When Technology Stops Being the Hard Part: The Real Constraint on Scale
By Patrick Byrne, Co-founder and CEO, Struan.ai
I’ve spent most of my career helping to grow technology-led businesses. Most often, I’ve been brought in when growth was the ambition, but the wheels were starting to wobble.
Years ago, the main risk was obvious. Would the technology work at all? Could it scale? Could the team actually build what had been promised to customers or investors? Infrastructure was expensive. Engineering talent was scarce. Shipping even something modest took time, money and a fair amount of nerve.
That environment shaped how a lot of us learned to build companies.
Today, that constraint has largely gone away. Cloud platforms are easy to access. Tooling is mature. AI has lowered the barrier to building and iterating to the point where small teams can move at a speed that would have felt unrealistic not that long ago. In many cases, the product gets built. It ships. It works.
And yet, despite all of that, growth still feels harder than it should.
I remember this very clearly in one of my former businesses. In 2017, as CEO, we kicked off what was meant to be a straightforward CRM migration. The plan was sensible enough. Four months end-to-end. Clean up the data, move systems, improve visibility, then get back to growing the business.
Seven years later, that project was still technically ‘ongoing’.
Not because the technology didn’t work. The tools were fine. The vendors did their part. The issue was everything wrapped around the technology. Data ownership was unclear. Processes changed faster than they were documented. Edge cases kept appearing. People worked around problems rather than fixing them, because there was always something more urgent to do.
Where Things Start to Strain
What I see repeatedly is execution starting to lag as momentum builds.
As organisations grow, the volume of everyday work rises quickly. Sales activity increases. Marketing needs to operate consistently, not just when there’s time. Customers need onboarding, support and follow-up. Different stakeholders need different reports to meet their own agendas. Controls tighten. None of this is optional, and most of it relies on context, judgement and continuity.
This kind of work doesn’t lend itself to an organisation that was once dynamic and nimble. Suddenly, everything is a priority and everything is urgent. So, more people are hired.
At a small size, teams cope. People know what’s going on. Gaps get filled informally. Someone stays late. Someone remembers how a thing was done last time. As volume increases, those informal fixes start to break down. Processes end up spread across tools, documents and inboxes. Important details live in people’s heads. Things still get done, but more slowly, and with less confidence.
When problems surface, they’re often written off as one-offs. In reality, they’re early signals that the operating model is under strain.
Predictable Reactions
When pressure builds, most organisations reach for the same levers.
They hire more people. They add more tools. They outsource parts of the operation.
Sometimes that helps, at least temporarily. But it usually introduces new trade-offs. More people means more overhead and more management. More tools mean more things to manage. Outsourcing can reduce visibility at the exact point where clarity matters most.
This is how many businesses drift into an awkward middle ground. The product works. Demand exists. The team is capable. But progress feels like running through treacle. Growth becomes something to manage carefully, rather than something to lean into.
What’s Usually Missing
In almost every case, the same things show up.
There isn’t a clear operating model for execution, or if there is, it’s not followed.
In organisations that scale well, execution isn’t something that happens between meetings or when people find the time. It’s treated as a system. There is ownership. There are rules, controls and clear escalation paths. Outcomes are visible and repeatable, rather than dependent on who happens to be involved on a given day.
AI can help here, but only if it’s applied in the right place. Used simply to assist individuals, it has limited impact. Applied to running defined workflows, it starts to change how work actually gets done.
Sales, marketing and operational processes benefit far more from reliability than creativity. When execution is predictable, people can spend their time on decisions, relationships and direction instead of firefighting.
Why Struan Exists
Struan came out of seeing this pattern first-hand, over decades of building high-growth businesses, operating at the edges of cashflow constraints.
While building an AI-first business that demanded a high level of control and consistency, it became clear that the real challenge wasn’t technical capability. It was execution. Specifically, who owned it, how it was run day to day, and what happened when things inevitably drifted.
Struan was built as a managed service to address that gap. It is delivered by a team with decades of experience building, scaling and running high-growth businesses, often in environments where cashflow was tight, stakes were high and there was no room for theoretical solutions. Between us, we have lived through most of the realities organisations face as they grow: performance issues that are hard to confront, people problems that drain energy, systems that fail at the worst possible moment, clients who don’t pay on time, difficult customer relationships, cashflow pressure, cultural changes as teams scale, multi-site complexity, poor management decisions, and the cost of reacting too slowly when things start to go wrong.
That experience is distilled into how Struan operates. We don’t sell tools or frameworks and leave clients to make them work. We take responsibility for execution itself, embedding AI into real workflows and running them on our clients’ behalf. The surface-level problems vary from business to business, but the underlying causes are remarkably consistent. By addressing those causes directly, Struan delivers practical impact where it matters most: reliable execution, reduced operational drag and the confidence to scale without losing control.
The Takeaway
The tools to build faster, operate leaner and scale more confidently are already here – accessible, proven and improving rapidly. What’s missing is conviction.
The real barriers to AI adoption are fear and trust. Fear of getting it wrong. Fear of disrupting something that currently works. A lingering suspicion that this only applies to technology companies with deep pockets and specialist teams.
That thinking is already out of date.
The organisations that thrive over the next decade will be defined by leadership that recognises what AI makes possible and acts on it before the competition does. Because competitors will act. In every sector, in every vertical, someone is already working out how to do more with less, move faster and operate with greater consistency. The gap between organisations that embrace this shift and those that hesitate will widen quickly and may not close again.
The question isn’t whether AI will reshape your market. It’s whether you’ll ride the wave or be swept away by it.
Financial Regulation Innovation Lab awards £50,000 each to four fintechs to accelerate consumer wealth support
The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) today announced the four fintechs selected to receive grants through its latest Future of Wealth Innovation Call, delivered by FinTech Scotland in partnership with SuperTech WM.
The six‑week programme concluded on 15 January with a Showcase Day, where 21 fintechs presented solutions to the challenge: helping consumers make informed financial decisions and access more tailored wealth support, while keeping pace with evolving regulation.
Throughout the programme, and against the backdrop of the joint HM Treasury-Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Advice Guidance Boundary Review (AGBR) which seeks to help close the UK’s advice gap by clarifying how firms can provide more meaningful support under the Consumer Duty, participants took part in workshops and deep dive sessions to develop, refine and tailor their propositions to real world industry needs and potential pilots with partners. The FCA was involved throughout and provided both valuable clarity and guidance.
The Innovation Call was delivered with the support of 10 strategic partners: PwC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, Sopra Steria Financial Services, NatWest Group, M&G, BNP Paribas Personal Finance. , Dudley Building Society, Wesleyan and Standard Life; alongside academic partners at the University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow, and Growth Builders, which supported delivery.
Following the Showcase Day, four fintechs were selected to receive £50,000 each to further develop their solutions. Over the grant period, the awardees will continue to collaborate with industry and academic partners to test, validate and accelerate their innovations towards adoption and scale.
The winners are:
Finspector is an AI-powered compliance platform that automates the review and monitoring of financial promotions across text, images, video, and social media. It helps regulated firms reduce risk, evidence compliance, and scale marketing activity with confidence across jurisdictions.
Planda is a behavioural AI platform that helps financial services firms move beyond outdated segmentation to deliver hyper-personalised customer engagement. By connecting data across enterprise workflows, Planda builds dynamic customer segments that evolve in real-time, enabling institutions to personalise at scale and deepen relationships.
Amplified Global uses AI and Machine Learning to help firms assess, simplify, and demonstrate consumer understanding at scale, ensuring they meet compliance obligations with confidence. Its technology analyses and enhances intelligibility, helping organisations turn complexity into clarity. Through a guided digital journey, it makes content more engaging, measurable, and human – redefining how people connect with information.
Afternoon’s the new data + AI first operating model for advice firms. Data collection is automated with a focus on completeness and quality. AI modules automate work, allowing a doubling of clients with the same team and with less risk from meeting to report in under 2 minutes.
Aleks Tomczyk, Chief Executive, FinTech Scotland, commented:
“The Advice Guidance Boundary Review is pivotal to widening access to meaningful financial support across the UK. Too few people are saving adequately for retirement, and historically advice has skewed towards higher earners. Government, regulators and industry are aligned on helping the wider population make better‑informed financial decisions. By funding these four winning projects and opening real‑world pilots with partners, we’re accelerating practical solutions that improve consumer decision‑making and access to support, while helping firms operate confidently within the advice–guidance boundary.”
Kate Murray, Strategic Projects Lead, Scottish Widows & Lloyds Banking Group, said:
“We want to fill the advice gap that currently exists in Britain and ultimately, enable people to have a much more prosperous financial future. The Innovation Calls present such a massive opportunity. We at Lloyds Banking Group are changing the way we do change and innovate to go faster. Bringing in outside thinking, technology, and just a completely different perspective can help us achieve that.”
Hilary Smyth Allen, Chief Executive, SuperTech WM, added:
“Partnership matters because that’s how you really get things done with impact. Through the partnership with FRIL, we’ve been able to work across a broader spectrum of the ecosystem. Consumers come in all shapes and sizes, and so does the industry that services them. Innovation for us means we are maximising outcomes for those consumers.”
Crawford Taylor, CEO & co-founder, Afternoon Finance, stated:
“The advice gap is real, and firms are under growing pressure to support more people, with better outcomes, under tighter regulation. Afternoon exists to make that possible, using data and AI to remove friction, reduce risk and radically improve how advice is delivered.
This funding allows us to continue to accelerate our mission: helping advice firms support more clients, more effectively, without compromising quality, compliance or trust. Being selected as one of just four winners from over twenty fintechs is a huge validation of the approach we’re taking.”
About FRIL
Building Trust in the Age of AI: How AFREEGUARD AI Is Redefining Ethical Intelligence
In today’s rapidly evolving fintech landscape, one question looms larger than ever: Can we truly trust artificial intelligence?
From generative AI models that shape financial decisions to autonomous systems that handle sensitive data, trust has become the most valuable and most fragile currency in technology. It’s in this climate that WOW Global Solutions Ltd, through its innovation hub AFREE Labs, is developing AFREEGUARD AI, a revolutionary trust layer for the global AI economy.
From Glasgow to the Global Stage
Founded in Glasgow in 2014, WOW Global Solutions began as a sales and marketing company helping small businesses scale their presence across the UK. But when the pandemic hit, founder Armand Byamha saw a deeper need: small businesses and entrepreneurs were struggling not only with visibility but also with digital adaptation itself.
That challenge sparked a transformation. WOW Global Solutions evolved into a digital innovation firm, helping companies navigate the new era of decentralisation, blockchain and artificial intelligence. This evolution gave birth to AFREE Labs, the company’s research and innovation division dedicated to building intelligent tools for the emerging decentralised economy.
The Problem: AI’s Trust Deficit
While AI continues to transform industries, its explosive growth has raised serious concerns around bias, misinformation and accountability. From inexplicable algorithms to deepfakes and manipulated data, users increasingly question what, or who, to trust.
As financial systems integrate AI more deeply, trust becomes not just a moral issue but also a systemic one. Regulators demand transparency. Institutions demand proof. And individuals demand control.
The Solution: AFREEGUARD AI
AFREEGUARD AI was built to answer that demand. It functions as a blockchain-powered AI trust layer, ensuring that every data point, algorithmic decision and AI output can be verified, traced and trusted.
By combining AI governance frameworks with Algorand’s blockchain infrastructure, AFREEGUARD AI provides verifiable proof of how AI systems behave, thereby turning “black box” intelligence into transparent, auditable technology.
In simple terms, it acts as the digital conscience of AI. It protects users from malicious or biased systems, ensures accountability and brings mathematical transparency to the way AI decisions are made.
Why Scotland, Why Now
Scotland has quietly become one of the most dynamic fintech ecosystems in Europe, a place where innovation meets integrity. FinTech Scotland’s focus on responsible innovation and inclusion aligns perfectly with AFREE Labs’ mission: to make advanced technologies human-centred and trustworthy.
By building from Glasgow, AFREE Labs bridges global collaboration with local excellence, combining Scotland’s world-class academic and financial institutions with a broader vision for global digital inclusion.
Beyond Borders: The AFREE Vision
AFREE Labs is part of a larger innovation ecosystem led by WOW Global Solutions, which includes:
- AFREECHAIN: blockchain education and empowerment;
- AFREE.AI: AI and Web3 education for underserved communities;
- AFREEGRI: AI and agri-tech innovation for sustainable farming.
Together, these initiatives form a unified mission: to bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3, ensuring that both businesses and individuals can thrive in the digital economy, with trust as the foundation.
A Vision of Ethical Intelligence
As Armand Byamha puts it:
“The future of AI isn’t just about intelligence: it’s about integrity. AFREEGUARD AI was born to ensure both. Scotland is where that vision begins.”
From the heart of Glasgow, AFREE Labs is proving that the next generation of fintech innovation will not just be powered by code; it will be built on trust.
Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) Responsible Innovation Case Study: Inicio AI
FRIL: Supercharging Growth, Serving Society
At first glance, financial technology might seem like it’s all about algorithms, compliance, and data. But for Inicio AI, it’s about something far more human – empathy.
When FRIL launched its Optimising Consumer Outcomes Innovation Call, the goal was simple but ambitious: to put people, not processes, at the heart of financial innovation. The programme invited fintech startups, financial institutions, regulators, and academics to collaborate on solutions that would help customers make better, fairer financial decisions.
For Inicio AI, a company founded on inclusion and compassion, FRIL became the perfect catalyst. Through the programme, Inicio gained new commercial opportunities, accelerated product development, and deepened relationships with industry partners. But more importantly it did this while staying true to its mission of helping vulnerable customers in the most difficult of circumstances navigating financial systems with dignity, helping some to become debt-free more quickly and many more to find a way forward and out of their debt issues.
The Challenge: Smart and Kind Finance
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced the Consumer Duty regulation to ensure financial firms act in the best interests of their customers. It raises expectations around transparency, fairness, and care – aiming to make financial services accessible and understandable for everyone, regardless of literacy or numeracy.
For many firms, meeting these standards is complex. Outdated systems and manual processes make it difficult to prove compliance and deliver consistently positive outcomes for customers. That’s where innovation and empathy come in.
Why addressing this challenge matters:
| For Industry | For Consumers |
| Consumer Duty means building trust, reducing risk, and designing services that genuinely support customers. | It means fair treatment, clear communication, and better support when it matters most – especially for those facing financial vulnerability. |
The Approach: Smarter Data, Smarter Solutions
FRIL’s Optimising Consumer Outcomes Innovation Call set out seven specific challenges exploring how technology, data, and analytics could help firms better understand their customers and improve outcomes.
By bringing together pioneering fintechs, leading financial institutions, regulators, and academics, FRIL created an environment for rapid experimentation and collaboration. Successful innovators like Inicio received early-stage funding and direct access to senior decision-makers inside major financial organisations – helping them test, refine, and accelerate their ideas for market.
For Inicio AI, this meant moving faster, learning more, and making a bigger impact than ever
before.
The Case Study: Inicio AI’s Story – Empathy in Action
Inicio AI was founded with a powerful human story at its heart.
“The company was originally founded because of a story involving a pregnant woman who was, sadly, trying to take her own life. She was in debt and struggling to fill in a financial form to confirm her affordability. She’d been sent paper and digital forms to complete on her own but found it intimidating. She’d also tried a phone call, but that was embarrassing. She abandoned it and became stuck”. — explains Rachel Curtis, CEO of Inicio AI
That experience inspired Budgie – a gentle, virtual agent that helps people complete affordability forms any time of day or night, offering the reassurance and support they need to get it done.
Budgie turns what can be an intimidating process into a supportive experience. It listens, guides, and reassures – empowering users to take back control of their finances.
Originally focused on debt management in the UK, Budgie’s reach has since expanded into new lending, mortgage applications, and financial advice nationally and in future will expand internationally.
And the impact has been profound.
“There was a young couple in their early 20s with about £1,200 of debt. They used Budgie, and through one of our partners – a benefits calculator – they discovered they were missing out on £340 a month in benefits. It meant they could be debt-free in four months. That customer outcome was fantastic”. — says Rachel.
The Impact of FRIL: Bigger, Better, Faster
At its heart, FRIL champions finance for good. This means supporting innovators who use technology to create positive social change. For Inicio, the programme offered access, insight, and momentum.
“It’s the faster pace of insights, innovation and collaboration that you get from being part of FRIL. What we achieved was bigger, better and faster than trying to do it on our own”. — says Rachel.
Through FRIL, Inicio gained direct access to major financial institutions – not through cold calls, but through open, honest conversations where senior leaders shared real challenges and insights.
“It brought together the companies we were trying to approach and sell our product to, but in a very honest environment. They shared their challenges, and these were senior people in those companies. Outside of FRIL, when you’re trying to make initial sales calls, it can be hard to get those conversations”. — explains Rachel.
That openness, combined with structured support, helped the team refine and shape Budgie to meet real-world needs.
“This challenge is a great opportunity to harness fintech innovation, and apply that in how we support customer outcomes at every stage of their financial lives”. — Will Kerr, Head of Good Customer Outcomes, NatWest Group.
“It ticked all the boxes. It was an efficient, focused resource for my team to really understand what challenges existed in the regulatory space, so we could come back with a clear proposal on how to solve
them”. — says Rachel.
And the collaboration didn’t end there. Inicio joined forces with fellow fintechs in the FRIL cohort, including TellJO, to combine their tools and tackle even bigger problems together.
“We ended up working with other fintechs such as TellJO, plugging our solutions together to solve bigger problems in better ways. It was a really lovely, positive outcome we didn’t expect”. — explains Rachel.
Inicio stats
| Sector | Fintech |
| Employees | 15 |
| Turnover | Early revenue, expanding into B2B and B2C markets |
| Location | England , Scotland |
The Ambition – Redefining what is possible
For Rachel and her team, FRIL was never just about funding. It was about growing within a supportive, purpose-driven ecosystem.
“It did fundamentally change our approach to partnerships. What FRIL helped us do was look at the broader problem the consumer was trying to solve, because we saw that very clearly through the eyes of the organisations. They were turning up and saying, ‘Our consumers are struggling with this,’ or ‘From a regulatory perspective, we’ve got to meet these requirements – but we have to do it in a way that delivers good outcomes”. — adds Rachel.
Inicio AI continues to expand Budgie’s reach, forming new partnerships and exploring wider use cases – all grounded in the same mission that started it: making financial life easier, fairer, and more human.
The Outcomes – Impact
In just a few months, FRIL enabled Inicio AI to refine their product, deepen their market understanding, and build meaningful partnerships across industry and academia.
Impact summary
- 1 x product refinement sprint completed in 12 weeks.
- New partnerships established (industry and fintech)
- New clients secured
- Increased confidence, visibility, and collaboration in the fintech ecosystem.
Case Study Conclusion
Inicio’s journey with FRIL shows what happens when innovation and empathy come together. Through collaboration, insight, and the courage to think differently, Inicio created technology that doesn’t just tick boxes – it changes lives.
For FRIL, this is exactly what “finance for good” means: empowering innovators to build a financial system that is smarter, fairer, and above all, kinder. Through collaboration, insight, and compassion, FRIL is proving that when innovation meets regulation – and when both start from human need – everyone wins.
Download the Inicio AI case study.
About FRIL
Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) Responsible Innovation Case Study: CienDos
Shaping the future of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance Measurement and Reporting) in Financial Services
In today’s world, doing good for the planet is no longer simply a personal preference moral it’s a business imperative. Financial institutions are increasingly being asked not how much they earn, but how they earn it.
That’s where CienDos, a Glasgow-based fintech co-founded by Jules Salmond, comes in. The company helps banks and businesses understand the environmental impact of their financial decisions turning complex data relating to carbon emissions into clear, actionable insights.
When FRIL launched its ESG Innovation Call, CienDos saw a chance to accelerate its mission. Through the programme, the team developed its Financed Emissions Calculator™ and created a Sustainable Transition Plan, collaborating with major players like HSBC, Virgin Money, and Equifax.
The impact was immediate, FRIL gave CienDos early access to the market, boosted its credibility, and opened doors to new partnerships. The company retained talented interns, expanded into European markets, and strengthened its position as a leader in sustainable finance innovation.
But beyond business success, CienDos is a testament to how FRIL is helping to root fintech growth in Glasgow, showcasing the city as a rising global hub for sustainability innovation.
The Challenge: Making Carbon Data Simple
As the demand for environmental accountability grows, financial institutions face new expectations. They must measure and report their ESGperformance, not just profits.
But collecting and analysing ESG data isn’t easy. It often involves navigating fragmented data sources, inconsistent standards, and complex reporting frameworks. The process can be time-consuming, costly, and resource-heavy, leaving many organisations struggling to turn their good intentions into measurable impact.
CienDos set out to change that, to simplify the way financial institutions understand their carbon footprint and make it easier to act on sustainability goals with confidence.
Why getting it right matters:
| For Industry | For Consumers |
| Reliable ESG data helps financial institutions understand their environmental risks, improve transparency, and strengthen relationships with regulators, investors, and customers. | It offers the clarity and confidence to make more informed choices, and helps protect against “greenwashing”, where sustainability claims don’t match reality. |
FRIL’s approach: Collaboration in Action
FRIL’s Shaping the Future of ESG in Financial Services Innovation Call brought together fintech innovators, global banks, regulators, and academic experts to explore how technology and data could simplify sustainability reporting and drive meaningful change.
Rather than working in silos, participants collaborated in a shared space for experimentation, testing ideas, sharing expertise, and co-developing solutions with real world impact.
FRIL supported successful innovators like CienDos with early-stage funding and direct access to senior decision-makers in major financial institutions. This combination of support and exposure helped companies rapidly test, validate, and refine their ideas, moving from concept to implementation faster than ever.
The Case Study – CienDos
Glasgow-based environmental data and analytics company, CienDos helps financial services institutions understand the environmental impact of their investments.
The team were a winner of the Innovation Call in 2024. As a result of taking part, CienDos has expanded their Glasgow team, as well as accelerated the development of their Financed Emissions Calculator™, which has now been launched in market with Equifax.
“As a result of the products we created through FRIL, we’ve moved into a revenue generating stage of the business, and have customers across Europe”. — Julia Salmond, CEO and co-founder of The Company.
Working in partnership with FRIL and strategic collaborators, CienDos built confidence amongst buyers and partners that their product would address real industry needs.
The team at CienDos worked directly with HSBC, Virgin Money and Equifax in order to develop both their finance emissions calculator ™ and Sustainable Transition Plan, which allows institutions to benchmark and monitor progress on their actions on sustainability.
“We were drawn to FRIL by the combination of funding opportunity and direct access to the buying power of the banks. We had direct access to test new products with potential buyers, and alongside that – an injection of capital as well”. — says Jules.
CienDos stats
| Sector | Fintech |
| Employees | 9 |
| Location | Glasgow / London |
The Ambition: Growth and Vision
CienDos is led by serial entrepreneurs and has a track record of intentionally building businesses in Glasgow. This commitment remains central to the company’s ethos, and collaboration with FRIL has helped it create local jobs and internships while scaling globally.
“I’m a graduate of the University of Strathclyde, and I had to go elsewhere to gain opportunities. At my stage in my career, it’s important to come back and create those types of career opportunities here in Glasgow. That’s absolutely critical to what we do as a business”. — says Jules.
The partnership with FRIL has enabled CienDos to take on two new FTE posts. The team have also taken on two interns over the summer, which they wouldn’t have been able to do without the new posts and customers acquired through the collaboration with FRIL.
“Ultimately, we are an international business, but we are headquartered in Glasgow, and we will remain headquartered in Glasgow”. — adds Jules.
The Outcome: Turning Ambition Into Action
Through FRIL, CienDos didn’t just develop new tools, it built a stronger foundation for growth. The programme helped the company expand its reach, solidify its reputation, and prove that innovation and sustainability can thrive together.
For FRIL, it was another step in showing how collaboration can drive meaningful change, connecting bright ideas with the people and partners who can make them real. Because when technology meets purpose, finance becomes a force for good, and cities like Glasgow lead the way.
“I think what’s really key about FRIL is that it is backed by real money. It’s not just a talking shop. It’s backed by real professionals that understand that getting money from the public purse is challenging for a SME or start-up”. — says Jules.
Impact summary
- New commercial relationships and expanded global network achieved.
- Development of Financed Emissions Calculator ™ which has been launched into the
- market with Equifax.
- Development of Sustainable Transition Plan.
- Two full-time jobs and two internships.
- Strategic partnerships with global organisations including Equifax established.
- International market expansion in UK, Europe and Asia achieved.
“FRIL really builds an environment of trust, with so much professional support in the background that made it completely different from anything else we’ve done before”. — concludes Jules.
Download the CienDos case study.
About FRIL
Empowering Financial Futures: Finwise’s Mission
In today’s fast-paced world, financial literacy is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity. Yet, despite its importance, traditional financial education often fails to engage young adults and professionals, leaving them unprepared to make informed financial decisions.
Making financial learning personalised, interactive and fun
At Finwise School, we are redefining the way people learn about finance by making it personalised, interactive, and fun. Our mission is simple: to equip individuals with the knowledge and skills to take control of their financial future. Through our gamified learning modules, users can navigate real-world financial scenarios, earn points, and level up their financial skills in an engaging, hands-on way. From budgeting and investing to understanding technical and fundamental analysis, our platform turns complex financial concepts into accessible, actionable, and enjoyable experiences.
Building a supportive financial learning community
Beyond learning, we are building a vibrant community where every individual can grow to be financially smart and empowered, share insights, participate in discussions, and inspire each other on their financial journey.
Our vision goes beyond individual learning. We aim to create a thriving community and partner with educational institutions and organisations, enabling students and employees to access practical, interactive financial learning. Through future initiatives like competitions, community-driven discussions, and personalised dashboards, we plan to foster a space where learning is dynamic, measurable, and impactful, and where every individual can grow to be financially smart and empowered.
Partner with Finwise
As co-founder overseeing finance and operations, I’ve witnessed the real challenges people face when navigating financial decisions. Seeing people grow in confidence and achieve success in their financial lives is what drives us and it is the very core of Finwise.
We are constantly looking to connect with partners, investors, and enthusiasts who share our vision of creating a financially empowered generation. If you are passionate about making financial education accessible, engaging, and effective, we would love to hear from you. Together, we can reshape the way the world learns about finance.
Get in touch with us today and be part of the Finwise journey.
MoneyMatix to Curate First-Ever “Money Village” at Ideal Home Show Scotland 2026
Financial education will be one of the key themes at next year’s Ideal Home Show Scotland thanks to an exciting new initiative led by Scottish fintech MoneyMatix.
In May 2026, the consumer show (now in its 74th year), will launch a dedicated “Money Village”, designed to give thousands of visitors the financial tools, knowledge, and advice they’ve been asking for.
Demand for practical, trustworthy financial guidance has never been greater. Visitors to the show have repeatedly highlighted the need for more help navigating the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, from everyday budgeting through to pensions, investing and planning.
MoneyMatix Advice Stage, curated and hosted by MoneyMatix, will bring together Scotland’s leading financial voices alongside top UK experts. Across the four-day event, attendees will be able to take part in engaging talks, masterclasses and fireside discussions covering the full spectrum of money matters (planning and tax to savings, mortgages, insurance, pensions and family finances
Tynah Matembe, founder at MoneyMatix said:
“Our mission has always been to make financial education accessible and engaging,” Tynah said. “The Money Village will give thousands of people the chance to learn, ask questions, and leave the show with actionable knowledge that can make a real difference in their lives.”
With over 31,000 attendees expected at the Ideal Home Show Scotland, the Money Village also offers a powerful new platform for the financial services industry to connect directly with consumers. Exhibitors will benefit from a carefully curated environment with limited competition per category, as well as the opportunity to book one-to-one consultations with visitors.
The Ideal Home Show Scotland 2026 takes place between 22–25 May 2026 at the SEC, Glasgow.
Scottish Fintech Guiide Launch of First-of-its-Kind Retirement Support Tool
A new solution is helping people take greater control of their retirement planning and it has Scottish fintech innovation at its heart.
Pathlines, in collaboration with Scottish fintech Guiide and global investment firm Invesco, has launched a first-of-its-kind tool offering guided support for non-advised defined contribution (DC) pension savers. The new self-service platform allows users to manage their pension drawdowns with greater confidence, building on Guiide’s holistic planning technology that has already been helping individuals navigate complex retirement decisions for over three years.
Initially available to anyone over 50 who is not yet drawing their pension, the tool enables savers to create a sustainable plan within Guiide, consolidate their pots with Pathlines, and link their cashflow projections to real pension accounts. The system then allows them to review and adjust their plan each year, offering an intuitive and dynamic way to stay on track with their long-term financial goals.
The partnership demonstrates the power of collaboration between fintech innovators and established financial institutions to deliver solutions that bridge the gap between advice and guidance, a key focus of ongoing regulatory and industry discussions.
Christine Hallett, CEO at Pathlines Pensions, said:
“Pathlines is centred on helping individuals take control of their financial future by empowering them to shape their own path to retirement. We’re proud to partner with Guiide and Invesco to deliver this innovative solution for those at the very beginning of their retirement journey.”
Guiide Chairman, Ruston Smith, added:
“Our goal is to make sustainable retirement plans a reality as simply as possible for the non-advised. We hope this new tool will help reduce the risks of drawdown for many savers.”
Georgina Taylor, Invesco’s EMEA Head of Client Investment Solutions, noted that decumulation — the process of managing and drawing down pension savings — is a core strategic priority for the firm, adding:
“Cashflow planning tools such as Guiide play a critical role in ensuring there’s a robust retirement platform for everyone, regardless of how they choose to access their savings.”
Supporting Innovation in Financial Guidance
This launch comes as FinTech Scotland, through the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), recently announced a UK-wide innovation challenge on the Advice-Guidance Boundary Review in partnership with leading financial institutions. The initiative invites fintech innovators to co-create next-generation solutions that make it easier for consumers to access the right kind of support at the right time, exactly the kind of practical innovation exemplified by Guiide and its partners.
Celebrating Scotland’s FinTech Champions
On Wednesday evening, the Scottish FinTech Awards returned to Edinburgh, bringing together the Scottish fintech cluster for a night of recognition, networking, and inspiration. The awards, organised by Digit and held as part of the Scotland FinTech Festival and hosted at the EICC recognised organisations and individuals pushing the frontier of financial innovation in Scotland.
The breadth of categories underscores how far fintech in Scotland has matured, from climate impact and digital transformation to partnership models, RegTech, and AI/data usage. This year saw a threefold increase in terms of entries which reinforces the claim to being a meaningful a leading fintech cluster, alive, competitive, and attracting global attention.
In the last 12 months the FinTech Scotland cluster recorded 8 % year-on-year employment growth in 2024 and 11,300 people are now working in fintech across Scotland.
The winners
- FinTech of the Year: Loveelectric
- Climate & Environmental Impact: CienDos
- Best Start Up / New Entrant: Finspector
- Best Use of Data / AI: Aveni
- Digital Transformation: GoCodeGreen
- Financial Services Innovation: Mylo (Aegon)
- Financial Technology Partner: Snugg
- Outstanding Leader: David Ferguson (Seccl)
- Social Impact: Stellar Omada
- Special Recognition: Adam Betteridge (TSB)
- Evangelist: Sheetal Dash (Barclays)
- Best Fintech Collaboration: Level E Research & Aberdeen
Best RegTech Innovation of the year
At FinTech Scotland, we were particularly proud to see the RegTech Innovation award go to the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL). It’s not just a win for FinTech Scotland but for the whole cluster as demonstrated by the diversity of people on stage to collect the awards from fintechs to established financial firms, from universities to FinTech Scotland colleagues.
The award is an affirmation of the vision behind FRIL and the collaborative approach we believe is essential to the future of regulation, compliance and consumer outcomes in financial services.
Tackling the eSignature challenge in financial services
For established financial firms and fintechs, getting documents signed is a routine part of doing business. However, in regulated sectors, this far from a simple click and can be time demanding. The challenge is ensuring that each signature is genuine, the signer’s identity is verified, and the process stands up to legal and compliance scrutiny.
The problem: when speed meets risk
Digital transformation has made signing a document as easy as pressing a button, but not all eSignatures are created equal.
- Click-to-sign methods offer convenience but can leave gaps in proving who actually signed.
- In high-value transactions such as lending agreements or investment contracts, these gaps create legal and regulatory risk.
- For scaling fintechs, enterprise-grade solutions that meet evidentiary standards can be expensive, with licensing fees adding hidden operational costs.
This leaves many firms in a bind: how to balance speed, client experience, and compliance without breaking the budget.
The solution: a verified approach
Syngrafii emerged from a unique collaboration between CEO Matthew Gibson and Canadian author Margaret Atwood, initially to create remote wet-ink signatures for book signings. That invention evolved into a secure document execution platform designed for high-trust environments.
The system combines:
- Biometric ink signature capture – recording pressure, speed, and stroke data.
- Live video signing sessions – visually confirming the signer’s identity in real time.
- Tamper-proof audit trails – preserving every step of the transaction in a MasterFile™ for evidentiary use.
The result is a signing process that mirrors the assurance of in-person signing, but with the reach and efficiency of digital.
For growing fintechs, Syngrafii’s Pay-As-You-Sign™ model removes the barrier of large annual license fees. Firms pay only for the transactions they complete, making enterprise-grade compliance achievable without committing to long-term, high-cost contracts.
Use cases range from:
- Client onboarding with ID verification.
- Loan and mortgage approvals requiring verified signatures.
- Wealth management agreements where client trust is paramount.
View Syngrafii’s profile on FinTech Scotland’s website.