An Origo and Fintech milestone
By Anthony Rafferty, Managing Director of Edinburgh-based Fintech Origo
This month marks a proud moment for Origo and a distinct milestone in Fintech history, namely the 10thanniversary of the launch of the Options Transfers service.
Origo was established in 1989 as a not-for-profit organisation with the remit to help the industry improve its efficiencies, cut its costs and improve the service to consumers. The Options Transfers service was launched in December 2008 to help improve the transfer times for pensions for consumers and the industry.
And the market certainly needed improving. At that time transfers of pensions, largely between pension providers and from pensions into annuities, was taking on average 50 working days.
From launch Options Transfers immediately started to cut down those times. The current and long-standing average transfer time is now just 11 calendardays, including the time required for banks to process monies through BACS.
In developing the Options Transfers service, Origo worked closely with the industry to revamp what was a largely manual process, and re-engineered it through the creation of new frameworks* and technology. These new legal and technological developments were instrumental in swiftly helping to reduce the time taken to transfer.
But the work didn’t stop there. We established user and steering group forums, working with the pensions companies within the large Options Transfers community, to monitor and review their transfer performance, which continues to help drive further performance improvements even today.
And, following its success with pensions, Options Transfers was quickly upgraded to support individual savings account (ISA) and general investment account (GIA) transfers, as well as occupational transfers. It is also the only complete transfers service in the industry, enabling secure and speedy transfers of pensions, GIAs and ISAs.
The service also helps pension schemes and third-party administrators to effect bulk transfers of pension members, where for example a scheme changes administrator or an employer changes scheme.
Furthermore, the users of Options Transfers are part of a trusted community ”“ over 120 financial services companies use the service ”“ focussed on improving their operations and delivering better service to the consumer. The Options Transfers user group and steering group feed into the service to ensure we are delivering what the industry needs including complete readiness ahead of any regulatory changes, the Pensions Freedoms being a significant case in point.
Above all, Origo’s Options Transfers service is focussed on improving outcomes for the industry and consumers and we are proud that since launch, we have transferred over £160bn for the industry, saved the industry over £600 million and importantly, saved consumers over 225 million transfer days.
10 years of Options Transfers service: Top 10 facts
- Options has transferred over £160bn in pensions, ISAs and GIAs for the industry
- 3.25 million pension transfers have been completed since launch
- 40,000 transfers have been processed each month since pensions freedoms
- The average transfer through Options takes 11 calendar days
- The fastest transfer processing completed by a ceding provider has been less than a minute
- 1.2 million transfers by ceding providers took place in less than 4 days
- Options has saved consumers 225 million transfer days
- Options has saved the industry over £600 million
- Close to 120 financial services companies use the service
- Origo Options is the longest running complete pension and ISA transfer service.
*Since 2017, the Origo Standards and Common Declarations have been operated by Criterion. The Common Declarations are free to use: https://www.criterion.org.uk/what-criterion-offers/
Glasgow Credit Union chooses Soar
Written by Laura Hillhouse, Marketing Manager at Soar.
It’s an exciting time for fintech disruptor, Soar, who have announced that they have been chosen by the UK’s largest credit union to be their new technical partner.
We have been selected by Glasgow Credit Union to provide its members with the latest banking technology as they aim to compete more effectively with traditional players in the financial services sector.
Soar, who provides credit unions with a range of innovative technology, will offer Glasgow Credit Union’s 50,000 members, a new market leading mobile app and internet banking platform.
Our new tech offers members one place to manage their finances and features such as join, borrow and manage your money allow credit unions to gain invaluable member insights and provides a better opportunity to offer them relevant products.
Executive Chairman of Soar, Andrew Duncan, said:
This new partnership is a huge step forward to help credit unions embrace the most up-to-date technology that can have a positive impact on their business.”At Soar, we believe it’s important for credit unions to invest in technology to remain relevant as we move into 2019 and be able to compete with others in the financial services market. As well as providing must-have mobile technology for members, we also offer those working in credit unions a dashboard that supports their operations more efficiently.Paul Mcfarlane, Chief Technology Officer at Glasgow Credit commented on our partnership, saying:“Working in conjunction with Soar and with the continued support of our existing technology partners, we’re improving on our great service offering to create a first-class experience for our members. We chose to partner with Soar because of their innovative approach and were impressed with the way they embraced our members’ requirements.”
It’s an exciting new relationship for both Soar and Glasgow Credit Union and we’re expecting to launch our new technology during 2019.
Scotland’s Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation visits fintech Origo
Blog written by Anthony Rafferty Managing Director at Origo.
Origo was delighted this week to welcome Ivan McKee, Scotland’s Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation to our Edinburgh headquarters.
He visited to talk about the work we do on behalf of the UK financial services industry, in particular to see a demonstration of our world-leading solution for the Pensions Dashboard and to hear about the important work being developed in Scotland to make the Pensions Dashboard a reality.
The purpose of the Pensions Dashboard is to find and display an individual’s pension savings on one screen and is intended to encourage people to engage with and, where appropriate, take action on their retirement income planning.
In his official comment on the visit, Mr McKee pointed out that Scotland is
“a highly competitive business location, with investment built around the quality of our research and innovation as well as the skills of our workforce.”
He added:
“Origo looks set to reinforce our reputation as a centre of excellence for financial services and FinTech by transforming the sector’s operating efficiencies. This includes the introduction of their Pensions Dashboard which will allow members of workplace pension schemes to see all of their pension savings at the same time in one private, secure place.”
At Origo, we are excited by the potential for Pensions Dashboard to not only benefit millions of consumers and potentially improve their financial outcomes, but also to help to drive further innovation in the pensions market by facilitating an open pensions environment.
We have been at the heart of the Dashboard project since its announcement in 2014, responsible for helping develop and prototype the core technology ”“ the Pension Finder Service ”“ and we were selected to provide a prototype to the HM Treasury sponsored Pensions Dashboard Prototype Project, which was the project managed by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
More recently we provided input to the Department for Work & Pensions’ Feasibility Study and we have continued to develop the technological solution to an advanced state of readiness ”“ testing to an anticipated 15 million users, for example.
Our remit from our foundation in 1989 (making us one of the UK’s longest established FinTechs in Scotland and the UK) has been to improve the financial services industry’s operating efficiencies, lowering costs for market participants and improving outcomes for consumers.
In this respect we work collaboratively with government, other industry bodies as well as product providers, platforms, financial advisers, portals and software suppliers, to find new ways to cut costs and make processes more efficient.
Other industry-critical work we have carried out, for example, has enabled significant reduction in the amount of time it takes to transfer pensions (from c.50 working days to an average of 11 calendar days) and ISAs, as well as delivering and servicing digital IDs for 8 out 10 financial advisers in the UK.
The Minister met staff around the building and we talked also about Origo’s aspirations for the future of FinTech in Scotland and the UK, which we believe is very bright indeed.
Global outlook #3 ”“ New Zealand ”“ Xero, Bringing great experience to accounting
This week in our Global Outlook series we spoke to Sam Daish, General Manager, Data Innovation at Xero, about the development of AI in the accounting sector:
Sam, can you tell us how your business has changed in recent years?
The fundamental change is one of scale. Xero is growing fast. So in the data space our scope to deliver innovation for customers is exploding. At the core of accounting software are products, services and functionalities to make routine accounting activity easier. Easier’ now equals automation. So our core skills around creating easy to use and beautiful products and features are being extended to include machine learning and AI, which also widens and deepens our client offering.
What has enabled this change?
Two things, data and our expertise in AI development. Data really enables us to power beautiful experience for our customers. We work closely with small businesses and our partners to create smart interactions. Machine learning is the engine that uses that data to create tailored experiences to all our customers.
We started our Machine Learning journey back in 2015 with one of our yearly hackathons called Xplore. Those events are all about freedom, fun and discovery.
During this Hackathon, our team, created a machine learning algorithm to streamline account code prediction for invoices.
Rod Dury, our founder, became really enthused by it and was quick to get resources aligned behind it. Rod often says that
“this new solution put Xero on a new pathway as we discovered a problem we didn’t even realise we had”.
The growth of expertise we have in AI today compared to three years ago is amazing to be part of.
What’s the type of problems you’ve been solving?
A good example is the development of customer data augmentation tools. In order to sign-up for Xero businesses only need an email address and an address.
Those are very often the only details we hold on the businesses of our clients. With machine learning we can augment that data automatically by looking at things such as business websites.
Our solution analyses the words used on the website and tag some attributes and areas of interest based on the language used.
For example, it is possible to derive the industry they operate in and whether they have physical shops or are purely digital businesses. That approach has kick started a range of natural language initiatives and changed the way we think about businesses.
What do you do with those data?
Well, it’s a massive lift in how we understand the businesses of our customers, and so what they might need from us. For example, many plumbing businesses are not only interested in plumbing projects. They might also need assistance with regulatory changes in the construction industry more widely.
They might have a retail shop as well as carry out design and plumbing work, so they are not only construction companies they are also retail and professional services companies. We can then develop appropriate tools for those businesses.
Can you tell us about more innovations happening at Xero?
Absolutely. Our data was telling us that small businesses didn’t have time to enter bills in our system. Following the same customer led approach we came up with the email-to-bills functionality that we previewed at Xerocon Atlanta. This optional piece of software will enable users to forward PDF bills from any supplier to their Xero account.
Our solution can recognise accounting figures, suppliers names, VAT, etc. We estimate a 25% time reduction when creating and editing a bill. And bills are just the beginning. Any automation that saves our small business owners time and improves reporting accuracy is worthwhile and worth exploring according to the Xero mentality.
Why is New Zealand a great place for financial technology companies to thrive?
The Fintech space at the moment is all about collaboration and connection – technology is moving at such a pace that you can’t focus on everything. Partnering allows you to access niche capabilities and we are seeing a lot of born from companies working together. It also doesn’t hurt having Fintech NZ pulling us together and making those connections.
Another key benefit for us is that we are able to watch and learn from what is happening in bigger markets like the UK or Australia, so that we can choose the best bits to implement in NZ and then potentially take global.<
While NZ is geographically distant from many markets, technology and diversity closes that distance very effectively. NZ really is a melting pot for so many ideas, experiences and people to come together, and technology helps connect that to the world.
Applied Fintech Project – Final Event and last update
Blog written by Elisabetta Trasatti, Vice President at UoG FinTech Society
Last Friday night, an entertaining final event at the Glasgow University Union concluded the first Applied FinTech Project (AFTP), organised by the UoG FinTech Society.
Almost one hundred people, including students, professionals and academics, attended the event. With two keynote speakers, a buffet dinner, and the UofG Jazz band playing throughout the evening, the project could not come to an end in a more successful way. In the words of one of the AFTP mentors,
“the event was very well organised: great location, very good and fitting music, and a great jury.”
In case you are hearing about the Applied FinTech Project for the first time, here is a quick run through the ideas and aims of the project.
The AFTP has been designed as an experiential learning opportunity for students, who got the chance to work in teams on a hands-on FinTech case over the course of four weeks.
The project was launched in September with an Information Session at the University and immediately gained the attention of students from different degree subjects and years of study. When reviewing applications, the UoG FinTech Society board was immediately impressed by their quality. Applicants ranged from Computer Science to Engineering, to Economics, Philosophy, Business and Psychology students, and all showed great interest in FinTech, as well as a strong desire to develop their team working and communication skills.
The 25 selected participants, both Undergraduate and Postgraduate students, were divided into 5 teams and given a case provided by the startup Orca Money regarding its expansion strategy in the EU. The teams also got the chance to participate in a workshop organised specifically for them by Deloitte and were assigned a mentor to guide them throughout the project. The mentors, working at Previse, Castlight Financial, Deloitte and Morgan Stanley, both communicated with the teams via email and met with them in person, in order to talk through the challenges the students were facing in their research and give them useful advice.
Last Friday, the teams’ presentations clearly showed all the hard work and dedication that each one of them had put into the project. Not only they presented their findings, but also produced a detailed written report which the judges could read through to get a better understanding of their solutions. As with the mentors, the UoG FinTech Society could not be prouder of having such a great board of judges, of both academics and professionals, participating in the final event.
Another tremendous feature of the evening was the chance for attendees to hear two inspiring keynote speakers. Stephen Ingledew, CEO at FinTech Scotland and Keith O’Donnell, Technology Innovation Lead at Morgan Stanley, provided insights into the Scottish FinTech ecosystem, the current and future trends in FinTech and the ways in which large companies like Morgan Stanley are encouraging innovation in this sector.
The project participants all seemed to enjoy the event and provided positive feedback also regarding the case, their respective mentor and the overall experience they got from participating in the AFTP. As one of the participants stated,
“it doesn’t happen every day to have people say Hey, I worked on an EU expansion strategy for startup X during my second year of university!’ (Imagine saying this in an interview!).”
As it has proved to be such an enriching experience for the students involved, the UoG
FinTech Society hopes to see the Applied Fintech Project become an established society tradition for the years to come. Reaching and involving even more students in the project is one of the society’s main aims, for which the students’ feedback is shaping up to represent a very effective marketing tool:
“How to absorb business knowledge, make new friends and communicate with industry experts in one month? Join the AFTP!”.
Fintech Workshop – trading internationally
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Market analysis
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Market entry
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How to sell online internationally
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An insight into opportunities in Germany and The Netherlands
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One-to-one support from SDI’s experts on key areas including trading internationally and digital marketing
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Plus, it’s the ideal setting to network with other like-minded Scottish businesses
The Applied FinTech Project at the University of Glasgow – update
Article written by Elisabetta Trasatti, Vice-President of the University of Glasgow FinTech Society
The Applied Fintech Project (AFTP), organised by the University of Glasgow Fintech Society, is shaping up to be one of the society’s greatest achievements since being established.
After being launched in September, the project is rapidly approaching its final steps, with the final event being in about two weeks.
The Applied FinTech Project has been designed by the society as an innovative opportunity for University students, who often feedback the lack of practical and experiential learning opportunities in their studies. The aim of the project is in fact to give students the chance to work on a “live” business case and come up with a solution in their team which the business can benefit from.
The case has been kindly provided by Orca, an Edinburgh-based Fintech startup which operates in the peer to peer lending industry. The society has been in close contact with the Orca team during the past months to decide which type of business case would best fit the AFTP challenge, with a particular focus on how to make best use of the diversity in the participating teams.
In fact, apart from receiving far more applications than expected, the UoG FinTech Society was impressed by the variety of degree subjects, years of study and backgrounds of the applicants. The 25 selected participants’ degrees range from Business to Computer Science, to Engineering, Psychology, Data Science and Law just to name a few. Another impressive feature in the teams’ composition is the fact that there are two Postgraduate students in each team. This is impressive considering the usual difficulty for student societies to actively engage Postgraduate students.
The project provided the teams with significant support throughout the working month on the case. In fact, each team was assigned a mentor or a pair of mentors, who could be contacted at any point during the project to get advice and help with the case.
A special mention in the support given to the teams goes to Deloitte, which has been AFTP event supporter. The team at Deloitte has not only provided mentors for two of the five teams, but has also organised a successful workshop at their Glasgow offices in which all the project participants received an insight into Deloitte’s work in automation and RPA solutions, as well as tips and advice on how to approach the AFTP challenge.
In two weeks, on Friday 16th November, the five teams will have the chance to present their solutions to a board of judges, composed of both academics from the University and professionals who have developed their competence and expertise in FinTech through their work in companies such as Morgan Stanley and Deloitte, as well as startups such as Previse and Orca.
Stephen Ingledew, CEO at FinTech Scotland, will attend the event as a keynote speaker and Keith O’Donnell, Data Engineer at Morgan Stanley, will also offer his contribution to the event as a speaker.
The evening, which will be at the Glasgow University Union, will be accompanied by live music performed by one of the University of Glasgow Music societies. Guests will also be able to network over a buffet dinner and drinks, thanks to the society receiving sponsorship from the Adam Smith Business School.
NoMo Money: A PFM for today’s consumers
Article written by Author: Andrew Garden ”“ Product Manager @ The ID Co.
When I was approached two years ago by our company’s CEO, James Varga, and asked whether we could develop a consumer facing App, I was distinctly nervous about whether we could produce a product that could compete with some of the major applications that had already been launched and were launched soon after our conversation.
Two years on from that fateful afternoon, I couldn’t be happier with the release of our new customer facing App, NoMo (for No Money Mo Money!)
With hindsight, it was a great decision to focus on the customer side as well as the B2B offering, DirectID. Since its launch in 2015, DirectID has been a great success ”“ integrating with over 5,500 banks and building a customer base in Europe, north America and the UK.
Now it’s time for NoMo to take some of the weight.
Obviously, we’re a late entrant into the personal finance management (PFM) app space. In that time, there have been numerous releases, including many of the ones that we’re now very familiar with, from Yolt to Money Dashboard to Emma. I’ve taken a lot of time in looking at these apps, to understand their functionality, their key attributes and what we could do differently.
Essentially what I’ve found from having the time and space to develop NoMo, is that if you look at an App such as money Dashboard it has different functionalities ”“ from integrating multiple accounts, to categorisingspend and budgeting and planning.
That’s fantastic. I’ve used Money Dashboard myself and really enjoy it. But what we didn’t want to do was to recreate another version of what is already a very successful App.
So instead I took another approach, and asked “what is the biggest issue that people have with their money?” I think most of can agree, and unless we earn huge salaries, that the biggest issue is budgeting from one month to the next. From our research we know that this can create a feeling of helplessness around money, and this manifests itself by us burying our heads in the sand and hoping financial difficulties will go away.
In a saturated market, I wanted to find a way to make NoMo both stand out and be of value to users. We decided to go with a unique approach by giving NoMo a personality with references to popular culture. This way, regardless of whether users are up or down, they are spoken to like a friend. We wanted to make looking at your finances less like going to the dentist when you know that pain is on the way!
So, what we wanted from NoMo was to make it easy for people to know whether they were doing well in their finances. Ultimately this came down to one simple question “Do I have more or less money than at the same stage last month?” to which NoMo will show a simple graph ticker or message with a value that represents how much more or less money is in your account.
The summary provides a visual representation of the user’s budgeting performance over the month. The days of the month in orange represent the days the user has been down. Those in yellow represent the days the user has been up. The days in white are the days that the user has been on their average.
Commenting on the release of NoMo, The ID Co., CEO, James Varga said:
“We have been working on building a consumer App that allows customers to answer one very simple, but important question, and we’re confident that this premise means NoMo will be a great success with customers. It was important for us, that as well as being involved in working with financial institutions with DIrectID, we also have a consumer offering that will broaden our appeal within the market. Our research suggests that there is a very strong appetite for such an App and we look forward to receiving feedback now it has been launched.”
Indeed in these first few weeks there has been a huge amount of feedback, and to be honest, I’m delighted to receive this ”“ even the not-so-complimentary messages! To be honest, there hasn’t been anything that we either didn’t know about or were minor fixes. Moreover, we’ve learned a huge amount from the launch of DirectID. We’ve pulled in our experiences from the different industries that we work in, such as income verification, affordability, credit risk and lending, with the aim of bringing that knowledge to the benefit of consumers.
Moving forward, what we want to do is to be able to recogniserisky transactions that we can then flag to the user to try and be proactive towards their wellbeing. What this will mean is that when we release the Android verion ”“ hopefully by Christmas ”“ it should be perfect.
The feedback received along with the volume of downloads that we’ve had, even in these first few weeks, has given us a huge amount of confidence. I think we’ve touched upon a genuine need in the consumer market, which is for individuals to know quickly and simply whether they have more or less money than at the same time last month.
Fintech trade mission to Poland
Scottish Development International is helping to promote a Fintech trade mission to Poland, which the Warsaw-based DIT team is organising on 27th-29th November 2018.
Interested companies can join via the link below
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2018-uk-fintech-trade-mission-to-poland-tickets-50441104702
In brief, the programme of the trade mission will start in the afternoon on 27th November in Warsaw with expert briefings about fintech landscape in Poland. It will also include a joint reception with UK healthtech trade mission at the Ambassador’s Residence.
On 28th and 29th November, UK fintechs will be actively involved (sales pitches,1-2-1 meetings, networking) in Impact Fintech’18 ”“ the largest and most influential international fintech conference in Poland, which gathers key decision makers and influencers (including public sector) in the financial sector. The event will take place in a city of Åódź (1.5 hrs away from Warsaw).
We are expecting a UK Minister to attend the Warsaw reception and Impact Fintech’18 in Åódź.
DIT will secure for trade mission participants: transport from Warsaw to Åódź and 2 night accommodation in Åódź, where the conference takes place.
A FinTech degree for today and the future
Blog written by GB Ibikunle, PhD – Director, MSc Finance, Technology and Policy
Director, FinTech @ the Edinburgh Futures Institute
Decades of relentless technological advancements and new regulations have altered how financial services are delivered and trading of financial instruments in financial markets. Markets and financial products have never been more complex, with algorithms, rather than humans, now executing the majority of trades in financial markets, determining consumer credit-worthiness and interacting with consumers in the delivery of financial services.
The skills required to succeed within the finance sector have thus inevitably become more diverse, with financial institutions, looking to take advantage of the growing availability of data, demanding increasing levels of technological and financial sophistication from new recruits as well as existing workers. Indeed, in the finance sector, the ability to develop complex technological solutions is now as sought after as the understanding of the economic interactions generating big financial and consumer data.
This development and the pace at which it has emerged have led to a yawning skills shortage in the nascent sub-sector at the intersection of finance and technology ”“ the so-called FinTech sub-sector. Leading global universities such as the University of Edinburgh, have a responsibility to respond to knowledge gaps in the global workforce such as has become evident in FinTech.
Hence, we have responded with a new Masters level degree programme. Developed over a 30-month period of intensive curriculum building, which involved extensive interactions between our world leading academics/researchers and global industry leaders , our MSc in Finance, Technology and Policy (FTP) offers a unique degree sitting at the intersection of the three most important drivers of a modern economy ”“ financial services and markets, technology and policy.
The programme applies the core principles of financial economics and economic sociology with practical skills in programming, machine learning and big data
analysis within a problem-based learning framework to help students develop the skillsets that are relevant for FinTech roles of today and the future. Students on the programme work with industry partners to develop innovative solutions to live challenges as part of student consultancy projects sponsored by industry partners.
Generally, FinTech-related degree programmes and courses exclusively focus on the
vocational skills aspect of educating FinTech professionals. FTP as a programme focuses on this aspect as well. We believe that being able to apply machine learning approaches to solving problems and developing new and innovative products in finance is critical to building a successful career within the growing and vibrant FinTech sub-sector. However, we are also convinced that being able to critically engage with the core debates within the finance sector as it undergoes a technological transformation is equally important.
Therefore, while the programme offers students an unvarnished view of the functioning of existing financial markets and financial services structures, it also advances criticisms of the current set up and presents a basis for the development of alternative markets and financial products.
Markets are often taken as a given, with unspecified origins ”“ in current policy and academic debates. FTP is designed to contribute a strident policy-based argument to this ever-growing debate by weighing in on competing arguments. The programme explores the social anthropology and political economy of meanings and representations within which markets are embedded.
Relevant works for this task include economist Douglass North’s work on the implicit and explicit cultural meanings of markets and Susan Strange’s work on casino
capitalism that deconstructs current money markets and financial capitalism. This unique focus on critical economic sociology and market policy issues distinguishes FTP from all the other existing FinTech educational offerings. With the critical thinking skills students develop on the programme, they are able to reflect on the interactions between finance and technology on the one hand and policy evolution on the other.
This kind of consideration offers students the opportunity to meaningfully engage with the possible consequence of the solutions and innovative products they develop, especially how they may influence the trajectory of policy.
The relevance of FTP for the FinTech sub-sector today and in the future is not in doubt. In order to ensure that this continues to be the case, the programme is supported by an external advisory panel, with members drawn from regulatory agencies, finance and technology firms, as well as firms operating at the intersection of finance and technology.
The panel provides advice on curriculum development and employability issues. Furthermore, we offer an extensive range of entrepreneurship initiatives designed to help students develop innovative products and take them to the market within months of programme completion.
In the final analysis, I think the main selling point for FTP is that the degree is a University of Edinburgh offering. University of Edinburgh is a university with an academic pedigree of historic proportions. As a global university, we have been delivering impact research on a global scale since the 16th century. Today, we continue to lead in many areas, including machine learning/AI, economics and sociology ”“ all the critical building blocks of the MSc Finance, Technology and Policy.