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£8,000 Scholarship for Postgraduate Fintech Student

Are you looking to join an exciting and dynamic industry? Fintech could be for you!

Scotland’s financial technology sector is booming, with the number of businesses growing threefold over the last year. There are now around 90 fintech-focused enterprises based in Scotland and there are no signs of the boom slowing down.

The good news is that these businesses are constantly on the look-out for new talent. Several Scottish universities, including the University of Strathclyde, the University of Stirling and Edinburgh University are already offering postgraduate fintech degree to satisfy growing demand.

£8,000 scholarship

In order to support students in that sector, Spotcap, a fintech lender, has launched the Fintech Fellowship programme. Now in its third year, the Fellowship offers an £8,000 award to one postgraduate student studying a fintech related course at a UK university. Applications open today and close on August 15, 2019.

Eligibility

To qualify for the Fintech Fellowship, applicants must cover the following criteria:

  • Have an offer of admission to a master’s or MBA programme at an accredited British university
  • Be a British citizen or resident
  • Study a fintech-related subject, with the intention to work in fintech upon graduation

Required Documents

Applicants can upload their CV and cover letter via the Fintech Fellowship website. Their cover letter should include the following points:

  • Brief description of their background and achievements
  • What sparked their interest in fintech
  • How their studies would support a career in fintech

So, what’s it like working for a Fintech company?

A job in Fintech is an opportunity to work in an evolving industry ”“ one that is driving the digital shift of both the economy and our society. It attracts passionate people who are keen to pursue opportunities and overcome challenges, making it a dynamic and fast-paced working environment. But fintech doesn’t only attract talent with an interest in technology and IT ”“ because of its innovative nature, it is increasingly becoming a sector of choice for marketers, sales and business operations professionals.

Are you starting your postgraduate studies this autumn? Are you keen to pursue a career in fintech? Check out the Fintech Fellowship website and apply for the £8,000 award.

https://www.spotcap.co.uk/fintech-fellowship/

Event – Creating World Class Fintech Innovations

On 11 June, EIT Digital and Fintech Scotland invite interested parties to a networking event, titled Creating World Class Fintech Innovations’. The University of Edinburgh’s Business School is the venue for this half-day event focussed on the future of fintech in Scotland, and the opportunities for universities, corporates and start-ups within this thriving ecosystem.

EIT Digital is the leading European digital innovation and entrepreneurial education organisation driving Europe’s digital transformation. It recently opened its Scottish Satellite in Edinburgh to deepen connections with the Scottish innovation ecosystem and to intensify its relationship with the Scottish Private and Public Sectors.

The Edinburgh Satellite intends to host a new Doctoral Training Centre, with a focus on fintech, and Cyber Security via a new program supported by the Scottish Government’s Cyber Resilience Unit and ScotlandIS, plus other areas of national strategic importance. Its students will be supported by universities across Scotland with the first students expected to start later in 2019.

EIT Digital is one of eight Innovation Communities of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology. It has 10 Co-Location Centres across Europe, including one in London, and the Scottish satellite was the first one to be opened in the UK.

To register for this event click here

Wayra AI & Blockchain Accelerator – New Applications now open!

The call for the next AI & Blockchain Programme is now open and start-ups can apply using this link. (Closing date 29th May 2019)

The Accelerator is run in partnership with The University of Edinburgh and Wayra, combining the technical & research expertise of UoE and Wayra’s commercial connectedness to London’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

This Programme provides coaching, mentors, access to investment and industry networks. It is supported by Scottish Enterprise, offering Scotland wide businesses support, and sponsored by CISCO

The Programme runs for 6 months, meets three days a week and is based in the Bayes Centre, Edinburgh . A founder of each company is required to attend each week and will be provided with desk space for 7 days per week. The Programme has national reach but an Edinburgh focus and includes a £7500 stipend to cover travel costs.

Call for innovative fintechs as NewDay releases public APIs

Photo by Two Paddles Axe and Leatherwork on Unsplash

Open Banking APIs

NewDay has developed a dedicated interface to Open Banking’s API standards and has launched its test facility for AISP, PISP (which will allow TPPs to initiate Balance and Money Transfers) and CBPII APIs. NewDay is interested in engaging with TPPs who want to test their applications against its APIs.

NewDay intends to launch its Production instance of the APIs from 1st June 2019.

 

NewDay Overview

NewDay’s aim is to provide credit card products that work for its 5 million customers. NewDay has four own brand products: aqua; marbles; opus; and fluid.  Aqua is NewDay’s main brand for customers who are new to credit, offering 4 different credit card products and also personal loans to existing customers. NewDay also provides credit card products in partnership with a number of well-established UK retailers including: Amazon; TUI; Debenhams; House of Fraser; Laura Ashley; and the Arcadia Group (which includes brands such as Topshop and Miss Selfridge). Over four million customers in the UK use one of NewDay’s co-brand credit cards as a valued part of their shopping experience.

 

How to get involved

For more information on how to engage with NewDay’s APIs please go to our Developer Portal, https://developer.newdaycards.com, or send a query to openbankingsupport@newday.co.uk

 

LendingCrowd to fund SME growth through Scottish Investment Bank and NIBC partnership

Scottish P2P lending platform LendingCrowd, has just entered a partnership with Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) ”“ the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise ”“ and Dutch entrepreneurial bank NIBC to create a unique opportunity for SMEs to fund their growth.

Both banks will be lending a combined £18.75 million across LendingCrowd’s platform.

LendingCrowd is seeing an increase in the demand for small business finance from all around the UK. LendingCrowd will be assessing applications and distributing the finance via its innovative proprietary online platform. The platform can provide businesses with a decision on the day and make money available in 10days.

LendingCrowd provides funding to almost all sectors, and a few of the companies to have benefitted from the platform’s loans include Summerhall Distillery, producer of Pickering’s Gin, Tag Games and Umega Lettings.

 

Stuart Lunn, founder and CEO of LendingCrowd, commented: “We’ve had a record number of requests for funding from British businesses so far this year, showing that the appetite for alternative sources of finance to fund their ambitions only seems to be getting stronger.

“We are delighted that the Scottish Investment Bank has followed up its first foray into the alternative investment market with this further commitment, and that we have been joined by NIBC, which sees the potential of LendingCrowd and our proven ability to distribute its considerable funding to UK businesses. Going through the due diligence on a deal like this has really shown the strength of our team in building an institutional class lending business.

“There are many small businesses crying out for finance and the funding from SIB and NIBC, coupled with our strong retail investor base, will allow LendingCrowd to help even more companies fulfil their ambitions.”

SecureTheFile introduces new digital tools to help clients securely organise, store and share their most important life information

SecureTheFile has been designed and launched to help clients to securely organise, store and share their most important life documents and information.

It can be particularly useful during major life events and emergencies such as fire, theft and death. Through a combination of a personalised guidance engine, with interactive tools, resources and content, and an intuitively organised digital vault, SecureTheFile helps clients to organise all the most important details about their life and legacy in one secure and accessible place.

The estate and end-of-life planning world still both primarily rely on paper documents and filing cabinets. SecureTheFile is a dedicated digital solution to help clients effectively prepare, organise and share life information with loved ones and trusted advisers. Advisers can store a client’s financial information such as a wealth management report and insurance information as well as their Will.

Clients are also able to upload other personal information such as funeral preferences and wishes for pets. At the Intergenerational transfer point documentation is then easily and readily available in order for Client affairs to be managed quickly and efficiently.

The SecureTheFile platform includes six libraries of information, broken into numerous subsections, all of which are easily accessible both by the adviser and the client:

  1. About Me: Personal Information, Vital Documents, Travel Information, Emergency Contacts, Digital Worlds, Medical Information
  2. Personal Finances: Financial Accounts, Loans, Bill Payments, Financial Assets, Benefits
  3. Financial Advice: Wealth Management Reports, Pension Policies, Protection Policies, Inheritance and Estate Planning, ISA and Savings, Trusts
  4. Solicitor: Solicitor Information, Will, Living Will, Power of Attorney, Marriage and Divorce, Executors, Mortgage Lender, Title Deeds, Shareholder Certificates, Trusts, Litigation
  5. Accountant: Tax Return, Tax Coding, Annual Accounts, P60, P45, CIS Record, UTR Record
  6. Property and Vehicles: Vehicles, Property, Appliances and Warranties

Clients are able to delegate Nominees’, such as their solicitor or accountant, family members or executors of their Will. The information is controlled by the client and they decide as to who this information is shared with and how much information is shared (clients are able to share entire libraries or individual folders). Access can be granted or revoked at any time and specific written instructions can be included.

SecureTheFile is available exclusively through professional advisers, with firms having the ability to license the product or charge their clients for the service. Each advisory firm account can be co-branded with the organisation’s logo and title.

The platform has multiple benefits for professional advisers, and in particular financial advisers. It provides an intuitive and user-friendly solution for both the adviser and the client, enabling advisers to tackle an array of challenges such as GDPR compliance to intergenerational planning. It also provides the adviser with a substantial high-quality, value-add service to their advice offering.

Josif Grace, Founder and CEO, SecureTheFile commented: “We recognise that intergenerational planning is a big issue for advisors as they seek to retain clients at the transfer point. SecureTheFile will enable Professional Advisors to have deeper and more meaningful relationships with their clients and their families. It will allow advisors to have fully understand their clients wishes and be able to influence and adapt to them. We look forward to working with the advisor community to enhance their retention of clients at critical life events”

Money Dashboard announces date of Scotland’s biggest FinTech crowdfund

Money Dashboard, the Scottish fintech firm, has announced today its crowdfund will launch privately to its users on 20th May 2019.

Users of the personal finance app will have exclusive access for 24 hours before the opportunity is made available to the wider public at 10am on Tuesday 21st.

This announcement comes after the appointment of former Revolut, Peter Higgins, as CFO and the establishment of a strategic partnership with price comparison site GoCompare to enrich data from hundreds of UK banks and financial institutions.

The money from crowdfunding will come to accelerate customer numbers growth, unlock new data markets and treble their Edinburgh-based team from 20 to 65 staff.

Money Dashboard CEO Steve Tigar said: “This raise comes at a pivotal time for Money Dashboard. Open Banking is starting to accelerate consumer adoption of digital money managers (DMMs) and we’re positioning ourselves to win the hearts and minds of millions of people. Bringing our users on the journey with us will be a key part in achieving this mission.”

In 2017 Money Dashboard raised capital with more than 1,000 of its users collectively investing £1.4 million.

Interested investors are invited to meet the team behind the app at exclusive events in Edinburgh, London and Online.

Scottish based AutoRek partners with US Cforia Inc to provide major productivity gains in Cash Collections

Cash Flow is the lifeblood of all businesses, therefore, shortening the time to collect and apply cash to the Accounts Receivable is a key goal for companies.

As revenue grows and the company’s exposure to accounts receivables increases, the size of the Cash and Collection team (C&C) and number of FTEE’s increases to protect what is typically 60% of a company’s available working capital.

But the C&C team expansion does not occur smoothly; it “reacts” after the Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and Days Beyond Terms (DBT) reaches an unacceptable financial point of risk tolerance. When the actual DSO exceeds the target DSO tolerance, the “reaction” comes in the form of hiring another C&C team member or two.

Once hired and trained, the delinquent accounts receive more attention and the DSO/DBT responds favourably and begins to drop below target DSO to acceptable levels…and then this process repeats. This could be referred to as the C&C Wash Rinse andRepeat cycle.

So how do companies escape this traditional react-driven C&C growth cycle? What effect does this fits-and-starts “crisis response” cycle have on your company’s working capital? And what do your key stakeholders think about these practices, particularly related to your C&C team and the productivity of their FTEE’s?

This “Crisis-Driven” environment is pervasive across most C&C departments. In response to the latest crisis deux jour, management will allocate the minimum amount of additional resources and no more. It typically starts with temp staff who never seem to leave. OTC managers are excessively busy. Complicating this further is the lack of access to the necessary IT or consulting resources who could provide assistance in the streamlining of the processes.

 

This is the significance of the announcement of a partnership between AutoRek and Cforia Inc

Founded in Glasgow and with offices in Edinburgh, London and New York, AutoRek, is a global provider of reconciliation and advanced Order to Cash solutions for both the Financial Services sector and global corporates.

Cforia Software, Inc. is a global enterprise solutions provider, delivering industry-leading working capital and accounts receivable (A/R) automation software. Over 250 enterprises are managing $300 billion in A/R turnover with Cforia today via their Autonomy Software solution

This partnership means that Cforia will now be able to add AutoRek’s learning algorithm OCR capability with AutoRek’s Automated Reconciliations, Advanced Matching Workflow and Cash Application to their roster.

This will dramatically improve Working Capital results for companies and result in a reduced requirement for additional C&C resource. Indeed, labour savings of above 30% are not untypical after the introduction of the combined solution. It also means that growth issues, in terms of turnover, can be handled without an increase in labour requirements.

AutoRek is delighted with this partnership. It is creating considerable opportunities for AutoRek within the US market where the demand for a single vendor solution’ is high, while also offering more to existing customers.

Managing Director of AutoRek, Gordon McHarg says “AutoRek is excited to announce this strategic alliance with Cforia. Both companies are proven global leaders with multinational clients and use the same advanced technology stack. Most importantly however is that both share the same vision for improving working capital for our customers.

With this announcement, we will be jointly extending our global reach and offering companies an end-to-end solution from cash collection to cash application and cash reconciliation.”

Chris Caparon, CEO of Cforia Software added: “With the integrated release of the Cforia Cash Application and Bank Reconciliation Modules, Cforia.autonomy™ has extended our straight-through-processing capabilities for Zero-Touch Posting of EDI, EFT, ACH, PCI Compliant Credit Card, Direct Debit, Lock-Box and Cash payments. Customers will see immediate impacts in capacity, accuracy and key performance indicators while providing increased visibility, command and control of global working capital.”

With the combined knowledge, AutoRek and Cforia were able to come together to build a globally capable system which can provide solutions which solve the complex system challenges of today’s global enterprises.

Both AutoRek and Cforia are companies hugely familiar with multi-currency clients and multiple billing systems and reconcile millions of transactions daily over the UK and worldwide. For one of their clients, AutoRek reconciled 2.4 billion transactions in only 1 hour.

Money Advice Scotland is looking for help bring technical solutions to the debt advice sector.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Money Advice Scotland is seeking support and collaboration to help bring technology aids and solutions into the independent and impartial debt advice sector. They’ve published a call for help and want to hear from anyone (fintech’s, financial services, investors or others) who’d like to collaborate and partner with them to augment the impartial debt advice sector through greater use of technology.

Simply put the ambition is to radically improve the current financial health and wellbeing for people by using data and technology to understand and solve debt problems.

Money Advice Scotland is Scotland’s national organisation promoting the development of free, independent, impartial, and confidential debt advice. It’s been working in the debt advice sector for 30 years and includes approx. 150 members including Local Authorities, Citizens Advice and other organisations providing debt advice.

Collectively they all strive to deliver and challenge for citizen financial inclusion. They support those in need at particularly vulnerable and difficult times.

 

What they need are tools to help build efficiency into the start of the debt advice process.

They’re looking for solutions that will help advisers quickly and efficiently assess a client’s holistic debt position and understand if there are options for clients to increase income and save money. The emphasis is on gaining a holistic’ view as quickly and as accurately as possible.

Currently there are some examples where it can take up to 14 weeks or longer to get a holistic view of a clients circumstances. This time frame often exacerbates the problem and can limit the debt solution options.

 

Income matters

The ability to analyse income and expenditure both matter but income really matters.

For advisers to provide best advice they need an accurate view of income. It may feel like an obvious point but some debt solutions will not be available or appropriate for some clients and it can be dependent on source and type of income.

 

Technology alongside people

Technology can be a powerful enabler for the sector, to allow advisers to spend quality time supporting people and discussing options before issues become bigger problems.

FinTech Scotland is confident that technology along with the will within the fintech, tech and financial services industry can help this important sector.  It aligns to our work on consumer financial inclusion and we’re delighted to support Money Advice Scotland on its initiative.

Please get in touch with Money Advice Scotland or FinTech Scotland if you think you can help.

Exciting news from Agrud Technologies

After a busy few months, Agrud Technologies are pleased to announce a number of exciting developments, along with the launch of our new website.

We have for some time now been expanding our client base and services. Branching out from our origins as Content Curation provider, we have augmented our AI platform, Stella, with real time market data, and a range of new analytics.

Recent work with a Singapore based Robo-Advisor has led us to developing back-end real-time market data delivery with the capacity to be built into pre-existing APIs. This takes away the stress, pressure, and high price tag of sourcing market data, so fintechs can concentrate on honing their platform and investing time in innovation. Moreover, the data we provide can be scaled to suit your company’s exact needs, without burying you under an avalanche of superfluous information.

Further work with an existing client has extended our services to also include brand new market data terminal software. We’re bringing our platform to a wider market than the current industry standards, Bloomberg Terminal and Reuters’ Eikon. Current market terminal software can set businesses back up to £18.500 per year for a single license. At Agrud Technologies we are challenging this status quo, and helping to democratize Wall Street by putting premium data and analytics into the hands of individuals and SMEs.

 

Why not visit www.agrudtech.comto find out a little more about what we’ve been doing.