AutoRek signs Nationwide as a new client
AutoRek, the Scottish fintech and leading software solutions provider for financial controls, data management and regulatory reporting, have just announced that Nationwide Building Society had joined their list of clients.
The initial contract of 3 years (with option of another 2 years extension) will see Autorek provide Nationwide with their cloud-based financial controls and data management platform.
Nationwide selected Autorek for their ability to deal with a number of reconciliation and attestation challenges. The project will be implemented in a multi-phase approach and will include Mortgages, ATMs, Payments, Cards & Substantiation.
“I am really pleased to welcome an organisation of Nationwide’s calibre to our list of clients. We are looking forward to building a good working relationship with the team and providing them with our experience in helping leading financial services firms better understand their transactional data. This is a landmark deal for AutoRek and the result of an extraordinary team effort on both sides”
Gordon McHarg, AutoRek’s Managing Director
“After a thorough tender process, we were impressed with the quality of the AutoRek tool, it’s speed, adaptability and robustness. We noted that with its cloud functionality that we could face into future with confidence on scale and volume.”
Ian Williams, Director of Financial Control & Operations at Nationwide Building Society
Blockchain Technology Partners brings smart contracts to Amazon Quantum Ledger
Scottish Fintech Blockchain Technology Partners(BTP) has made available its integration of DAML.
Amazon QLDB is now supported by Sextant for DAML in the same way Hyperledger Sawtooth and Amazon Aurora are. The solution simplifies the deployment and management of DAML enabled ledgers.
“There are plenty of scenarios where there is a trusted centralised operator or a natural authority but there is still a requirement to ensure data is not tampered with. DAML on Amazon QLDB addresses these use cases combining the expressive power of DAML with the resilience of AWS.”
Kevin O’Donnell, Co-founder and CTO of BTP
DAML is an open source platform-agnostic smart contract language designed for use in multi-party processes. DAML abstracts away the underlying complexities of blockchains, distributed ledgers, or traditional databases, allowing developers to focus on the business logic of the applications while giving clients deployment flexibility as well as application portability.
“Businesses need to stay nimble to compete and thrive while also maintaining high standards of security and auditability. BTP’s Sextant for DAML with QLDB makes it seamless to run distributed applications without the operational overhead or compromising security,”
Shaul Kfir, co-founder and CTO of Digital Asset.
The integration of DAML on Amazon QLDB is commercially supported by BTP’s management platform, Sextant for DAML, which was launched on the AWS Marketplace at AWS re:Invent in December 2019.
FinTech Alliance partners with FinTech Scotland to boost global engagement and investment funding opportunities for innovative FinTech firms.
London/Edinburgh, 8.00am, Tuesday 25 February 2020 ”“ FinTech Alliance partners with FinTech Scotland to boost global engagement and investment funding opportunities for innovative FinTech firms.
- Through the partnership, FinTech Scotland’s community and cluster activities will be promoted across the FinTech Alliance platform, which aims to bring access to market, talent and capital to the firms across the UK FinTech space.
- The collaboration is part of FinTech Alliance’s mission to bring together the strengths of the global FinTech ecosystem in one destination, fostering collaboration and supporting the growth of the firms and sector as a whole.
- The partnership will build on Scotland’s recent recognition as a FinTech cluster centre of excellence, reflecting the progress made by FinTech Scotland since its formation in early 2018.
- Since its launch in mid-2019, a number of high-profile companies have signed up to the FinTech Alliance platform including Revolut, Level39, OakNorth and Virgin Money, as well as leading Scottish FinTech firms including Direct ID and Modulr.
FinTech Alliance, an innovative digital platform uniting both the UK and the global financial technology sectors, announces a partnership with FinTech Scotland, the independent body established to develop the FinTech community and cluster in Scotland.
The partnership is part of the FinTech Alliance mission to bring together the strengths of the UK’s FinTech ecosystem on one all-encompassing platform, and to support the continued growth of the sector.
The Scottish FinTech community is innovative, collaborative and inclusive, with Scotland home to a growing number of FinTech firms spanning the full spectrum of financial technologies from payments and blockchain to open banking and RegTech.
Scotland was also home to the UK’s first MSc in FinTech, which is offered by Glasgow’s University of Strathclyde as well as the first FinTech Consumer Panel.
Recently, Scotland was recognised as a FinTech cluster centre of excellence by the European Cluster accreditation body which benchmarks the impact of innovation and collaboration across all sectors of the economy.
The partnership will involve collaborating on a number of initiatives, including global development and engagement with investors.
FinTech Alliance will also support FinTech Scotland throughout next year’s Scottish FinTech Festival in September, developing a programme of events, roundtables and discussions.
FinTech Scotland’s content and activity will appear on its FinTech Alliance microsite and will be promoted by FinTech Alliance across social media platforms and newsletters.
FinTech Alliance will aim to keep the Scottish community at the centre of the conversation each month by creating original content, sharing Scottish FinTech news and regularly profiling Scottish FinTechs on the FinTech Alliance platform.
Each and every company in the FinTech Scotland community will be able to avail of unique offers from FinTech Alliance as part of the agreement. The FinTech Alliance platform enables companies within the community to share news and insight, connect with investors and talent, and keep up to date with policy and regulation.
New features and initiatives are being added to FinTech Alliance’s platform on a regular basis, including a Diversity Hub and Mentoring Hub which seek to build a more inclusive FinTech space and offer support to those wishing to build a career in the sector.
FinTech Alliance launched on 10 June 2019 in partnership with the Department for International Trade (DIT). Over 1,000 individuals and companies already have signed up to the Alliance, including Revolut, Thought Machine, OakNorth and CYBG. As users continue to register from all over the UK and internationally, the collaboration between FinTechs gets stronger. The partnership with FinTech Scotland is the latest example of this.
Stephen Ingledew, CEO, FinTech Scotland, added: “This partnership is a further example of driving FinTech innovation through collaborative relationships. We’re impressed by the progress made the Phil and the team in a short space of time and with our shared values of inclusion and diversity combined with a global mindset we aim to accelerate initiatives to support FinTech enterprises.”
Phil Vidler, CEO, FinTech Alliance, said: “It is both exciting and important to have FinTech Scotland on board. Under Stephen’s stewardship, FinTech Scotland has achieved brilliant things as a strategic enabler to some prominent FinTechs in the UK, and has become the true backbone of Scottish FinTech. This partnership cements FinTech Alliance’s commitment to, and support for, all firms across the UK. It also underlines the real spirit of collaboration we are seeing in the FinTech sector ”“ one that will help all involved grow and prosper.”
FinTech Alliance is open to both individuals and companies. While individuals can register for free, businesses are asked to pay a monthly subscription or annual fee for a presence on the platform. The profits made by the organisation will be used to drive further initiatives and support pre-existing organisations in the UK FinTech community.
To sign up and for further information, please go to www.FinTech-alliance.com.
Fintech Zortrex launches Zortrex Token Vault
Scottish fintech Zortrex launched Zortrex Token Vault yesterday.
The Zortrex Token Vault was created to assist organisations with reducing the cost and complexity of protecting against data breaches, ensure customer privacy and compliance with ever-changing regulatory requirements.
The Token Vault tokenises messages in-line, removing and storing sensitive data such as credit/debit card information at the boundaries of an organisation.
Zortrex’s growth plans are very ambitious wishing to become the tokenisation vendor of choice within the financial sector.
Zortrex Token Vault addresses unique requirements of the financial sector, dealing with sensitive data and financial messaging standards, including ISO 8583/20022, DB and Hadoop, ensuring quick and easy deployment into payment environments.
This flexible solution seamlessly integrates with clients’ legacy services and systems, allows organisations to evolve how they manage sensitive information.
Zortrex Token Vault operates from a centralised control point allowing companies to create or amend token masks as well as safely and securely de-tokenise data, in instances where the original data is required, via a web portal. The platform can be deployed as a Software as a Service (SaaS) in the cloud, in a hybrid cloud/on-premises model or entirely on a customers’ premises.
Zortrex Token Vault can be used with any data or string of data. Tokenisation doesn’t rely on encryption keys so organisations don’t have to worry about managing sensitive data – security travels with the data.
“Technology is driving transformation within the financial services sector, and tokenisation is changing the way sensitive information is handled, controlled and disseminated throughout organisations,”
Zortrex CEO – Steve Clarke
Fintech HubSolv moves to new office as company further expands
Scottish fintech, HubSolv Limited, is moving today, Friday 14th February, to a new office in Glasgow City Centre to accommodate growth ”“ as the company further expands into the insolvency and debt management sector.
The team at HubSolv are moving from their previous setting in Glasgow, where they’d been since 2017. The last year saw the company expanding significantly in head count and being recognised as one of the top 50 fastest-growing tech companies in the UK by an influential ranking based on revenue growth.
The new office is in the heart of Glasgow city centre; a stone’s throw from the previous premises, and it is more than double in size totalling 2,896 square foot.
HubSolv recently launched a tool for creditor communication and enhanced its product offering with integrated open banking for the assessment of individuals’ affordability. The software company has ambitious plans to lead digital transformation across the insolvency space and further sectors, with technology solutions that can streamline traditionally paper-based processes in the industry.
Fraser Hamilton, Director of HubSolv, said “We are delighted to be expanding and moving into a much-needed bigger office space, to accommodate our sustained growth. The new office benefits from a central location within our home city of Glasgow, and it’s ideally built for client meetings and training days. We’re looking forward to making the most of the space.”
The new location forms part of the renovated office spaces within The Reel House, an iconic art deco building and former cinema venue in West Regent Street, Glasgow.
All phone numbers and email addresses remain the same, however the new address is:
Hubsolv Ltd
3rd Floor, The Reel House
7 West Regent Street
Glasgow
G2 1RW
Scottish fintech Autorek selected by Bank of England for their automated reconciliation and data management solution.
Following a competitive tender the Bank has chosen Scottish fintech AutoRek for the automation of their reconciliation processes. The main objective is to increase efficiencies.
Thanks to Autorek, the Bank of England will have access to a centralised platform for their daily and monthly reconciliation tasks.
The key business benefits of Autorek include:
Ӣ Enhanced control
Ӣ Accurate matching at transaction level mitigating risks Ӣ Better insights into processes
Ӣ Best in class automation tools
Ӣ User configured dashboards
“It is a testament to the whole AutoRek team that we have been able to successfully engage with an institution such as the Bank of England. As we enter our 25th year of operations we have and continue to work with a broad range of leading Insurance, Investment Management and Banking organisations. I look forward to AutoRek delivering value and efficiencies for the Bank as we move into the implementation phase.”
Gordon McHarg, Managing Director
Students from Glasgow University FinTech Society tackle consumer vulnerability through Design Thinking
The economic landscape within which financial services operate is changing at a dramatic pace. The population is getting older, more complex financial products are available, home ownership has decreased, internet is now widespread but still some people never use it.
As a result, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently highlighted how over the next few decades the number of consumers in vulnerable circumstances will rise dramatically. Therefore, the archetype of the typical consumer’ ”“ the one that makes rational decisions on the basis of a comparison between costs and benefits ”“ on which consumer protection policies and financial products are based should be abandoned in favour of a more inclusive and realistic paradigm which takes into account non-standard needs.
This picture of the future prompted a discussion, here at Glasgow University FinTech Society, and we came to realise, thanks to the pivotal contribution and guidance from Nicola Anderson (”‹Strategic Development Director at FinTech Scotland”‹), the need for running an event that made students aware of consumer vulnerabilities and the opportunities that technology offers to design financial services in a more inclusive and accessible manner.
We thought that the most effective way of doing so was to organise a workshop which could allow students to learn by experience what vulnerability is, how it affects consumers and financial services, and what the latter can do to tackle this.
We came up with a two-day-long workshop centred around the use of the Design Thinking method. Various teams of students will have to find a solution for a consumer vulnerability issue with the aim of driving social impact by analysing future vulnerabilities and designing products and services for the future, which will make a difference to real people today. All teams will have to pitch their ideas/solutions in front of a panel of judges at the end of the two-day session.
After hearing our President, Elisabetta Trasatti, and Vice-President, Andreea Musat, present this idea at the December FinTech Consumer Panel (launched by FinTech Scotland in September 2019) some of its members enthusiastically welcomed our endeavour and offered their support. Coming from a vast range of sectors, among which regulatory bodies and charities, they helped shape the challenge during the past few weeks and will be part of the judging panel at the event.
It has also been of great importance the cooperation with Adam Smith Economics Society, one of the oldest student societies at University of Glasgow. Thanks to the collaboration of President Leon Zussner and his team, we have been able to reach a wider audience and we managed to organise such an important event.
Our “Make Financial Services Work” event is scheduled for February 20”‹ and 21”‹ and it will be held at Tontine, the business incubator of Glasgow City Council, located in Glasgow’s Merchant City.
ShareIn on a roll with the announcement of new client win
Edinburgh-based fintech and FinTech Scotland member ShareIn recently announced the win of a major global client, Shojin Property Partners, who have re-launched their property investment website using ShareIn’s modular approach to online investing.
Autumn 2019 saw the launch of ShareIn’s CASS-compliant payment solution, ShareInPay. Combining this with ShareIn’s direct investment technology solution and Innovative Finance (IF) ISA service allowed Shojin to consolidate their previous multiple software providers into a single, unifying supplier in ShareIn.
Shojin Property Partners’ Igor Gorbatsevich, Head of Digital, says: “Due to a combination of circumstances, notably rapid increases in the number of global investors, regulatory change and desire to further streamline our operations, it was the logical step to transition across to ShareIn. Their technology has provided us with a much more integrated infrastructure and enables us to deliver an enhanced investment experience, with more frequent feature updates to our online investment platform.”
ShareIn’s expanded offering comes along with the growth of its team, with plans to increase its headcount to 40 members in 2020.
Double Boost for Scotland’s Global Fintech Ambitions
FinTech Scotland welcomes two significant developments which will support its ambition to become a globally recognised fintech centre.
First, as announced by Scottish Government today, Scotland’s fintech cluster has been formally recognised for its excellence by the European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis (ESCA) which benchmarks economic clusters across the Europe.
The ESCA undertook a benchmarking analysis, based on 36 economic indicators, of the work led by FinTech Scotland resulting in the award of the cluster excellence accreditation.
Scotland becomes the first fintech cluster in the UK to be recognised for the cluster excellence award and one of only three fintech clusters in Europe to achieve this accreditation.
Second, the cluster award has been achieved as the two-year old FinTech Scotland confirms an increase in the number of strategic partners supporting the next stage of its strategy.
The strategic partners include: financial institutions, global technology and professional services firms, two of leading international universities developing fintech skills; the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde, as well as Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Government.
In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority continues support with the full-time secondment of a senior regulator to the FinTech Scotland team.
The broad range of FinTech Scotland strategic partners, illustrated below, will participate in a range of innovation and collaboration initiatives to drive further the development of the fintech cluster.
Commenting, Stephen Ingledew, Chief Executive of FinTech Scotland said: “We are very proud of this centre of excellence cluster recognition which will further contribute to being recognised as a global fintech centre.
Achieving cluster accreditation recognises the progressive innovation, collaboration and inclusion initiatives across Scotland over the past two years and will shape the economic and social priorities for 2020 and beyond.
To progress this, we’re delighted to partner with a broad range of forward thinking and innovative strategic enterprises in developing the fintech cluster, all who have recognised the economic, social and international value of our collaborative and inclusive model”
Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy, Kate Forbes said: “The global financial services sector is being transformed by technology which is providing a range of benefits such as speeding up transactions, making payments more secure and helping avoid problem debt.
“Scotland is already at the forefront of these developments and the fintech cluster is ensuring the benefits are spread across the country. This accreditation will further increase our international profile and is another step towards the goal of being ranked among the world’s top five fintech cluster nations.”
Linda Hanna, Managing Director, Scottish Economic Development at Scottish Enterprise, said: “A huge amount of credit is due to FinTech Scotland for its leadership in securing this accreditation in such a short space of time.
“It sees FinTech Scotland join the country’s existing family of accredited cluster management organisations alongside ScotlandIS and Technology Scotland, underlining Scotland’s international standing as a nation of innovators.
“We look forward to working with Stephen and his team, plus their new and existing strategic partners, as they continue to nurture and encourage the growth of Scotland’s fintech ecosystem.”
Chief Executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise, Graeme Jones commented “To be identified as the first fintech cluster in the UK is further recognition of Scotland’s position as a thriving, forward-thinking, international centre and is a landmark moment for Scotland. This will present new opportunities to deliver even more economic and social benefits to Scotland and the UK”
Jane Morrison-Ross, Chief Executive of ScotlandIS said,’ We are delighted that FinTech Scotland have achieved this award. This is a huge boost to the developing cluster economy in Scotland. We are very excited by the potential of the Scottish clusters and the opportunity to further collaborate with FinTech Scotland. ‘
Want an opportunity to think out of the box and get BIG rewards?!
Great, now I have your attention! Money Advice Scotland ”“ Scotland’s money charity is seeking to appoint 6 new independent Trustees to sit on a newly constructed Board of Trustees. The new Trustees will be joined by existing Trustees from the debt advice sector.
We have a five-year strategy and Digital services is front and centre of the strategy. We have formed strong partnerships with FinTech Scotland and we are now reaching out to the Fintech community for further help.
If you are someone who is keen to help a national charity, for no financial reward, but get enormous satisfaction from doing so, then please step forward! We are looking for someone who has direct experience of either developing or implementing financial technological solutions, and who has previous Board experience. The skills and expertise we are seeking is of the ability to think strategically, be willing to challenge the Executive.
We are seeking 6 dynamic individuals (one from the fintech community) who share our passion in being “the driving force towards wellbeing for the people of Scotland”. See our strategy document and impact report.
Whilst the posts are not remunerated individuals will play a significant role in the future of Money Advice Scotland’s development, and its sustainability. We are a relatively small organisation (employing 18 people), which punches well above its weight, and always delivers on its promise.So, if you are interested, please complete a CV, and provide a personal statement as to why you wish to be considered for the position, and how you match the role requirements. This should be no more than 2 sides of A4. It should be sent marked private and confidential ”“ Trustee application, to y.macdermid@moneyadvicescotland.org.uk. See recruitment pack. For an informal discussion please call 0141 572 0238 and ask for Yvonne MacDermid.