunities, I am also hugely excited by the work with Eleanor Shaw, Martin Hughes and team at the University of Strathclyde as we develop the strategic fintech cluster in Glasgow.
This will certainly reinforce Scotland position on the global fintech map, watch this space!
Summer of Global Opportunities
The progress of the fintech community across Scotland is certainly getting global recognition and numerous international opportunities have emerged over the summer weeks
It was great to see leading European fintech commentator Martin Best give an overview recently on how Scottish fintech is thriving and brilliant examples of LendingCrowd, Money Dashboard and Modulr.
I was able to share these developments with Andrew Davis and colleague Stephanie Poon of Hong Kong Invest to develop the mutual opportunities. Thanks Andrew for a lovely catch up mixing fintech talk with all things running and music!
Great to be working with Gillian Docherty, Steph Wright and the DataLab team on the opportunities for fintech firms in a visit to Singapore and with Lorraine Mallon of SDI on the trade mission to USA in the Autumn
This alongside the fintech trade opportunities coming up with Ireland, France, India amongst others further demonstrates the growing interest in Scotland’s fintech developments.
Brilliant leadership by Graham Hatton a number of the inward opportunities, for example, the meeting with the team from Samsung Life a few weeks ago.
Closer to home it was great to have the inaugural meeting of the FinTech National Network in Manchester a few weeks ago with the teams from Fintech North and Innovate Finance as well as Tom Helm from the DIT.
It was brilliant to welcome Philip Creed for Fintech Northern Ireland as well as Gavin Powell from FinTech Wales who I’d meet up with a few weeks previously on a visit to Edinburgh.
Very much looking forward to building on a productive session and developing the collaboration across the fintech hubs further.
Many thanks to Julian Wells and the CYBG team for excellent hosting of the meeting and Peter Cunane and for arranging everything behind the scenes and Ali Griffths for the follow up..
Very much looking forward to hosting the next Network meeting in Glasgow in October as part of the fintech conference being organized with the fabulous Whitecap Consulting team.
Before then we hope to see many of our friends from the UK and the rest of the world come along to the Fintech Festival in Scotland over three weeks in September.
There will be many meet ups and events taking place including the two day showcase FinTech Summit organized by the super team at DIGIT led by the super Ray Bugg, Duncan Macrae and Pete Swift who we met up with recently.
More to come on the exciting range of activities taking place during the festival, including a fintech running race’ and a fintech wine tasting’ event, thanks to Sara Ronald of Nile on this who I caught up with recently!
Of course, events are happening all the time across Scotland. For example, I was delighted to present at the recent Faculty and Institute of Actuaries knowledge event, thanks Barry Shannon and team for making me so welcome.
Then delighted to get along the Tech Nation meet up Bayes Centre last week and listen to the engaging Hazel Gibbons as well as inspiring Leah Hutcheon of Appointed, all perfectly chaired by the awesome Steve Ewing.
Great to see so many of the movers and shakers of the Scottish innovation world at this event and very much looking forward to working with Hazel in the new Tech Nation role in Scotland.
Summer of Running
I just love running during the summer, even with the sweltering heat although my performances have been a bit up and down!
The Kirkintilloch10km and Edinburgh Parkrun both gave me my best times at these distances for two years but then the Cumbria marathon last Sunday was six minutes slower than planned!
I put this down to the strong coastal breeze and getting carried away in the sunshine early on!
Anyway, training quickly resumed for the next marathon which is Loch Ness in October and early preparation will be races in Livingston, Ceres, Irvine and Kirkaldy during August!
Then not forgetting the fintech 2 mile race as part of the Festival in September in Edinburgh, combining my two joys, running and fintech. I hope to see lots of you join in for it!! Until next time
The University of Edinburgh launches a fintech doctoral programme
The University of Edinburgh is launching a new initiative to help companies access talent and develop innovative products and services, a Fintech Doctoral Programme delivered is partnership with companies.
It combines a PhD training structure with a specific focus on topics at the intersection of finance/economics and informatics/technology with a company research project. Each student works on a project commissioned by their sponsoring company partner. Projects need to be of commercial interest to the sponsor and aim to ultimately drive development of new digital solutions and products.
Business partners will set the projects’ topics and will be involved in the candidates’ selection process. Sponsoring companies provide a company supervisor for the project and remain closely involved to ensure delivery of commercially-relevant outcomes. The PhD student is also supervised by 2 academic experts from the University of Edinburgh.
During the first year of the programme the students are based mostly in Edinburgh as they will be undergoing a comprehensive training programme. During the years 2-4 of the programme their time will be divided between the partner company and the University. The exact arrangements would be decided with the company for each project to suit their project requirements. After completion of the programme which lasts 4 years, graduates typically enter employment with their company sponsor. Programme provides a high-quality talent candidates who help their host company deliver new innovative products and services.
The University of Edinburgh is also partnering with the EIT Digital (European Technology Institute) which provides co-funding for the Fintech Doctoral Programme for their member companies. EIT Digital also provides access to innovation funding for companies for commercialisation of fintech products and services which could also be of interest to many companies.
We are currently recruiting projects for the first intake of students. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact ksenia.siedlecka@ei.ed.ac.uk More information: https://www.business-school.ed.ac.uk/collaborate/access-research-expertise/fintech-doctoral-programme
LendingCrowd and Brismo to enter partnership
Scottish fintech LendingCrowd, has just announced a partnership with Brismo to provide detailed and independently verified investment performance metrics.
Brismo provides lending performance data using sophisticated loan information to analyse and verify returns. Investors are able to access like-for-like analysis. This is a fantastic addition to the LendingCrowd platform which will allow investors to compare the performance of the LendingCrowd loan book alongside other fintech lending platforms.
Commenting on the partnership, Mike Allan, Director of Operations, LendingCrowd, said: “We are proud of our track record and believe in enabling transparency so that investors can compare performance across the lending sector. LendingCrowd has made great strides in scaling the business while remaining committed to robust credit processes and responsible lending.”
Rupert Taylor, founder and CEO, Brismo, added: “We are delighted that LendingCrowd is the latest leading platform to join Brismo and we look forward to helping illustrate the company’s impressive track record to investors. LendingCrowd is scaling its operations and diversifying its funding base at an impressive rate, so we are confident that this new partnership is a win-win for all parties.”
Brismo’s platform provides detailed loan book analysis, including loan origination figures, risk bands of borrowers, term and interest rate of outstanding principle and independently verified data on the arrears and default rate. Brismo data on LendingCrowd can be segmented and downloaded easily by investors.
Calling all ambitious women in tech! Apply for Special Edition today
Applications are now open for TRC’s Special Edition: a life-changing’ professional development programme for women in Scotland’s digital and tech sector looking to progress their careers in the industry.
At TRC we believe that gender equality in the boardroom is paramount to the wider diversity of Scotland’s digital sector, which is why we created Special Edition to empower women to achieve their full potential and claim their place in the boardroom.
What to expect?
Special Edition is a six-month training programme delivered by TRC: a Glasgow-based training body for the broadcast and digital industries.
Monthly training sessions will help boost your confidence, improve your entrepreneurial skills, expand professional networks and progress your career in digital. The initiative includes formal workshops delivered by leading industry trainers PLUS an international field trip to meet with inspiring people making moves in the digital world.
The programme has supported 42 women in Scotland’s digital sector since its launch in 2013, many of whom have gone on to secure significant job promotions and board appointments since completing the programme.
Delegates of last year’s programme said:
“My Special Edition experience has been absolutely life-changing. I was promoted to a new and exciting role as a result of an opportunity I seized thanks only to confidence gained during the course. I have a whole new mindset and perspective that has changed how I think, how I feel about myself and what I have to offer the world. That’s the greatest outcome, and more than I ever expected.” Serina MacDonald, Head of Activation, Associate Director at Amplifi – part of the Dentsu Aegis Network
“Special Edition is a sisterhood and the most valuable network I’ll ever have in my career.”
Alanna Innes, Product Owner at xDesign“To anyone thinking about applying for the course, don’t even think about it. Just do it. I pondered for a while before applying as I doubted that I would be good enough to be selected. You are good enough! Given everything I have learned, the confidence gained and my improved mindset, it scares me to think what I would have missed out on had I not clicked that button!”
Serina MacDonald, Head of Activation, Associate Director at Amplifi
Applications are now open via the TRC websiteand will close on 1stAugust 2019.
Discover SDI’s Fintech Export Programme
If you’re a Scottish Fintech company with a great product or service offering and you have the drive, commitment and tenacity to expand into overseas markets you might want to sign up for Scottish Development International’s Fintech Export Programme, where you’ll be guided through both the essential, and advanced, requirements of doing international trade.
To help you succeed, they’ll guide you through producing a robust International Action Plan to drive your company’s growth in 2019 and beyond.
Over the course of the Programme they’ll cover all necessary topics to ensure you’re well-prepared to exploit new market opportunities and compete
on the international stage.
What’s in it for me?
- Help and resource to develop your own international action plan to implement into your business
- A step-by-step guide to develop insights into key topics such as:
- Profiling International Clients
- Understanding International Market Requirements
- Identifying your Business Model / Route to Market
- Developing an Export Plan
- Plus, it’s the ideal setting to network with other like-minded Scottish businesses
What will I learn?
- How to effectively research and exploit international opportunities
- What market entry options are right for your business
- Next steps for your business
Who’s it for?
If you’re a Fintech company (or a tech company with Financial Services customers) based in Scotland and you’re interested in growing internationally, then Export Workshop is a good place to get started. It’s fully funded and open to all businesses, except for intermediaries or suppliers of international trade services.
When and Where?
Tue 20th August 2019
Fintech Export Programme (click on link to register)
EDINBURGH – Scottish Enterprise, Apex 1, 99 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5HD
Time: 09:30 ”“ 17:00
You can also view these via www.scottish-enterprise.com/events. Scottish Enterprise’s Preparing to Export Programme is fully funded to Scottish companies and is part funded through the European Structural and Investment Funds (Investing in a Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Future). You should note that this support is a form of state aid, and on attendance it will count towards your overall De Minimis allowance (Please see event page for a breakdown of De Minimis levels)
Discover Ellis Accelerator for expansion into the US
Ellis Accelerator is an equity-free three-month program designed to empower international startups as they expand to the US market and become global companies. We support international B2C and B2B startups by providing them with all the resources required to scale successfully in the US – including 150+ mentors, housing and office space in NYC, workshops, $350k benefits package, and access to an exclusive community.
The program begins once a startup is accepted – we work with them prior they arrive to NYC, helping them get their visas, set up their legal US entity, and refining their US go-to-market strategy. Thus, providing the participating startups the foundation necessary to focus on strategic initiatives and generating traction in the US once they arrive in NYC.
Upon arrival, startups go through a two-week bootcamp comprised of 15+ workshops to give them a thorough understanding of key concepts vital to scale successfully in the US. Our bootcamp is comprehensive and covers everything from pitch coaching, to building a US company, to sales and more.
Startups are paired with one or two lead mentors and have access to an additional 150+ specialist mentors. Our mentors and our team work with the participating startups 1:1 throughout the program to empower them to achieve their goals.
As part of the program, Ellis provides office space in SoHo, inclusive of free rooftop event space and conference rooms. Ellis is one of the only accelerators in the world providing furnished housing for the entire duration of the three-month program – allowing the startup founders to focus on running their company, instead of searching for accomodations.
While the program is three months long, once a startup is a part of the Ellis family, they are in it for life and will always have access to our community and our benefits package worth over $350K. The Ellis community consists of 150+ mentors, entrepreneurs and investors that will enable participants to scale dramatically faster.
As the Ellis program is equity-free, there is a participation fee which covers all program components. Third parties, including governmental, educational organizations and others, may sponsor participation.
Applications for the Fall 2019 cohort are open until July 15. Startups may apply here.
Additionally, we will be hosting the Ellis Accelerator Spring 2019 Demo Day at SAP Next-Gen in NYC on July 9th. This event will feature pitches fromEllis Accelerator‘s Spring 2019 cohort,Artboost,Bearaby, and DerButton. Register here and use code “EAS19” for a free ticket.If you are in New York at that time then we hope to see you there!
Scottish fintech Sustainably launches a new way giving
Sustainably is launching today at the Fundraising Convention in London.
The company offers a new way of giving to charities they care about without having to think about it, just by living their lives.
Sustainably is rounding up its users’ cashless transactions. The spare change is donating to the causes they care about, aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. In an increasingly cashless society, it will unlock a new income stream for charities and enable supporters to see the difference they’re making instantly.
Inspired by Tom’s Shoes, Pokemon Go and Acorns Investing, Sustainably won the WeWork Creator Awards and is a top 10 Virgin Startup, with both global brands set to help Sustainably’s growth.
Speaking of Sustainably, Richard Branson said: “Sustainably is so simple, but effective, which most of the good ideas are. I loved the simple idea of rounding up everyday transactions and giving your spare change to chosen good causes. Sustainably is a great example of why I wanted to start Virgin StartUp in the first place – I knew there were entrepreneurs with good ideas who just needed a little support who could go on to achieve incredible things and have a positive impact on the world.”
Sustainably launches connected to 10 local and national charities, including British Heart Foundation, and will be adding new charities daily when it officially launches on 1 July.
Speaking of Sustainably, Simon Gillespie, CEO of British Heart Foundation said: “At the BHF, we’re continuously innovating to ensure our supporters have opportunities to donate to us in ways that fit in with their busy everyday lives. Innovation and the use of technology has been core to many of the breakthroughs we’ve made to improve treatments for heart and circulatory diseases, and we need to take this same cutting-edge approach to raising funds and building relationships with our supporters.
“Our partnership with Sustainably is a fantastic example of this approach in action. It will make supporting our research possible in the swipe of a finger as part of millions of transactions ”“ something that’s completely new. While the individual amounts might not seem like much, many small donations could add up to big breakthroughs in finding new treatments for conditions including heart disease, stroke and vascular dementia. We’re excited to see what this new way of fundraising has in store.”
Loral Quinn, co-founder and CEO of Sustainably explains: “We’re excited to launch our technology that makes doing good something you can do easily, everyday.”
Sustainably links to people’s bank card rounding up on their behalf. It’s also very easy easy to see impact of donations thanks to a new form of impact messaging between charities and supporters to help inspire engagement and trust, by providing an instant impact update.
The team at Sustainably is 8 staff strong with plan to grow in the next year as they target business donations.
The charity donations market is estimated at more than £12 billion in the UK per year.
Founded by mother and daughter team, Loral and Eishel Quinn, Loral, CEO, was head of digital marketing and strategy for Aberdeen Asset Management, where she set up the global digital team and helped scale the business from 6 to 30 countries in 10 years. Eishel, Chief Product Officer, has a background in ethical retail, working with Neal’s Yard Remedies. Eishel was recently named one of Digital Leaders top 10 Young Digital Leaders.