Scottish fintech selected for fintech growth programme
Vistalworks just announced it has been selected for the UK’s fintech growth programme.
The company will be part of the Tech Nation’s Fintech 3.0 cohort, delivered as part of the UK Treasury’s fintech strategy.
The growth programme aim to provide coaching and networking to some of the best fintech firms in the UK so they can develop new solutions to support the UK economy.
Vistalworks’ solution allows financial institution to fight fraudulent transactions and reduce consumers detriment thanks to a state of the art software that creates risk profiles for sellers and products. The new technology also sends alerts to governments, police, specialist agencies, consumer protection bodies, and corporations such as banks.
Thanks to a browser add-on, consumers can also check products are licit before buying them.
Vicky Brock, chief executive and co-founder of Vistalworks, said:
“Our technology protects consumers and businesses from harmful online criminal sellers at every stage of the transaction, and we want to expand our reach.
“Our goal is to enable banks and payments providers to be more proactive in preventing high risk illicit transactions that lead to consumer harm and costly claims and refunds.
“Illicit trade is the biggest funding source of organised crime and directly harms economies, the environment, businesses, citizens and their communities.
“We want Scotland and the UK to be at the forefront of the fintech innovation that will help tackle this problem.”
Stephen Ingledew, chief executive of FinTech Scotland, said:
“The inclusion of Vistalworks on the Tech Nation programme is terrific recognition of Vicky Brock and the team’s exciting and innovative proposition in addressing consumer and business challenges of financial crime.
“The development of proactive tools to deal with high risks transactions handled by banks and payment providers has never been more important in the emerging digital economy and I am inspired by how the Vistalworks team are pioneering innovative approaches which will benefit consumers and businesses.”
Lynne Cadenhead, chair of Women’s Enterprise Scotland, said:
“We are delighted that Vistalworks has secured a place on the Tech Nation Fintech programme.
“Founder Vicky Brock is both a vocal supporter of women in STEM and an active Women’s Enterprise Scotland Ambassador.
“As a visible role model, she inspires other women and girls to pursue careers in STEM industries and we know that diversity is a key driver of innovation.
“This in turn fuels economic growth, making gender diversity a key component in rebuilding our economy after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
New online life and legacy planning platform Legado launches following an additional £600,000 investment
Scottish fintech Legado, launched today after receiving a substantial investment of more than £600,000 from savings and investments business, Prudential and one of Scotland’s fintech Unicorns, FNZ.
Legado, is available directly for consumers or for enterprises and professional advisers looking to provide their customers with a GDPR compliant and customer-focussed service.
Thanks to this new platform, people can securely and easily store and then share their most important documents and information such as wills and policies to pin codes and treasured family recipes. Legado is unique in that it looks at people’s entire life. Users can nominate specific individuals to have access to their vault be it a spouse, financial adviser or executor ”“ with the user having complete control over what these parties can see and when. At the point of life events, customers can quickly and easily share key documentation with organisations and other related parties to speed up processing time and help with operational efficiency.
Enterprises can white label this solution should they want to provide Legado’s innovative solution to their own customers. The added benefit is that Legado can help companies move towards paperless communications.
The launch of the direct-to-consumer service follows a £50,000 grant from Innovate UK, the UK Government’s innovation agency. The grant has allowed Legado to offer this version of the service for free for an extended period. Thereafter, users will be able to subscribe to the platform for a nominal monthly or annual fee.
All information stored within Legado is protected by bank-grade’ security ”“ one of the highest levels of encryption, with users required to follow a two-factor authentication process to gain entry to their digital vault.
Josif Grace, CEO and Founder of Legado said:
“Life organisation and Legacy planning is something that can fill many with dread. While it is understandably a sensitive subject and strenuous task, it’s important that services like ours make it as easy as possible to prepare for life’s unexpected events. It’s important to highlight how it is never too early to think about the future and to keep plans updated throughout your life.
“We live in a digital world, however when it comes to forward planning, the industry still relies on paper, physical documents, unsecure emails and other file hosting services. Legado removes that aspect and provides one simple, highly secure platform which a consumer has access to and can manage throughout their lives. Not only does this provide the user with a central and secure space where they can store an abundance of documents, but they also have complete control over who is able to access specific information. Enterprises will also be able to benefit as they are granted unique access to their client’s affairs which can better shape the counsel and advice they provide.”
Adrian Durham, FNZ Group CEO commented:
“As an organisation with the mission of helping people achieve their financial goals, FNZ is committed to the development of solutions that solve the problems faced by consumers of long-term savings and insurance products ”“ whether that is through our own capabilities or supporting independent innovations in the sector.
“Consumers are increasingly concerned about the security of their data and who can access it. The secure document storage Legado offers will provide much-needed reassurance and increased efficiency in a market that is still far too dependent on physical documents and scanned attachments.
“Legado will be available on the FNZ App Store we have developed for platform customers, which enables approved third-party providers to seamlessly connect with platforms and provide services to users ”“ promoting choice within the wealth management market.”
Mark Simpson, Director of Digital, Prudential commented:
“We have been able to pilot the Legado platform with our customers, providing them the ability to manage their wealth management and estate planning documents in one place. The platform is a smart digital solution that allows our customers to easily interact with the adviser community and beyond. Being able to do securely is key for us, and Legado has provided us the mechanism to do so.”
More information on Legado and how to sign up for a free consumer account can be found here joinlegado.com/
Tesco Bank introduces new payment technology
FinTech Scotland’s strategic partner Tesco Bank just introduced a new technology, enabling 2.6 million credit card customers to manage and pay their balance in a much easier way.
The new functionality, called Pay by Bank’ is powered by Mastercard’s Open Banking Connect™ service, a service that allows for payments to be made directly from current account via electronic payment services.
Tesco Bank is the first in the UK to use Open Banking in this manner.
For customers it means they don’t need to use a debit card, can see their current account and their credit card balance in the same place whilst benefiting from added security.
The new technology release is being staggered and all customers should have access to it in the next few weeks.
Sigga Sigurdardottir, Chief Customer Officer, Tesco Bank, said:
“Tesco Bank’s purpose is to help Tesco shoppers manage their money a little better every day. The introduction of Pay by Bank helps us do that for 2.6 million of our credit card customers, giving them a simple and secure way of paying their credit card, and greater control of their finances.
“We are particularly pleased to be the first UK bank to make this technology available for credit card customers. We expect this functionality to be widespread in the market in the coming years.
“This is a great example of the strength that our partnership with Mastercard brings to our credit card offering.”
Kelly Devine, Division President for Mastercard UK and Ireland, said:
“Bringing more simple, safe and convenient ways for people to pay is at the very heart of our Open Banking solutions. With this enhancement, Tesco Bank customers will have greater flexibility to make payments against card balances than ever, aiding budgeting and placing them in full control of their finances.”
*This is subject to your bank’s capability
Digital jobs in Edinburgh and Glasgow growing again
The digital tech sector recovery
In a new research conducted by Tech Nation for the Government’s Digital Economy Council it has been revealed more than a fifth of the workforce of each city is now employed in digital tech at a time when tech companies are starting to recover in confidence and begin to advertise jobs again.
Scotland’s tech sector growth has been outgripping that of London and the South East, for several years now. There are also encouraging signs of recovery with big announcements such as Amazon announcing that it would create hundreds of new roles in Fife and Dundee.
This is in line with the national trend with number of jobs advertised in the digital space rising by 36% between 7th June and 9th August 2020.
Before the Covid19 pandemic and the lockdown, the digital tech sector had been advertising 150,000 jobs a week in the first three months of the year, according to data from jobs website Adzuna. The number fell in line with all other sectors but have since recovered to reach 90,297. Tech is the UK sector posting the highest number of vacancies, after healthcare.
In-demand roles in Scotland
According to Adzuna, 16.5% of advertised jobs in Scotland are in tech with jobs such as engineer in Edinburgh increasing by a quarter. In Glasgow devops engineers and engineers advertised roles are up by 85% and 84% respectively.
UK continues to create unicorns and see strong venture capital investment
In 2020 VC funding has reached €8.5bn to date, according to Tech Nation’s Data Commons. This compares to €4.0bn for Germany, and €3.1bn attracted by French startups in 2020.
There are 120 companies now valued at between $250m and $1bn. Many investors ares still looking to invest in tech, helped by the Government’s £250m Future Fund in some cases.
Salaries
2019 median salaries for digital tech roles across the UK – £39,000
2019 median salaries for digital tech roles in Edinburgh – £44,938,
2019 median salaries for digital tech roles in Glasgow – £40,000
Edinburgh’s median salary is the highest outside London, where the median digital tech salary in 2019 was £55,000, growing 3% from £53,296 the previous year.
Factoring in the cost of living, cities outside London can have significant attractions from an employment perspective. Edinburgh and Glasgow are the third and fourth best value place in the UK for someone working in tech to live and work. For Data Scientist and Infrastructure Engineer roles, Edinburgh was more attractive than London when living costs are taken into account.
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said:
“These new figures demonstrate the strength and depth of our tech sector as an engine of job creation kickstarting our economy as we emerge from the pandemic. We are a nation of innovators, entrepreneurs and inventors, and technology will underpin our infrastructure revolution of national renewal to unite and level up the UK. This government is backing people to succeed by investing heavily in cutting-edge research, digital skills and digital infrastructure to support our economic recovery.”
UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart said:
“It is fantastic to see our multi-billion pound digital tech sector not only continue to thrive but make a vital contribution to economic recovery as we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic. This report shows Scotland is a competitive choice for both companies and individuals creating high-quality, well-paid jobs. We are at the forefront in pushing the boundaries in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data, cyber security, fintech and gaming. The UK Government is proud to champion the digital tech sector and will continue to support its growth in Scotland.”
Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels
Best CASS Solution award for AutoRek
Scottish fintech company, AutoRek just announced it had won the Best CASS Solution’ award at the Systems in the City Financial Technology Awards 2020.
Lyn Canavan, Head of Marketing at AutoRek, commented,
“We are delighted to have been recognised as the provider of the Best CASS Solution’ at the Systems in the City Financial Technology Awards 2020. Achieving this accolade is a testimony to the team’s continued hard work and dedication in consistently striving to offer a superior CASS Solution.”
for the first time in 18 years the ceremony was done remotely via digital conferencing. This award is organised by Goodacre and recognises suppliers of services and systems to the regulated financial services sector. Based on an independent and factual annual accreditation process the selection process is overseen by three independent judges.
AutoRek are delighted to have been recognised at this awards ceremony again this year having previously won Best Reconciliation System’ for the past 5 years.
The Awards provide an important point of reference for user firms assessing the suitability of their operational infrastructure.
Fintech Previse, finalist in Innovator of the Year Awards
Fintech Previse announced today that they have been named a finalist in The Spectator’s Economic Innovator of the Year Awards. The awards recognises the companies that will rewrite the rules and help rebuild the economy in 2020.
This is a very prestigious award and the winners will be announced after digital presentations made today by the various businesses to the judges.
Paul Christensen, CEO of Previse, said:
“Being named a finalist for Economic Innovator of the Year by The Spectator is a testament to the team at Previse, who have been working day-in-day-out during the pandemic to ensure that SMEs get the support that they need. This year, we have been accredited as a CBILS lender, and our £2.5 million grant from the BCR to accelerate growth, along with the partnership with the FSB, has been an exciting new chapter in our story. However, the hardest work is yet to come as the global economy must innovate its way out of a depression unapparelled in modern economic history. What we are building here goes beyond just a great product: we’re creating a movement that ensures that every SME has the option of instant payment whenever they issue an invoice.”
EedenBull now with PSD2 licenses – ready to drive change in commercial payments through Open Banking
The Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority has formally approved EedenBull’s PSD2 extension to their E-Money Institution (EMI) license, and the FinTech is now a fully licensed PIS and AIS provider, enabling the access of data and the initiation of payments from bank accounts throughout Europe.
The Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) was introduced in Europe in 2018 and regulates payment services and providers in Europe. PSD2 enables open banking by allowing customers to use the services of third-party providers to access account information or initiate transactions on their behalf. PSD2 gives providers a regulated, open market to compete in, while providing customers more payment options and increased security.
Says Nicki Bisgaard, CEO of EedenBull:
New technologies, new regulations like PSD2 and new players entering the payments space changes forever the way consumers and businesses think about payments. At EedenBull, we’re not only embracing change, but seeking to work with our partner banks to drive change and leverage the opportunities provided. With our E-Money License extended to include the right as an Account Information Service Provider to pull data from our customers’ bank accounts and as a Payment Initiation Service Provider initiate payments directly from bank accounts, we are in a unique position to develop and launch truly unique payment services.’
EedenBull was founded in 2018 and has recently launched it’s Q Business® programme with 65 banks in the Nordics and are now expanding the platform to include full commercial cards issuing capabilities across all segments from small business to large corporates and across all B2B spend categories. EedenBull is a fully licensed and regulated e-money institution under EU/EEA legislation, AISP & PISP licenses and is uniquely also holding principal issuing licenses from Mastercard, Visa and UnionPay. The company is targeting bank partners in select markets around the world and are aiming to launch programmes in multiple regions over the coming 12-24 months.
Further information:
Nicki Bisgaard ”“ nicki@eedenbull.com
Photo: Nicki Bisgaard, CEO EedenBull
Photo by: Debra Hurford Brown
Announcing 2020 Scotland’s Fintech Festival
FinTech Scotland confirmed today the programme for the third Scotland Fintech Festival.
The September festival will see a diverse range of fifty plus events throughout the month sharing fintech developments in Scotland and from around the world.
The festival will build on the successful events from the last two years which has seen it grow in popularity welcoming thousands of people
The 2020 edition will be different with events being held online and the virtual nature of this year’s festival will provide the opportunity to reach an even broader global audience.
The large number of events range from very focussed one-hour sessions to full day generalist digital conferences involving a diverse set of contributions from participants.
FinTech Scotland has worked in close collaboration with the teams at Scottish Development International and Visit Scotland to showcase the very best in innovation with a strong global emphasis.
The fintech cluster in Scotland is maintaining the momentum despite the current economic uncertainty. In many respects, the challenges of the pandemic have driven an accelerated adoption of fintech innovation, very much reflecting the creativity and adaptability of fintech entrepreneurs and SMEs.
This year’s festival will offer plenty of occasions for the innovative firms in the community to share their propositions as well as the collaborative and inclusive approach to reinventing the financial world and more.
Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:
“I’m pleased to be supporting the FinTech Festival, an event which will demonstrate yet again the collaborative and innovative approach of the sector.
“We want the tech sector to play a key role in our economic recovery, and this festival will be a chance to discuss how FinTech can lead the way in supporting growth and creating jobs.”
Stephen Ingledew, Chief Executive at FinTech Scotland said:
“More than ever before this year, we have appreciated the valuable engagement and collaboration of our strategic partners and friends in hosting events on such a broad range of themes. From fintech firms , citizen groups, the regulator, student associations, universities, financial firms, global enterprises, government bodies and many others all reflecting the inclusive nature of Scotland’s fintech cluster.”
All events can be accessed on www.scotlandfintechfestival.com where new events are being added daily.
Follow the festival on social media #ScotlandFintechFestival
LendingCrowd approved for accreditation under CBILS
Scottish fintech LendingCrowd, just announced it had been approved for accreditation by the British Business Bank as a new lender under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
This accreditation will allow the fintech to distribute UK government-backed loans to SMEs impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. LendingCrowd will provide loan product from £50,001 to £250,000 across either a three or a five-year term to SMEs who are experiencing lost or deferred revenues, leading to cashflow difficulties.
SMEs will have nothing to pay for the first 12 months so they can focus on bringing back their company to a healthier position.
Stuart Lunn, founder and CEO of LendingCrowd, said:
“We appreciate the stress and struggle that SMEs are going through and that time is of the essence in providing support. Our agile and flexible approach means that we can distribute funding responsibly to those who need it quickly. We have already spoken to every existing borrower, implemented repayment holidays for qualifying borrowers and changed repayment dates to better suit their cashflow patterns at no cost. In offering CBILS loans, LendingCrowd can play its part in supporting the survival and resurgence of as many SMEs as possible.”
If you’d like to apply for CBILS funding through LendingCrowd go to https://www.lendingcrowd.com/cbils
LendingCrowd will begin offering CBILS loans imminently and they will be available to new and existing borrowers, subject to eligibility.
EedenBull and Mastercard Asia Pacific partnership
Mastercard and Scottish fintech EedenBull have announced the extension of their strategic partnership from Europe to the Asia Pacific region to support the fintech’s new digital platform launch. The platform will allow banks and businesses to process spending and payments more efficiently.
Building on a partnership in Europe, this relationship will enable Eedenbull to tap into opportunities in the Asia Pacific business-to-business payments market.
For banks and their business customers, the new service provides innovative commercial payments services, including EedenBull’s spend management platform Q Business® that offers a sophisticated yet easy-to-use solution to digitise the slow and costly processing of checks and cash. With Q Business now offered by a network of banks in the Nordics, more than 10,000 registered businesses are benefitting from the process efficiencies and control of spend provided.
Yunsok Chang, Executive Vice President, Market Development, Asia Pacific, Mastercard said:
“Following Europe, Mastercard is delighted to partner with EedenBull in Asia Pacific and to support its unrivalled expertise to leverage the commercial payments space in the region. With Mastercard’s leading advisory experience, sophisticated commercial solutions and wide network of customers and partners, Mastercard will be able to help EedenBull thrive in this market of significant opportunities.”
The extension of the partnership beyond Europe is a testament to Mastercard’s strategy of working with fintech firms to drive innovation and create opportunities for other partners in the Asia Pacific region. As a frontrunner in payments technology, Mastercard is continuously developing new solutions catering to the evolving demands driven by rapid digital transformation.
Nicki Bull Bisgaard, CEO of EedenBull said:
“At EedenBull, we uniquely combine specialist commercial payments expertise with tech-savvy talent, making us the ideal partner to banks. While payment products and services are now more user-friendly, product management is growing more complex and requires access to specialists in marketing, revenue management, IT, legal, regulatory and many other areas. Selecting Mastercard as our preferred partner to support us in creating real value for our partner banks and their customers and to support our expansion in Asia Pacific was easy as we share the same view on what businesses require and how we can best meet those requirements in an ever-changing world.”