New Chief Financial Officer for fintech Autorek
Kenny Bain will join Scottish fintech AutoRek, a leading software provider to global financial services, as Chief Financial Officer. He will play a key role in evolving and scaling the company.
Bain was previously Chief Executive Officer of Rant and Rave and is very experienced in financial leadership and operational management with a proven track record of delivering substantial growth in the software and technology sector, in the UK and internationally. Prior to this, Mr. Bain worked for 14-year at Graham Technology, as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and EMEA Managing Director, as the business expanded across the US, Europe and Asia.
“We are delighted to welcome Kenny onboard. He brings a wealth of invaluable experience from the software technology sector, which will no doubt make an enormous contribution as we continue to build on the success of AutoRek within the UK financial services sector and internationally.”
Gordon McHarg, CEO, AutoRek
“I am delighted to join AutoRek at this exciting time and look forward to working with Gordon and the team to deliver further growth. The business has a fantastic culture, a highly engaged team, a market leading product and is passionate about customer success – all positioning AutoRek perfectly to capture the significant opportunities that lie ahead.”
Kenny Bain, Chief Financial Officer, AutoRek, added,
HR for Fast Growing Fintechs: Investing in a People Strategy for Success
The rise of the FinTech sector in Scotland continues at an impressive rate despite the challenges of this year, with a number of innovative new start-ups contributing to this exciting growth.
Setting up any new business is challenging but especially so in technology where getting access to and retaining the best talent is crucial to success. HR strategies and framework must address this reality in order to build a strong team and culture for sustained growth and competitive advantage. Setting up the company’s values and mission early on lays the foundations for a strong and successful workplace culture ”“ ultimately the driving force of HR.
Supporting Scottish FinTech
As HR specialists with a niche focus in the technology sector, we have supported Scottish Fintech Exizent since early 2020.
An innovative, Glasgow-based technology firm, Exizent have a strong purpose – to improve the bereavement experience for everyone involved.
The Founders had launched the company, both having previous experience of building successful businesses. They had plans to scale rapidly and knew the value of early investment in strong HR practice. Having secured funding to support their ambitious growth plans, they needed to build a strong team and culture and implement HR framework and infrastructure.
Establishing HR & people strategy
Having engaged us to support their growth journey, we conducted a full review of Exizent’s existing HR setup and processes, held scoping 1:1’s with the Founders and conducted a needs analysis, planning and prioritisation session aligned to their business and growth plans. This allowed us to gain a real understanding of the company’s ambitions, culture, people plans and future HR support needs.
We then identified the key short and medium term strategic and operational HR requirements which would enable the business to achieve its aims linked to rapid expansions and rollout, as well as being able to support the company values and culture.
Key requirements included contracts and documentation, onboarding processes, compliance, a HR management system, an employee handbook and the ongoing development of strong organisational culture.
The outcome was a tailored and prioritised HR plan with indicative timeline to support the business to scale rapidly over a 24-month period.
Our approach was designed to provide an effective and fit for purpose HR strategy, putting in place solid foundations to allow Exizent to grow and scale sustainably from a people management perspective.
A regular bank’ of HR support time was agreed, allowing Exizent a full hands-on HR service and access to expert HR support when needed to help them develop, implement and maintain their people strategy. This would also ensure that ongoing guidance and manager support was available to their team from a very early stage in their organisational development.
Exizent now have in place robust, fit for purpose, effective and compliant HR and people management systems and documentation, optimising their organisational effectiveness by aligning strategy, people, resources and processes. Team development sessions led by Purpose HR support effective business relationships, collaborative working practices across the organisation, and a strong and positive culture.
Exizent continues to grow rapidly, confident in the knowledge that they have a trusted and flexible HR partner embedded in their business.
“We engaged Purpose HR for their recognised expertise with growing technology-led businesses. They are a trusted extension of our management team and we value their depth of knowledge and professionalism. Purpose HR are very well aligned with our business, share our values and are a great cultural fit. Their flexible support is responsive, cost-effective and saves us valuable time. I would highly recommend Purpose HR for their cutting-edge, hands-on and people-centric approach – perfect for scaling businesses.”
Aleks Tomczyk, Founder & COO
The importance of investing in HR
It can be easy to overlook HR in a startup business and it is an area of expertise which many technical startups lack.Many entrepreneurs get their businesses off to a flying start, charging forward at speed, but struggle with people management further down the line. As a business grows, leaders often find there just isn’t time to deal with day-to-day people management and recruitment, and the focus on people can easily get lost. This is a costly mistake and can affect employee engagement, culture and long-term success.
Investing early in strong HR practice at the beginning, as Exizent have done, is critical for sustained growth. For startups, outsourcing this to a HR partner who understands the market, the company’s values, culture and strategic aims, and who adds value to the business is an investment in the future success of the organisation.
Lisa Thomson is the Managing Director of Purpose HR and is experienced in establishing HR functions and people management and development frameworks within growing businesses and is a trusted advisor at board level.
Purpose HR are a trusted HR partner to some of the most exciting, investor backed, high growth businesses in the Technology, Engineering and Life Science sectors in Scotland and offer hands-on flexible support to enable scale and growth through attraction, retention and development of key talent.
If you’d like to find out more about cost-effective and tailored HR support for fast growing, technology-led startups and scaleups, contact Lisa Thomson at lisa@purposehr.co.uk
Check Point Software Announces Strategic Partnership with FinTech Scotland
Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber-security solutions globally, has today announced that it has become a strategic partner of FinTech Scotland, an independent not-for-profit body jointly established by the private sector and the Scottish Government. Check Point solutions bring a practical boost to cyber-security awareness and engagement with Scottish fintech firms.
The partnership will see Check Point deliver cyber-security education and training initiatives to organizations operating in FinTech Scotland’s cluster. It will also work with the fintech SMEs to enable cyber-security from the outset with focused solutions to help protect their businesses against cyber threats targeting networks, cloud deployments and mobile devices.
FinTech Scotland is supported by a broad range of global financial services, technology, and professional services firms, as well as University of Edinburgh and University of Strathclyde, the Financial Conduct Authority, Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise. Check Point brings its expertise and global experience on cyber security, which will help further develop Scotland’s position as a global fintech cluster.
“Scotland is home to a phenomenal pool of fintech talent. However, as with many sectors, these firms face complex challenges right now, as they navigate the changes to their networks due to the rapid digital transformation and remote working practices forced upon us all. By partnering with FinTech Scotland, we aim to equip these firms with the tools and support they need to ensure cybersecurity is deeply embedded within their business in these challenging times and beyond.”
Roddy MacCallum, Head of Scotland at Check Point Software Technologies.
“We’re delighted to welcome Check Point as a strategic partner. They join a group of global organisations that have decided to support the development and growth of the Scottish fintech cluster. Cyber threats are one of the biggest concerns for fintech entrepreneurs. Involving a global expert in cyber security will help address those concerns and support fintech SME’s to confidently develop safe and secure innovation.”
Nicola Anderson, interim CEO at FinTech Scotland.
The partnership with FinTech Scotland further demonstrates Check Point’s ongoing commitment to providing essential education and training in Scotland. To mark the launch of the partnership, Check Point and FinTech Scotland are hosting an online event on 26 November to discuss the latest cyber-security threats in the sector. To register for interest, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fintech-scotland-zero-touch-security-tickets-127138640095
Follow Check Point via:
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/checkpointsw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/checkpointsoftware
Blog: http://blog.checkpoint.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/CPGlobal
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/check-point-software-technologies
About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a leading provider of cyber security solutions to governments and corporate enterprises globally. Its solutions protect customers from 5th generation cyber-attacks with an industry leading catch rate of malware, ransomware and other types of attacks. Check Point offers its multilevel security architecture, Infinity Total Protection with Gen V advanced threat prevention, which defends enterprises’ cloud, network and mobile device held information. Check Point provides the most comprehensive and intuitive one point of control security management system. Check Point protects over 100,000 organizations of all sizes.
£9m investment for Scottish fintech Modulr
Edinburgh based fintech, Modulr, just announced a £9 million investment from PayPal Ventures. This fresh investment will help the company develop new products, recruit and reach new clients.
Modulr let companies easily implement new payment products and services within their customer journey. The fintech provides a full stack Payments as a Service API, whilst taking care of the complexities and regulatory overhead. Modulr has a direct access to the
Modulr works with platforms that serve small and medium-sized businesses. This year has been rich in news for the company with the onboarding of new customers despite problems caused by COVID-19. Modulr connected to the Back scheme, the Faster Payments scheme, Visa and Mastercard.
“This investment marks an important milestone for Modulr’s modern payments infrastructure. Modulr lowers the barriers to bringing payments into a platform, creating endless new possibilities for our customers while allowing them to focus on their core competencies. The investment from PayPal Ventures enhances our ability to execute on that vision.”
Myles Stephenson, CEO of Modulr
“More digital businesses are looking to incorporate payments into their existing user experience but either don’t have the expertise or the resources. Modulr is well-positioned to be an enabler of this trend and will undoubtably expand end-users’ access to fast, reliable and secure financial services. We look forward to working with Modulr as it helps to powers the next generation of digital businesses.”
Anil Hansjee, partner at PayPal Ventures
In total, Modulr has raised £63.3 million including investment from PayPal Ventures, Highland Europe, Frog Capital, Blenheim Chalcot and a £10m grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund.
Is artificial intelligence the key to better access to funding for business and consumers alike?
Although the UK ranks third in the world for numbers of new business start-ups, it sits at a less impressive 13th place in the number of successful business scale ups[1]. Access to finance is widely argued to be a contributing factor with traditional banks having become more risk averse in recent years, and focussed heavily on security rather than a borrower’s ability to pay. Consumers, too, know first-hand how frustrating this can be, especially those held back by the seemingly inflexible approach taken by credit ratings agencies.
Change, however, is coming
Financial disintermediation, or more direct links between providers of capital and borrowers, has been a major feature of the financial landscape for the past two decades. Digital advances have seen this trend accelerate and the proliferation of non-bank lenders continues to increase. In fact, according to recapitalnews.com, 18 of Europe’s 40 largest real estate lenders are non longer banks.
And whilst some might argue that it really doesn’t matter where borrowers gain access to the funding they need to grow, there are increasing signs that both sides of the lending equation are benefitting significantly from new, highly advanced, technology solutions being deployed in the sector.
Elsewhere, comparison websites, taxi or ride-hailing apps and online supermarkets have all helped to show us the convenience of going digital. We feel more in control of our choices, and have the information we need at our fingertips. We have become used to instant gratification, and processes that are simple to use (even if they are massively complex to run). So too, we are starting to see this in the world of FinTech – where finance and technology collide to produce new and innovative activities in the sector.
Houston we Have is one such company that has developed an innovative solution that produces the strangely non-binary, or win-win, situation where a lender risk and operating costs are reduced and borrower convenience and access to funding is actually enhanced.
Based on the company’s proprietary prescriptive intelligence software platform, Houston we Have developed a credit risk assessment model for a Sydney-based SME lending platform that combines leading automation, the best of human expertise (without bias) and more than 70 information variables to produce an online application tool that’s easy to use, and fast to run.
Prior to the implementation of Houston we Have’s solution, the credit risk decision support system in place at the business was manual, resource intensive, reliant on third party providers and exposed to flawed systems. Typically a fast decision would take several hours. Today, the business can produce a decision within seconds.
Risk has also been reduced with a far better understanding of a borrower’s ability to pay and the removal of human bias in the decision making. Delinquent loans have been an astonishing zero since the system was introduced. And as for changes in legislation, lending frameworks or appetite for risk; these can be easily factored into system updates, as can revised versions for the regulatory environments in different countries and jurisdictions.
All this points to a more efficient industry that benefits lenders and borrowers alike.
Houston we Have is a boutique technology business that combines data science, software and artificial intelligence to deliver the kind of information that allows their clients to make better decisions and thrive. Their proprietary software was initially developed for military intelligence agencies, an environment where it is still very much in use. Gartner has identified the company as a Cool Vendor describing the value proposition as “unlike that of any vendor we have seen.”
[1] www.smallbusiness.co.uk, June, 2018
Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels
Creating a Culture of Support in the Financial Services Industry
Pinsent Masons recently published a report Creating a Culture of Support in the Financial Services Industry’, produced in collaboration with a number of key stakeholders in the financial services industry, including financial institutions, fintechs and third sector organisations, to explore this important topic in more detail.
As part of the report, Pinsent Masons commissioned a consumer survey to obtain insight into the role individuals see their bank playing in helping to support them if they are affected by a mental health condition. Their findings show that consumers are very much in favour of banks taking a proactive approach in helping consumers to manage their money, for example by implementing spending controls or notifying the consumer if an abnormal spending pattern is identified.
One of the key areas of focus for the FCA is ensuring that consumers with mental health issues are treated fairly and the report looks at the FCA’s approach, the legal issues associated with banks and other financial services institutions being proactively involved in supporting consumers, what the industry is doing to support consumers with mental health issues and how the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for additional support to be offered to consumers.
Creating a Culture of Support in the Financial Services Industry’ highlights the positive steps already taken by the financial services industry to ensure that consumers with metal health issues have access to the support they need and shows that that there is a huge opportunity for collaboration between industry players to offer even better solutions for consumers in the future.
A copy of the report is available here.
In-depth fintech research and analysis with specialist MSc students
Article written by Ksenia Siedlecka, Financial Services and Fintech Sector Engagement Manager at Edinburgh Innovation
We are currently looking for projects for a variety of MSc programmes with finance and fintech focus (MSc Fintech ”“ Finance, Technology, Policy, MSc Banking and Risk, and MSc Finance, MSc Financial Mathematics). We also have a number of business and data science MSc programmes which are popular with Financial Services and Fintech companies looking to propose projects (e.g. Business Administration, Business Analytics, Statistics). With such a fantastic selection of programmes, we are able to tackle a variety of business challenges. Our students are among the best in their field and combine their specialist subject knowledge and management skills with the refinement offered through our 12-month, intensive programmes. Projects are delivered free of charge and supported by our world-leading academics at The University of Edinburgh. We offer different types of projects and will match you with an individual postgraduate student with the specialised skill set suited to your business challenge and research needs.
Our Business School students can help tackle questions related to corporate strategy, marketing, finance, internationalisation, product development, HR, operations management, change management and many others. The MSc in Finance programme covers all aspects of investment, corporate and energy finance. MSc Accounting and Finance could help with topics on financial reporting and management accounting. MSc Banking & Risk projects could cover such topics as analysis of corporate financial information, credit risk management, econometrics applications and many others. We can consider almost any topic that has a finance, accounting, investment, energy market, banking or risk focus. Successful projects tend to have an empirical element, which has practical relevance. Our students are keen to work with practitioners on projects which will be of real value to them, helping them find solutions to strategic financial issues such as validity forecasting, forecast asset market returns, risk modelling, dynamic lifecycle strategies etc.
MSc Financial Mathematics students will work on a real mathematical finance problem and can utilize specialist techniques such as stochastic analysis, Monte Carlo methods, statistics and optimisation, construction of algorithms and programming skills. Projects often require the design and implementation of computational analysis to a specific area, and can involve the application and implementation of existing mathematical models, or development of new approaches to solution methods. Quantitative modeling, data analytics, financial computing and software development projects can be tackled by our computer science students from MSc Advanced Technology for Financial Computing.
The MSc Finance, Technology and Policy (Fintech) prepares students with technical skills and knowledge of programming, artificial intelligence and machine learning who also understand financial markets and regulations so they are ready to develop technological solutions fit for the financial sector. We are particularly interested in dissertation topics in applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analytics, and portfolio optimisation. Example topics include: building robo-advise algorithms using ML; pattern recognition in big data (including alternative data) using ML; optimal execution strategy with particular emphasis on trading securities in ratio, and many others. Can you help?
If so, we’re looking for companies to submit project ideas by approx. 25 January 2021. In return, you’ll benefit from the insight of one of our high-calibre postgraduate students, including a substantial report featuring extensive research, rigorous analysis and practical conclusions.
To discuss further, contact Ksenia Siedlecka, Financial Services and Fintech Sector Engagement Manager, ksenia.siedlecka@ei.ed.ac.uk
FinTech Scotland welcomes Google Cloud to the fintech cluster
Google Cloud is joining forces with cluster management organisation, FinTech Scotland, to support the growth of the fintech small and medium enterprise community in Scotland.
With most fintech firms using cloud solutions to integrate more easily with their clients cost-effectively, the addition of Google Cloud to FinTech Scotland’s cluster will further enable new innovation at speed as well as benefiting from Google’s cloud knowledge and expertise.
This will especially be valuable to the growing number of fintech enterprises focused on data-driven innovation to improve financial services and products.
Google Cloud will join a broad range of large financial services enterprises and global technology and professional services providers in supporting the growth and development of the innovative fintech SME community .
Since its launch in January 2018, FinTech Scotland has been growing the number of global organisations involved in the cluster to bring innovation and collaboration opportunities to the fintech SME community.
Google Cloud’s strengths in data capabilities plus the innovative and entrepreneurial nature of Scotland’s fintech community will help further develop Scotland’s position as a major global fintech cluster.
Scotland’s fintech cluster is continuing to grow, evidenced by the growing number of fintech SME firms, innovation and research initiatives with universities, plus the collaborative support from government and global organisations.
“We very much welcome Google Cloud expert engagement with the fintech community and cluster as it acts as a further boost to driving impactful innovation. Google Cloud data capabilities and know-how will certainly be of great value to the innovative SME community in Scotland.”
Stephen Ingledew, FinTech Scotland’s executive chair
AutoRek to partner with iSoftware4Banks in the USA
It was announced today that Scottish fintech, AutoRek, would be partnering with iSoftware4Banks, a company based in the USA which provides solutions to support effective financial reporting and compliance.
With this partnership, AutoRek and iSoftware4Banks will offer their clients improved automation and better ROI. This will be achieved by bringing together highly experienced consultants and leading data management technologies.
Due to the current global epidemic, the financial sector, historically office-based, is moving towards different ays of working with many more people working from home. This change generates various operational issues across financial institutions. To adapt, those firms are reviewing their IT infrastructure, systems and outsourced services to future proof robust operational resilience strategies to ensure uninterrupted service. This is why this partnership was born, to help large financial companies achieve transformation whilst keeping on top of reporting and compliance requirement in a new and more efficient way.
“Our partnership with iSoftware4Banks comes at a crucial point of this year. As financial services firms consider their 2021 budgets after a turbulent year of operational risk, they will inevitably seek optimal value, which together we are confident in delivering.”
Head of Partnerships at AutoRek, Marc McCarthy
“We are delighted to be partnering with AutoRek to offer excellence in financial and operational controls to meet regulatory and compliance requirements. In-depth market research confirmed AutoRek’s solution is the best on the market, and we look forward to working together.”
Vincent Raniere, Chief Executive Office, iSoftware4Banks
Origo ”“ what are we working for?
Written by Anthony Rafferty, Managing Director, Origo
The other day a member of the team wrote this in an email to us all: “It’s so exciting how highly anticipated this service is ”“ we’re really doing the right thing for people in the industry.”
She was referring to a brand new service Origo had launched in the financial services (pensions, investment and savings) market, with which we had set out to tackle one of the most frustrating issues for the administrators, paraplanners (think para-legals for the financial planning market), financial advisers as well as the product providers and platforms in our industry. This is conveying the authorisation required from the client of the financial advice firms by the providers and platforms, stating that they are authorising the advice firm to act on and transact on their behalf; termed the Letter of Authority (LoA).
On the face of it you’d expect this to be a simple process and hardly an issue for an industry that transact billions of pounds every year. Right?
The actual situation is this: A myriad range of requirements and different pieces of information being required by providers and platforms; paper-based systems; pieces of paper having to be posted or faxed(!) to every individual provider/platform; no way of tracking the process, so no way of knowing if it is being dealt with or how long it will take. You can imagine the resource and cost implications all along the process chain.
Here’s a quote from someone on the front line:
“We offer an outsourced administration support, alongside our paraplanning services, and our administrators spend a lot of time finding out how a provider wants to receive the LoA (not everyone accepts emails and some still insist on seeing the wet signature, and these requirements seem to vary all the time), making sure the LoA actually got to the team which is supposed to be dealing with it and establishing current turnaround times, and finally chasing for information, often spending hours on hold each week only to be told there’s currently a backlog. Providers must also spend a lot of time answering these calls.”*
If you want to read further of the frustrations this is causing those dealing with this administrative burden, read this article on LinkedIn [ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sending-letters-authority-2020-debbie-condon/ ].
It’s written by Debbie Condon, founder of Intuitive Support Services, an outsourced administration firm for this market. She tells how she has had to put together a spreadsheet of 100 companies (there are many more in the industry) for her team of administrators laying out what each company needs and in what format and to which department the information should go. Needless to say, we asked Debbie to be one of the testers for our new service.
Hopefully, this gives a flavour of the issues and frustrations being experienced.
So, how have we tackled this. First, we did one of the things we do best, having identified the issue, we brought together a range of different industry participants to ascertain what they would need to create a common, efficient digital process that would meet the requirements of the industry and they would all be happy using.
From these working groups we developed the Unipass Letter of Authority service. Unipass is one of our brands ”“ 8 in 10 financial advisers use Unipass Identity for example to safely connect to the websites of the various providers and platforms they use on a daily basis.
In a nutshell, Unipass Letter of Authority enables the person in the financial advice firm to enter all the client’s details in a common format and for that information to be sent to all providers and platforms on the system. No laborious form filling for the advice firm and no postage cost.
Also, by securely digitising the process, Unipass Letter of Authority enables advice firms to know where they are in the onboarding process, so they can keep up-to-date with progress and keep the client informed, helping to improve their customer service.
This is a service that the industry tells us it has been crying out for and we are delighted to have been able to work collaboratively with participants in developing it. To accelerate the use of the service and the benefits it can bring to the industry, we are making it free to use until July 2021, allowing advice firms, providers and platforms to experience first-hand how the service will work for them.
I’m going to end with a quote from Debbie Condon: “What we need is for providers to sign up to this system as soon as possible. The more companies that are on board, the faster, easier and cheaper this process will become for the industry and the better the quality of service adviser businesses will be able to give to their clients.”*
Having this kind of impact on the efficiencies and for the people in our industry is what inspires everyone at Origo to be the best they can be in their jobs. The new Unipass Letter of Authority is just one of several innovative services we provide for our part of the industry and I am extremely proud of what we do as a FinTech to help address these issues.
An Edinburgh company doing its best to change the industry for the better.
Unipass Letter of Authority launches on 23 November 2020.
* Quotes from articles published by Professional Paraplanner magazine.
https://professionalparaplanner.co.uk/new-letter-of-authority-service-could-be-game-changer/