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.
UK FinTech Trade Mission to Zurich and Vienna in January 2019
The 2nd annual UK Fintech Mission to Zürich and Vienna matches senior executives in Swiss, Liechtensteiner and Austrian banks, insurance companies and venture capital firms and the most innovative UK-registered fintech and cybersecurity start-ups to build mutually beneficial business relationships.
€30 million in signed business deals generated from the previous Fintech Missions to Switzerland and Austria.
FinTech Scotland’s Stephen Ingledew and FDATA’s Gavin Littlejohn will join the Zurich Mission.
Switzerland: a leading global centre for finance and fintech
”‹Why Switzerland? Because it is home to over 260 banks. It is also the largest global financial centre for international clients in cross-border wealth management. At the end of 2015, assets under management in Switzerland totalled £5trillion.
Why join us in Zürich? Because it ranked sixth in the 2016 Global Financial Centres Index and 2nd in Europe (after London). Because a third of Switzerland’s 260+ banks have their head offices here. Some 510 banking institutions are also represented in Zurich in one form or another. Representatives from financial institutions in Geneva will be present too. Like Zurich, Geneva is a significant global financial centre. It ranked 4th in Europe and 15th globally on the 2016 Global Financial Centres Index. Geneva’s financial centre comprises some 140 banks. It is also a major centre for asset management. All these financial institutions understand the need to provide innovative digital solutions for their customers. They eagerly await your applications!
Why Austria? Isn’t it more Mozart than Fintech?
”‹The companies which you are pitching to have an extremely high market share across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This means that, if they buy your products/services, you could immediately have a presence across upwards of 15 countries. In 2017, CB Insights ranked VC Speedinvest no. 1 most active Fintech VC in the EU, with a €100m fund dedicated to identifying the most innovative companies. Austria is a country of wealthy consumers, with GDP per capita of €38k (vs. €34k in UK). It also has the highest level of smartphone and internet access in the CEE region. The market for Fintech in Austria is projected to reach €588 million by 2020 and Fintech investments in the DACH Region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) rank 2nd in EU after the UK. Limited domestic expertise means big opportunities for UK companies to get first-mover advantage in the market. Check out our video of last year’s event below:
Apply TODAY at www.ukfintechmission.com or contact pat.kunz@scotent.co.uk for further information.
REGISTRATIONS CLOSE 31. OCTOBER 2018
Applications are open for global accelerator programme
Article written by Justine Kelly, Vice President, Technology (Americas) for Scottish Development International
MassChallenge is a global accelerator program, headquartered in Boston with additional locations in Israel, Mexico, Switzerland, the UK and Texas.
MassChallenge works with companies across all industries from anywhere in the world, focusing on early-stage companies, with zero equity taken. The accelerator itself is a 4-month program where companies receive hands-on support from top mentors and experts, free co-working space, access to MassChallenge’s network of corporate partners, tailored workshops and office hours, and the opportunity to win cash prizes.
Applications are now open for the 2019 MassChallenge’s Fintech Accelerator (to take place January-June 2019), with a close date of 12th October 2018. MassChallenge FinTech is based in Boston and is looking for industry-focused startups that have raised less than $10M in equity-based funding and generated less than $10M in revenue in the last 12 months. As part of the program, accepted companies will be provided with:
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1:1 collaborations with industry-leading partners who will support start-ups with co-development opportunities, product validation, customer connections, strategic investments, and advisor introductions. Partners of MassChallenge Fintech include Citizens Bank, Fidelity Investments, Fintech Sandbox, John Hancock, MassMutual, and Putnam Investments, to name a few.
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Unique opportunity to address a major challenge facing the financial services industry, as laid out by MassChallenge’s partners’ 2019 challenges
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Extensive access to FinTech Sandbox data and resources
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Collaborative office space located in the heart of Boston’s innovation district
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The opportunity to win a portion of $250K in cash prizes
FCA consultations on Innovation PSD2
Article written by Nicola Anderson, Senior Manager Retail Banking Supervision at the FCA.
Nicola just joined FinTech Scotland on a 1 year secondment.
After a slightly delayed start I’m delighted to have arrived at Fintech Scotland and I’m looking forward to being part of the team there for the next year.
Thanks to Stephen, Mickael and Shery for making me feel so welcome and part of the team. I’ve been out and about most of the week, meeting stakeholders and learning about the work, the innovation, collaboration and general mood of optimism! I’m looking forward to more of the same over the coming weeks and hope to meet many of the Fintech businesses in the next few weeks.
One point of interest has come up this week that I wanted to mention. I’m sure you’re already aware that the FCA has published a couple of consultation papers relevant to Fintech, Innovation and PSD2. Both papers are still open for views or responses, and links to both are attached below. The FCA welcomes input and perspective from interested parties and in particular those with experience on the subject. Through gathering views, next steps and further direction can be shaped in an informed and useful way. You can feed back directly on some or all of the questions posed in each paper.
PSD 2 consultation paper – closes on 12th October. The paper is focuses on:
1. The Regulatory Technical Standards for strong customer authentication and common and secure open standards of communication (SCA-RTS).
2. Domestic implementation before the EBA exemption guidelines are finalised
3. New fraud reporting requirements that will affect the data collected and reported by all PSPs
In addition the FCA is taking the opportunity to update its Payment Services and E-Money Approach Document guidance to reflect other legislative changes and clarify existing expectations based on experience of the regime (eg, of processing applications) since September 2017. These proposed amendments and additions are in Annex 3 of this consultation paper
Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN) – deadline for responses is 14 October.
https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/consultation/gfin-consultation-document.pdf
This consultation sets out three main functions of the GFIN:
1. Act as a network of regulators to collaborate and share experience of innovation in respective markets, including emerging technologies and business models:
2. Provide a forum for joint policy work and discussions; and
3. Provide firms with an environment in which to trial cross-boarder solutions.
As part of consultation the FCA is seeking views on the mission statement for GFIN, its proposed functions, and where it should prioritise activity.
Do contribute to both or one of the consultations if you can and think it’s relevant to your business.
Best
Nicola
Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP welcomes Renovite Technologies’ plans for expansion
Shirley-Anne Somerville, the MSP for Dunfermline and West Fife MSP, met with senior members of staff and specialist developers at Renovite Technologies earlier this week to learn more about the businesses plans for expansion in the months ahead.
On October 1st, Ms Somerville was briefed by chief operating officer Jim Tomaney on Renovite’s plans for expansion and the payments software course the business is creating in collaboration with Fife College for the newly announced Fintech Skills Academy ’, which is scheduled to pilot in January 2019.
Earlier this year, an announced was made by the Scottish Government that Renovite Technologies received a £250,000 Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) grant from Scottish Enterprise for 28 new roles, three times the number currently employed by the payment specialist.
Jim Tomaney, chief operating officer, at Renovite Technologies said:
“We are grateful to Ms Somerville for her support and for taking the time to find out more about our plans for the business. It’s been a good year for us and we are looking forward to taking on a healthy number of new staff in the months ahead.
“In September, we launched Scotland’s first Fintech Skills Academy’ with Fife Council and Fintech Scotland which will be kicking-off in Fife College early next year. Today, we were able to give Ms Somerville a preview of what we are hoping to teach students and potential employees that sign-up to our specialist payments course, enabling them to hit the ground running.”
Dunfermline and West Fife MSP, Shirley-Anne Somerville added:
“As a growing hub of technology and innovation, it’s welcome news that companies are continuing to find new ways tap into Dunfermline and West Fife’s huge economic potential.
“Renovite’s growth plans, backed by their recently awarded Scottish Enterprise grant, will represent a substantial investment in the local economy, with the creation of new, highly skilled jobs.
“I’m delighted to see the company working with Fife College to help create new skills bases in our local area. Investing in young people will pay dividends in years to come, developing a workforce ready to take the lead in the fields of science and technology.”