Got Capital selects directID To Digitise SME Funding Process
Scottish fintech and global credit risk platform DirectID, have just announced a partnership with SME capital provider Got Capital.
From now on, SMEs applying for financing will be able to use the power of Open Banking within the application journey, letting agents at Got Capital quickly categorise and determine businesses’ true revenue without the need for PDF or paper bank statements. This new solution will allow for a much faster and accurate process, de-risking the financing whilst providing a better experience for SMEs.
Nicola Dunn, Business Development Manager, DirectID said:
“Small businesses are the backbone of any economy, they are continuously struggling to get access to affordable financing. Traditional lenders find it difficult to ensure fast and safe underwriting processes for SMEs. Existing and traditional credit reports lack sufficient credit history information such as bank account information or bank statement data. On the other hand, SMEs often cannot provide any collateral to mitigate this information gap and ensure financing.
This information gap can be filled by open banking data which is highly in demand in the market. DirectID are delighted to be the chosen open banking partner of Got Capital and we are very much and looking forward to working with Got Capital on a variety of use cases in the future.”
Mr. Alex Afek, Managing Director, Got Capital Officer said:
“We are very excited to get on board the DirectID platform. Got Capital is funding businesses across the UK and we require a very good e-banking coverage. It simplifies the process for our applicants and customers and reduces the time to funding decisioning. Got Capital’s Royalties based investment is a timely instrument and”¯is used by many different types of businesses when they need cash at hand yesterday.”
Virtual Global Demo Day focuses on the future of Fintech marketing
Fintech B2B Marketing Virtual Global Demo Day is around the corner, and excitement is in the air. The community announced the return of its flagship event, which is set to take place virtually on 19 October 2022.
Global Demo Day has become a staple in the Fintech, Martech and B2B communities as it brings top-class marketers in front of some of the most innovative technology and solutions to drive future business growth. What’s more, marketers get a chance to network on one forum ”“ the ultimate opportunity to learn from and grow with like-minded individuals.
Payal Reina, founder of the Fintech B2B Marketing community hosting the event says:
“Marketing is ever-changing, and we need to keep up with the trends to ensure we take our businesses into the future. Without the passion to constantly learn and improve our marketing skills, we risk being left behind.”
What’s to expect
Leading marketing solution providers will be on call to introduce the greater community with the latest, best-in-class technology to help solve your everyday marketing challenges.
“The sad truth is that many people still don’t know the true value of marketing, with many companies admitting to cutting marketing budget in light of trying financial times. As such, it’s always beneficial to not only know what tools and resources are available to improve your job, but also understand how it can contribute to your greater marketing strategies. The more you know, the better your chances of encouraging leaders to understand the importance of your marketing efforts,” adds Reina.
Some of the highlights expected at the event include discussions around innovative ways to drive new customer acquisition and retention, great operational efficiency, accelerated marketing automation, and reducing marketing costs, among others.
“Our Demo Day is the perfect environment to showcase innovative marketing offerings to marketers who need to stay in the loop and on top of their game,” adds Reina. “What’s more, there is no need to attend an in-person event as the event will be fully virtual, allowing for a completely comfortable and safe experience wherever you are in the world.”
Brands will have the option of showcasing their offerings in whatever way they feel comfortable, whether in the form of pitches, case studies, thought leadership and more.
The who’s who of Fintech marketing
Some of the past speaking and attending companies include global banks, fintechs, tech organisations, so you know you will be in good company. Business members of Fintech B2B Marketing Community will automatically get the opportunity to demo a solution at this event, while prospective sponsors are invited to reach out via email at eventsponsorship@fintechb2bmarketing.com.
Please join the FinTech B2B Marketing Community at the Global Demo Day event on the 19 October at 9am BST / Register here.
New event connects global investors with Scottish scale-ups
A new business event aimed at helping scalable Scottish companies reach their full potential has been launched today. Invest2Scale, being staged on 2 November at Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios, is aiming to address a gap in the market by supporting revenue-generating scalable Scottish companies by connecting them with VCs and other investors.
Invest2Scale will identify between 10-12 company founders who they will invite to participate in their new showcase event. The event programme will include networking sessions, industry discussions and other scale–up focused activities and involve an audience of senior figures from both the UK and global investment community.
Invest2Scale is being led by a group of leading business support organisations – law firm MBM Commercial, accountants Chiene + Tait, recruitment specialists Eden Scott, and Angel Capital Scotland (formerly Linc Scotland) – who are tapping into their networks to attract scale–up experts and other key figures from the investor community to the event.
Companies with a global focus and strong scale up potential are being invited to apply to be part of the Invest2Scale event. More details can be found at: www.invest2scale.com
Selected companies will be announced in October.
Stuart Hendry, Senior Partner at MBM Commercial said:
“Invest2Scale addresses a gap in the market by targeting revenue-generating companies with significant scalability. It does this in person as there is major value in bringing company founders and investors together in the same venue as opposed to attempting this interaction through online facility. This event is designed to enable strong businesses to progress to a higher level and to lay the foundations in creating the next Scottish unicorn.
“We are passionate about supporting scale–up businesses to help them make the most of global investment opportunities so they can reach their full potential.”
Alan Donald of Angel Capital Scotland said:
“Our partnership of highly regarded and well-connected corporate organisations, where we can access key figures within the global investment community through our networks, brings immense value to this event. Collectively we will also leverage our experience and close relationships within Scotland’s business community to help identify many of the companies that could maximise the impact of additional growth investment.
“In addition to the contribution of the founding partners, through Invest2Scale we will put ambitious high growth Scottish companies with scale–up funding aspirations in front of an invited audience of investors.”
Update from the Phoenix Innovation Forum
Article written by James Carroll, Digital Sustainability Manager for Phoenix Group
Last month, we announced the kick off of Phoenix Group’s first ever Innovation Forum was launched”“ created to deliver innovative solutions for the challenges 
faced by our customers, business and industry. This Forum is focusing on exploring solutions to two key pillars of our Customer Sustainability programme ”“ digital literacy and financial inclusion.
Since kick-off, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from across Phoenix Group have reviewed some fantastic submissions from FinTech innovators around the world. From a diverse range of solutions, the team narrowed the applications down to seven FinTechs who were invited to pitch their ideas.
Shortlist and pitch Session
On Wednesday 27 July, we welcomed the seven shortlisted innovators to pitch their ideas in the Innovation Lab at Standard Life House. The pitches gave a deeper insight into how these solutions could help our customers to secure a life of possibilities. Our SMEs scored each application against five key areas: target audience, the concept and our ambitions, timeline, resource need and scalability. They left the session with a real buzz after hearing how these solutions can benefit our customers and wider society – and with the difficult task of putting only three forward to the final.
Announcing the three finalists
We are delighted to announce that the finalists going forward to the last round of the inaugural Phoenix Group Innovation Forum are:
The solutions put forward by these finalists clearly align to the challenges we set with the teams providing a proof of concept that our panel of SMEs from across Phoenix Group believe have the potential to deliver the best outcomes for our customers.
The finalists have now been matched with two mentors from Leadership Teams within Phoenix whose role over the next five weeks is to support them in refining their concepts. The mentors will do a deep dive to establish the validity of the solution, which includes completing an assumption plotting exercise and evaluating the solutions scalability within the life stages of our customers. Mentors will also analyse feedback from the initial pitches and assess the commercial viability of the solutions.
We can’t wait for AirFunders, Behavioural Finance and Moroku to join us in the Innovation Lab again on the 22nd of September for the final pitches. We’ll also be joined by a panel of senior Phoenix leaders who will be considering which is the best fit to build a formal partnership with Phoenix Group. The winner will be announced on Thursday 29 September and we’ll work with the winning team to bring their exciting concept to life.
Photo by RODNAE Productions: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-black-blazer-standing-beside-white-board-7414008/
Big Boost for UK FinTech as FinTech Scotland Achieves Top Cluster Excellence Accreditation
FinTech Scotland Recognised as Leading Fintech Cluster Management Organisation in Europe
UK FinTech innovation has been given a significant boost with the announcement that FinTech Scotland has achieved a new level of Cluster Excellence accreditation.
The accreditation, which is the highest level achieved by a fintech body in UK and Europe, comes at a time when economic clusters are increasingly being highlighted by Government as an enabler in driving innovation. For example, the UK Government Innovation Strategy and Scottish Government Economic Transformation Strategy.
The globally recognised European Secretariat for Cluster Accreditation (ESCA) confirmed the excellence award for FinTech Scotland following an in-depth audit of the organisation’s progress and delivery record since the bronze level award was achieved in January 2020.
In confirming the silver cluster excellence award, ESCA highlighted several significant improvements by FinTech Scotland including,
- Supporting the growth in the number of Fintech SMEs by 22% year on year
- Leadership of increased cluster collaboration between fintech SMEs, large enterprises, universities, public sector bodies throughout the UK
- Producing UK’s first industry led 10-year Fintech Research & Innovation Roadmap
Sir Ron Kalifa OBE, author of the HM Treasury Fintech Sector Review in 2021, said
“Congratulations to FinTech Scotland who are a bellwether example of leveraging the outputs of fintech innovation and accelerating the regional fintech development and growth, the importance of which was highlighted in my FinTech Sector Review.”
“This excellent recognition is a testament to the FinTech Scotland model that Stephen and Nicola have led, and I know they are continuing to use their expertise to further advance national connectivity and provide support to UK regions through the FinTech National Network as well as the new Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology”
Commenting, Stephen Ingledew, FinTech Scotland Executive Chair and founder said,
“I am very proud of the team in achieving this significant milestone and my sincere thanks to all the committed cluster participants. The award further recognises our leadership and collaboration across UK reinforcing the pivotal interdependence with each other in fostering progressive innovation within all regions, so the tide rises for everyone”
Highlighting the opportunity for further cluster development, Nicola Anderson, Chief Executive of Fintech Scotland said,
“The accreditation is a terrific platform to advance our strategy and execute the ground-breaking industry driven Research and Innovation Roadmap. Bringing together leaders from industry, entrepreneurial firms, academia, public sector, we will use our cluster expertise to drive innovation locally in Scotland and in collaboration throughout the UK”
“We are particularly excited about the innovation opportunities in open finance, regulation, payments, and climate finance. Through a collaborative and inclusive approach, these can contribute to addressing the challenging economic headwinds across the UK”
Catherine Martin, Vice Principal of University of Edinburgh, one of four organisations who led the formation of Fintech Scotland in 2018 commented:
“As a founding partner of Fintech Scotland, the University of Edinburgh is delighted to see this accreditation. It is a very gratifying achievement, and we look forward to building on our work with Fintech Scotland and its ever-growing number of partners.”
Jane Martin, Managing Director of Innovation and Investment at Scottish Enterprise said:
“Strong, effective and purposeful collaboration between industry, academia and the public sector is key to delivering much needed innovation and growth for Scotland. FinTech Scotland is a brilliant example of this in action.”
Morgan Stanley creates career opportunities for over 200 young people
Technology roles feature prominently in Morgan Stanley’s biggest ever recruitment programme for University Graduates, Graduate Apprentices and University Summer Interns in Glasgow. Over the next few months, the bank will recruit 75 University Graduates, 25 Graduate Apprentices and 104 University Summer Interns.
The 75 University Graduates will be recruited primarily from universities across Scotland for various roles and responsibilities across Technology, Operations, Finance, Legal & Compliance and Fund Services.
The 25 Graduate Apprenticeships will provide opportunities for Scottish High School leavers from S5 and S6. Graduate Apprentices will earn while they learn, working in the Technology, Finance and Operations teams at Morgan Stanley in Glasgow. They will also be able to pursue a degree qualification at the same time.
The 104 University Summer Internships are aimed primarily at penultimate year university undergraduates, typically those in the third year of degree courses at Scottish universities. Commencing in early June 2023, the internships run for 13 weeks, providing an excellent introduction and insight to the range of career opportunities at Morgan Stanley.
Vida Rudkin, Head of Morgan Stanley Glasgow said,
“Throughout the past two and a half years of the pandemic, Morgan Stanley has remained committed to providing opportunities for young people. The firm has been an Investor in Young People at Gold level since 2015 and an early signatory for the Scottish Government’s Young Persons Pledge, so it is especially pleasing that this year we are recruiting the highest ever number of graduates, Graduate Apprentices and Interns to the Glasgow office. Our new joiners are supported by our early careers training programmes and our Young Professionals Network.”
Rudkin continued,
“Our investment and commitment to young people in Scotland has been more than rewarded through the sheer depth of diverse talent we have been able to meet and recruit from across the country and we very much value the strong relationships we have forged with schools, universities and a whole host of partner organisations dedicated to nurturing and developing future generations.”
Applications for both University Graduates and University Summer Interns opportunities open in September with a closing deadline at the end of November, while applications for Graduate Apprenticeships will open in September and close in early March 2023. Full details, including how to apply, can be found on the Morgan Stanley website atCareers for Students and Graduates | Morgan Stanley
Graduate Apprentices joining Morgan Stanley’s Technology team will have the opportunity to complete a BSc in Software Development in partnership with the University of Strathclyde or a BSc in Software Engineering, in partnership with the University of Glasgow.
Morgan Stanley opened its first Glasgow office in 2000, employing six people. Having grown to occupy two city centre office buildings, the bank moved in 2018 to a new 155,000 sq ft purpose built HQ building on Waterloo Street in Glasgow’s International Financial Services District.
Photo by Buro Millennial: https://www.pexels.com/photo/three-persons-sitting-on-the-stairs-talking-with-each-other-1438072/
FinTech focus groups set up to support FinTech Scotland Roadmap
A new FinTech event series focused on collaboration and stakeholder engagement will play an important role in supporting the development and delivery of the recently published FinTech Scotland Research and Innovation Roadmap.
FinTech is driving change in the financial services industry, one of the most important parts of our economy. It presents a significant disruptive force and will shape the future of the digital economy.
The financial services industry contributes £132 billion to the UK economy each year and research and innovation will play a fundamental role in shaping the future of finance. FinTech is already a rising force in Scotland, with over 200 fintech businesses, driving growing levels of investment and creating exciting and interesting high value jobs.
Embracing this growing potential, the R&I Roadmap sets out the foundations to do more. The overarching aims of the Roadmap are the creation of over 20,000 new FinTech related jobs and an increase in economic value (GVA) from £598 million to more than £2 billion – over the next 10 years.
To support the Roadmap, the FinTech Research and Innovation Event Series 2022-23 has been launched, created by FinTech-Tables, supported by FinTech Scotland and global law firm Pinsent Masons.
The events will provide a platform for discussion that will continue to support an industry-led approach to research, innovation and impact across the four key pillars of the Roadmap; financial regulation, payments & transactions, climate finance, and open finance data. The series will see key contributors meeting to discuss actions outlined against each theme in a series of industry roundtables and panel discussions.
The event series is already attracting a lot of support, with speakers confirmed from a number of organisations for the opening event in September this year, including Pinsent Masons, Autorek and the University of Strathclyde, where a panel of experts will convene to consider role of technology and data in financial regulation.
Commenting, Fintech Scotland Chief Executive Nicola Anderson said,
“This Roadmap event series continues to show the demand and ambition across Scotland to play a leading role in the shaping the future of fintech innovation, and enable the future of finance that will serve the needs of citizens and businesses as we continue to see the digital economy grow and emerge. Fintech innovation in Scotland is already demonstrating a future that can drive better outcomes for us all. By building more collaboration and embracing our strengths, in innovation, finance, and technology, we will continue to play a leading role in advancing finance across the world. ”
Yvonne Dunn, Partner leading the Financial services technology practice at Pinsent Masons said
“As Fintech continues to develop and advance it is disrupting global financial markets, but much needs to be done for it to affect genuine change. Put simply, innovation in technology combined with adapting attitudes and behaviours across society will be a catalyst to drive meaningful change. As we look across the international landscape, Scotland will play a vital role in advancing Fintech given its financial heritage, strength of its universities and an ingrained culture of entrepreneurialism. TheFinTech Scotland cluster is a demonstration of what can happen through collective action. This roadmap event series gives us a forum to move in the right direction and genuinely propel Fintech into a new era of innovation.”
Ian Davey, Founder of Fintech-Tables said
“FinTech in Scotland is a movement and what makes this sector unique is the willingness and desire of the entire ecosystem to come together and work for the greater good of the cluster and people in Scotland as a whole. This first of its kind event series will provide a platform for engagement around the FinTech Scotland Research & Innovation Roadmap and an opportunity for the industry to take action as a group to help shape the future of Fintech in Scotland through collaboration, innovation and inclusion”
AutoRek to hire a further 30 positions
Scottish fintech Autorek, is growing its team to cope with an unprecedented level of demand for it financial control and regulatory reporting solutions. The company has already recruited 40 people in 2022 and is looking at filling 30 more positions across the U.K.
This rise in demand can be attributed to a need for more integrity and accountability across the financial services sector, leading to increased regulation, especially across the payments and asset management industries. The FCA’s new Consumer Duty, which was introduced on 27th July, is the most recent example of this market shift.
AutoRek’s CEO, Gordon McHarg comments:
“We currently have 140 employees, and we’re projecting this number to rise to 170 by the end of the year to keep up with the demand from clients and prospects. We’re extremely proud that the average tenure of employees is currently four years – more than double the sector norm for most fintechs, with almost 40% of these employees playing a huge part in the growth journey with four years or more as part of the AutoRek team.”
He continued,
“The demand for greater automation is at the centre of our need to continue hiring. Within the payments, asset management and insurance sectors, the increasingly complex regulatory landscape is forcing firms to automate to keep pace with their competitors and their own customers’ expectations. Therefore, we have a particular focus on hiring SMEs in each of our sectors, with a number of positions available in insurance. As we look to expand our services internationally and focus on growing software engineering, professional services and sales, we expect this growth to continue as the global business world embraces the benefits of automation.”
Encompass Wins Best KYC/KYB Innovation
Scotland-based fintech, Encompass Corporation, just announced that Aite-Novarica Group, a global advisory firm, has awarded them the winner of the 2022 Fraud & AML Impact Awards’ Best Know Your Customer/Business (KYC/KYB) Innovation.
The award recognises the fintech for its capacity to combine a huge number data sources, technology and expertise to deliver best in class corporate KYC due diligence with automation.
Alex Ford, President, North America at Encompass, said:
“By automating the KYC process, financial institutions can pursue aggressive growth agendas and scale while avoiding additional compliance costs. Our platform is used by banks across the globe to significantly improve the onboarding experience of their clients while also future-proofing technology and processes. We’re grateful to be recognized by Aite-Novarica Group for our innovative approach, which brings speed, accuracy and control.”
Encompass’ platform gives financial institutions access to real-time to global public and premium data sources, enabling:
- Search based on pre-defined policy using only bank-approved sources;
- Mapping of ultimate beneficial ownership and corporate hierarchy;
- Screening of entities for PEPs, sanctions and adverse media;
- Cross-checking documents, matching and merging data;
- And the automatic creation of a complete audit trail in real time.
Winners were selected by a global panel of experts on fraud and AML.
Encompass will be presented with the AML Impact Award at the fifth annual Financial Crime Forum, taking place from September 18-19 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA.
BR-DGE announces partnership with leading travel organisation, Travel Counsellors
Payment orchestration scale-up, BR-DGE, has announced a new merchant partnership with leading independent travel company, Travel Counsellors.
This partnership will provide the business with access to a multitude of payment providers and alternative payment methods, from Open Banking to eWallets, via BR-DGE’s market-leading orchestration platform, ensuring a streamlined booking experience for all global customers. This will enable Travel Counsellors to utilise BR-DGE’s dynamic rules engine to build a multi acquirer strategy across its global business operations.
Jacob Spencer, Head of Commercial at BR-DGE, said
“We are excited to be working with Travel Counsellors to revolutionise its payments infrastructure with considerable benefits for its customers and business.
We have seen that the sector is on track for a strong recovery; Travel Counsellors was well placed to bounce back and has had a tremendous last six months with record bookings in FY22 as sales levels reach 140% of FY19.
Our research has shown that over 8% of online transactions in the travel sector fail. As demand returns, with consumers expecting a seamless booking experience and merchants aiming to lift margins, payment orchestration is vital to boosting the sector’s resilience and increasing conversion rates.”
Travel Counsellors is a global travel business, turning over £700m per annum and serving over 600,000 customers worldwide by booking over 300,000 itineraries each year.
Mat Hanson, Chief Financial Officer at Travel Counsellors added
“Our core strategic focus of continued growth and delivering a personalised service to all of our customers remains unchanged. Working with BR-DGE is another example of how we’re continuing to enhance our customers’ experience though the use of new technology. Continuing to provide a seamless booking experience remains pivotal and especially at a time when many of our Travel Counsellors are so very busy.”