Tackling security and trust in digital payments

Fintech Tables are back for their second event. Sponsored by Pinsent Masons it focusses on payment, one of the 4 key themes highlighted in the FinTech Scotland Research & Innovation Roadmap.

Those events, organised by BDM Media, provide a platform for discussion to support developments and initiatives around the four key pillars of the Roadmap; financial regulation, payments & transactions, climate finance, and open finance data.

This second event focusses on payments and transactions and more specifically about how organisations can build security and trust in digital payments.

Payments has always been the leading area of innovation for fintech companies in Scotland utilising innovations such as open banking and embedded payments making it faster and more convenient to pay and transfer money both locally and globally.

As digital payments continue to grow in the UK and around the world, so do online fraud, digital crime and cyber attacks with over £1.2 billion through fraud and scams in 2019.

This event will welcome many guests including:

• Lloyds Banking Group
• Eeden Bull
• BR-DGE,
• Transfer Mate
• Occamsec
• Police Scotland
• Scottish Business Resilience Centre
• The Payment Systems Regulator.

The group will consider the exciting opportunities offered by digital payments alongside the strategies that financial services organisations need to deploy in order to build and maintain security and trust in these innovative solutions.

More details on the event and others in the series can be found at www.fintech-tables.com

Blockchain, a key driver for economic growth

Article written by Maciej Zurawski, Founder and CEO, Musemantik

We all know technological innovations are a key driver of economic growth. Innovation is so essential to increase the productivity and efficiency of value creation that economists attribute a staggering 85% of the economic progress in the Twentieth century was to technological innovations. For those of you keeping score, that’s a little over five of every six dollars that the world economy grew by in the last hundred years can be directly credited to technological advancement. What may surprise you is just how much developing Blockchain technology can further this trend towards prosperity.

Blockchain is a novel development in computer science that can escalate economic growth radically through personal value creation. Fundamentally, it is a technology of distributed data and digital assets that are spread across a global, decentralised computer network. New data is chronologically recorded in blocks that are cryptographically in a permanent chain of synchronised information. This information shared is public and does not rely on any centralised actor for it to operate and consequently cannot be manipulated by corrupting information on a central server. Data contained within the blockchain is completely secure and trustworthy allowing for applied use of data in new and valuable ways. In the same way that instant communication revolutionised the economy, totally secure communication offers incredible economic, social, and societal benefits. We at Musemantik believe that the Scottish economy is particularly poised to adopt Blockchain and to take advantage of the myriad benefits adoption will bring.

In brief, we estimate a £2.46 billion contribution to Scotland’s GDP by 2030 as a consequence of information transparency, £1.1 billion in efficiency savings, and a £4.48 billion general increase in GDP as a consequence of adoption. [I] We encourage general implementation of blockchain solutions to capitalize on their benefits to create value for Scottish society. By encouraging socially responsible supply chain activities, implementing user-friendly health care systems, and reducing the costs of data transactions or financial intermediaries this have the potential to increase the national wealth substantially.

[i] The calculations are based on the figures in the “Time for trust” report of PWC (2020) and on the share of Scottish GDP from the total GDP of the UK.

Photo by RODNAE Productions: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silver-and-gold-round-coins-8370389/

Trevor Jones – a story of art and NFTs

I never planned on or expected to be an artist. Although I took art classes in high school in Canada (as I had a natural talent) it wasn’t until my early 30s that everything changed. I left my home country in my mid-20s with a backpack to explore the world, working mostly in hospitality to get around and ended up in Scotland a few years later on a UK ancestry visa. After making some bad decisions I spiralled into depression, and I hit an important crossroads in life. For some strange reason, I decided that art would save me’.

Proving one’s never too old to follow one’s dreams, I enrolled in a foundation course at a small school in Edinburgh and the following year I was accepted into Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art for the 5 year MA Fine Art programme. Thankfully, I managed to escape the dark depths of depression by the time I graduated; however, I now found myself at 38 years of age, broke and armed with very little but a huge student loan and an art degree.

Moreover, after two moderately successful commercial gallery solo exhibitions, I came to the conclusion that it was near impossible to make a living as an artist. So, there I was, working two jobs; managing a small art charity and teaching part time whilst running an Airbnb year round at my flat, to make ends meet all while spending every other spare moment painting.

I realised that if I were to make my art career dream viable that I would need to somehow differentiate myself from all the other artists exhibiting in Scotland, which led me to exploring and integrating new technologies with my work. In 2011 I was investigating QR code oil paintings and by early 2013 I was employing augmented reality as one of the first professional painters in the world to use AR.

I was more than excited when it came to exploring art and tech innovation but unfortunately it appeared the Scottish art world felt almost the exact opposite to me. As constant rejection of my artworks continued to fuel my frustration with the institutions was mounting, I decided to troll the legacy artworld with various tech inspired stunts.

For example, after my AR painting was rejected once again from the annual Royal Scottish Academy open exhibition, I snuck into the RSA building the day before the opening to photograph all the works on display. That night I augmented over 60 paintings and digitally replaced’ them with my pieces. I counterfeited 25 invitations and turned up to the posh opening night with a bunch of friends with smartphones and tablets and my AR app turning the event into the Trevor Jones solo exhibition. Some of the old guard’ weren’t too happy with me after this stunt but at the same time I also managed to build a little excitement and momentum around my artwork.

Fast forward to 2017 and for once I had a bit of money in the bank after a successful AR solo exhibition ”“ one that I’d organised myself as commercial galleries were no longer interested in showing my paintings. I invested in Bitcoin and very quickly became consumed with the world of crypto. I began coordinating my next solo show, which was titled Crypto Disruption: The Art of Blockchain. Almost all the paintings sold to crypto enthusiasts internationally via bitcoin and eth (which completely boggled my mind at that time!) and it was by far my most successful exhibition.

Near the end of 2019 I dropped my first NFT, a collaboration with the late, great Alotta Money, which broke all previous NFT sales records and really put me on the cryptoart map. I think I was a bit of an anomaly, as an academically trained painter coming into this space filled with almost entirely digital artists; which again, likely helped to differentiate me from the rest.

Things have continued to go from strength to strength with the last couple years being quite literally life changing both creatively and financially. Along with my record breaking Bitcoin Angel open edition drop on Niftygateway, seven figure sales collaborations with Pak, Metacask and the legend Ice Cube, and hiring Stirling Castle in July to throw an exclusive party for 300 of my angel collectors, I’m now working on a commission which will be a gift for a very high profile individual who makes electric cars and rockets.

My dad always used to say to me, “Son, life’s a funny thing” and he wasn’t wrong. I guess I’ll now add to his words with, “Work hard, persevere, focus on being different and you never know where you may end up.”

Why early payments could be the key to strengthening supply chains

Why early payments could be the key to strengthening your supply chain

Having a strong supply chain is one of the most powerful tools you can have in your arsenal. Creating a solid network of all the organisations involved in delivering your product or service to your end customer ”“ from vendors to producers, warehouses to retailers ”“ is critical to keeping things running smoothly. In fact, it can make or break your success.

But if there’s one factor that can help boost and strengthen supply chains, across all sectors and industries, that often gets overlooked, it’s the power of early payments.

Here’s why they could be the key to making your supply chain even stronger.

Building confidence and trust

It might sound simple, but don’t under-estimate the importance of having confidence in and being able to trust each and every member of your supply chain. Early payments can help build this confidence ”“ for both suppliers and customers alike.

If you’re a buyer, offering to pay early (for example in return for a small discount), signifies that you’ve got the cash ready and waiting, and are considerate of the fact that your supplier might benefit from a boost to their cash flow before the date their invoice is due.

For suppliers, being able to incentivise your customers to pay early by offering a small discount signals sound financial wellbeing. If you’re able to offer your services or products at a beneficial cost, it implies you’re not stretched to the last penny ”“ which gives customers confidence and reassurance that you’re not at risk and they’ll be able to keep buying from you.

 Access to better deals

It goes without saying that, if early payment benefits both buyer and supplier, there could be great deals attached to paying up early. When either side is empowered to use early payment as a tool for negotiation ”“ whether that’s a reduction in price, a speedier delivery, or another mutually agreed benefit ”“ it can help move things along exponentially, and might even lead to longer term process changes in your supply chain that keep things really efficient and effective.

Reputation builder

If you’re a buyer that’s offering to pay early, you’re going one step further than avoiding a reputation as a nightmare customer that your supplier has to keep chasing: you’ll become a preferred choice.

When suppliers are stretched or at capacity, they’ll be in a position to choose who they work with. Customers or buyers with good reputations for paying on time (or, even better, early) are much more likely to make their way up the food chain of preference ”“ and might even attract more suppliers looking to work with them, as a result of word of mouth, too.

Growth on both sides

It’s no secret that, for the SMEs and start-ups that form a bulk of the UK’s suppliers, cash is king. Offering early payment can be a real cash injection that helps SMEs out with their cashflow. And good cashflow means more money to invest and grow.

But the benefits aren’t one sided. If you’re a buyer that’s looking to grow, you’ll need your suppliers to be able to keep up with your ambitions ”“ which will likely lead to an increased demand for goods or services. By paying them early and helping them grow, you’ll be helping them to help you grow, when the time comes.

Only as strong as your weakest link

When it comes down to it, your supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link ”“ and late payment has a habit of breaking the bonds that the chain relies on. In fact, according to a recent survey of 500 UK decision makers, 86% agreed that one single late payment affects everyone in the supply chain. And, out of the 31% of businesses that admitted paying a supplier late, almost half say it was due to a late or failed payment from their customer.

So, if late payment has a knock-on, negative impact on everyone in a supply chain, imagine the knock-on, positive impact that early payment could have, if things were reversed?

How Early Pay can help

If reading this has convinced you that building early payment into your supply chain is something you should be looking at, you’re in the right place.

Our CEO, Anthony Persse, thinks it’s time to turn the conversation about late payment on its head: “By shifting towards a more positive conversation about early payment’, we will do much more than simply improve payment performance. We will help create more jobs, deliver greater levels of investment and generate deeper social value with long-term sustainability at a time when the country needs it most.”

If you’d like more information visit saltare.io, or please get in touch with the team at Info@saltare.io  and we’ll be happy to help.

The Identity Tooling Needed for Institutional Adoption of DeFi

Blog written by Kai Jun Eer, founder of fintech Onboard ID

In the past year, the term Web3 has become an increasingly used buzzword. The growth in different blockchain protocols and metaverse projects seem to have shed a light on how the new Web3 might look like. We are on the forefront of technology innovation, and we are really excited about it. Yet, it is important to remember that Web3 is not just about crypto and metaverse, but how we define a more user-centric internet. Behind every shining DeFi protocol or NFT project, there is an infrastructural layer supporting them.

Most of the current decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols are pseudonymous in nature (meaning each user is tied to an identifier but not to its real world identity). As these protocols start to grow into institutional adoption, inevitably they will need to comply with certain institutional regulations. One example being some of the users might now need to undergo the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification in order to continue interacting with these institutions through the DeFi protocols. I envision that as DeFi matures, the underlying protocol that facilitates the settlement / transactions would be fully decentralised and trustless, while specific use cases can be built on top of the protocol where some might introduce regulations.

A concrete example is Aave, one of the largest DeFi protocols deployed on multiple blockchains such as Ethereum and Avalanche. Aave first started out as a decentralised lending and borrowing protocol. Earlier this year, Aave launched a permissioned protocol (Aave Arc) that targets institutional adoption. The benefits that a blockchain can bring to speed up efficiency of financial settlements do not have to be limited to a fully decentralised setting. However, users that interact with Aave Arc have to undergo KYC in order to meet regulatory requirements.

As more DeFi protocols are becoming more regulated to expand their markets to financial institutions, does that mean that as an end user, each time I want to access a different protocol, I have to undergo a KYC verification again and again? Other than not user-friendly, it makes an already high barrier to entry in DeFi even less accessible.

A digital identity might help. Imagine if an end user only has to undergo the KYC process once, where it receives a digital identity which can be subsequently presented to the different DeFi protocols. With increasing awareness of data privacy and data ownership, users want to be in control of their own data. As an end user, I no longer want to delegate my identity data to a centralised data custodian (think Google ID), especially sensitive data such as what financial services I am accessing. There is a need for a privacy-preserving identity solution, which provides convenience yet still user-centric.

At Onboard ID, we are building the next generation identity tooling, where users are always in control of their own data. Once a user has undergone the usual KYC verification, it receives a cryptographic digital credential which contains the user’s verified identity data. The identity data is only stored in the user’s mobile phone and not in any central databases. An identifier of the credential is recorded on a public permissionless blockchain, such that when the user presents its credential, it is verifiable that the identity data in the credential comes from the trusted KYC provider. The reason our solution is user-centric is that during KYC reverification, data transfer only happens between the user and the verifier without passing through any third parties, not even us as the infrastructure provider. Therefore, users are always in control of how they want to share these data and with whom.

We are currently in beta testing. If your organisation is looking to get an edge in streamlining KYC reverifications, whether it’s in the fintech sector, looking to get into DeFi, or other more specific use cases, please get in touch at kaijuneer@gmail.com! Our vision is to contribute towards building a more user-centric internet, and we hope you could come onboard with us.