Fraud Academy ”“ Cryptocurrency: Opportunity vs Threat
Fraud Academy ”“ Cryptocurrency: Opportunity vs Threat.
Are you familiar with the legislation and rules that pertain to cryptocurrencies in the United Kingdom? What can be done to prevent crime involving cryptocurrency, where could fraudsters go from here, and how do we begin to investigate this?
PwC are hosting a highly informative virtual event and will explore these questions, and more.
Date: Wednesday 9th February 2022
Time: 13:00 – 14:15 (GMT)
Location: Virtual / Webcast
Within the first nine months of 2021, cryptocurrency related fraud is estimated to have cost the UK over £146 million; a figure already 30% higher than that noted for the whole of 2020. Over 7,100 reports of fraud involving cryptocurrency have been made to the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud. More than half of victims were aged between 18 ”“ 45.
Cryptocurrency will only become a bigger part of how we do business, presenting both an opportunity and a threat; yet how ready are we to make the most of the opportunity and to deal with the threat?
Are you aware of the legislation and rules which exist in relation to cryptocurrencies in the UK? What can be done to prevent crime using cryptocurrency, where could fraudsters go from here and how do we start to investigate it?
At this highly informative virtual event, we will explore these questions, and more with a panel of deep subject matter experts.
We are delighted to be joined by Jim Robertson (DCI, Police Scotland), who will give an overview of the current lay of the land’ from a policing perspective in relation to cryptocurrency and discuss how law enforcement is dealing with the challenges of an increase in this crime type.
Jim will be joined by Craig Kennedy (Partner, Dentons), who will discuss the legal powers available in relation to cryptocurrency in the UK and the potential risks and benefits of using cryptocurrency.
We will also be joined by Haydn Jones (Senior Blockchain Market Specialist – PwC) who will share his own opinions and thoughts on the opportunities and threats presented by the rise in cryptocurrencies from his own experiences investigating and providing expert witness testimony on cases involving cryptocurrency.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to put questions to our speakers during a Q&A session.
We look forward to welcoming you to our event on Wednesday 9 February 2022 at 1:00pm.
If you have any questions about this event, or have any issues registering for this event, please contact the team via uk_fraud_academy_scotland@pwc.com or uk_ni_fraud_academy@pwc.com.
Global climate tech investment more than triples, but could be better targeted to cut emissions
In December 2021, PwC Global released the State of Climate Tech report. The analysis examines how investors are improving both climate impact and commercial returns through the emerging asset class of climate technology, helping to keep the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach.
This represents an increase of 210% from the US$28.4bn invested the year prior, with 14¢ of every dollar of venture capital investment now going to climate technology. PwC’s State of Climate Tech 2021 reports that where the investment is lacking is in addressing the largest contributors to global emissions. From the 15 technologies investigated, the top five technologies, which represent more than 80% of emissions reduction potential by 2050, received only 25% of the climate techinvestment between 2013 and H1 2021.
Emma Cox, Global Climate Leader, PwC UK, said: “The world has 10 years to halve global greenhouse emissions if we are to have hope of achieving net zero by 2050. Innovation is critical to meeting the challenge and the good news is that climate tech investment is up significantly across the board. However, our research has found there is potential to better channel and incentivise investment in technology areas that have the greatest future emissions reduction potential. This raises the question of why these sectors are missing out ”“ are investors missing a value opportunity or is there an incentive problem that needs the attention of policy makers?”
To find out more about PwC’s Climate Tech report, please contact Jason Higgs, Partner, PwC jason.c.higgs@pwc.com
Existing insurers and disruptors are utilizing Artificial Intelligence to create new business models
We can see that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming many parts of our lives, but do we know where this journey is taking us? Insurers need some certainty on what their future will looks like. Some new insurers are trying new business models enthusiastically and then changing direction sharply, like a speedboat swerving to avoid a collision. The larger insurers, however, are like large cruise ships; they need to be able to see far ahead before they plot their course, and they don’t want to keep changing direction.
This research tried to identify the viable AI driven business models to help give some clarity. Some traditional insurers are just trying to be more effective with AI, while others reinvent themselves to fully utilize the new capabilities available. Tech-savvy companies from outside the sector like Tesla, are entering and disrupting it. Would these diverging paths continue, or would they converge in the future towards one, ideal, business model? This research focused on one example of a traditional insurer and one new tech-savvy disruptor and evaluated whether their models are converging.
AI is changing the insurance value chain, as illustrated in figure 1. Most new insurers, like Tesla, offer fully automated simple services. The traditional insurers offer some of their simpler services in this way. The more complex services are supported with AI, but a human makes the final decision. An example of this are audits for fraud, where the AI identifies unusual patters and cases for an expert to evaluate.
There are signs of convergence between the models of traditional and new insurers. First, there is convergence in technologies, such as the use of chatbots utilizing AI. Second, there is a convergence in processes, for example, the interaction with the consumer. Third, there is convergence in the strategy on costs and pricing.
However, there are two areas where there seems to be a limit on convergence, which seems to suggest the business models of the incumbent and the disruptor will remain distinct. These are: (1) evaluating risk and (2) the cost of attracting the user and profitability.
Despite some convergence, certain differences are likely to remain even after this transitionary period. This is because the two models have distinct competitive advantages. Traditional insurers no longer monopolize the capability of providing insurance, but they still have the existing user base and utilize it to evaluate risk. Technology-savvy companies that now offer insurance, have their own forms of engagement with their consumers, use different methods to evaluate risk due to their access to real time data, and do not prioritize generating revenue but instead utilize insurance to increase their user base, overcome barriers, and reduce the overall cost of their products and services.
Therefore, when insurers are thinking about how to utilize AI and plot their course through the turbulent, unpredictable times ahead, they should stay true to what they are. This is their comparative advantage.
Dr Alex Zarifis is a lecturer at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus.
This article is adapted from his paper, “Evaluating the New AI and Data Driven Insurance Business Models for Incumbents and Disruptors: Is there Convergence?” available from https://doi.org/10.52825/bis.v1i.58.
PRESS RELEASE: Automation the key to growth and data management for banking and payments sector, finds new report
A new report from leaders in reconciliation and finance automation software, AutoRek, has found widespread concerns around the ability of businesses to grow amidst scalability and regulatory pressures over the next three years, affecting 92% of professionals surveyed.
The report ”“ Banking and Payments in 2022: Digital transformation and trends in financial technology ”“ was designed to provide an insightful view of the key challenges and solutions that will face the financial industry as it enters 2022.
AutoRek gathered insights from senior professionals across the banking and payments industry on the barriers they face surrounding the handling of payments data, compliance and growth, and new technologies in use or consideration.
Automation was found to be a key source of hope for enabling growth and regaining competitive advantage. Other key findings include:
- Manual processes form the biggest roadblock to achieving automation, cited by 46% of firms, followed by legacy systems (42%), poor interoperability (40%) and regulatory requirements (38%).
- In-house IT solutions are the most common for data handling across payment operations, used by 44% of firms ”“ a higher reliance on in-house systems than in most other sectors.
- Almost one-third of firms consider their jurisdiction’s regulatory body audit and control around regulatory reporting infrastructure somewhat or far too strict, while 22% consider it somewhat or far too lax. Just under half consider it appropriate. Financial institutions in central and south America were considerably more likely to view their regulators as lax than their European and Asia-Pacific counterparts.
- When selecting a solution to handle payments data, almost 80% of respondents consider its ability to integrate easily with existing infrastructure a key factor.
- Over half of respondents (56%) either already have or are in the process of deploying modern technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and application programming interfaces (APIs) to help monitor and streamline their data management processes. One-third had onboarding planned in the next 12-24 months. Only 12% reported having no plans to apply technology to improve data management processes.
Firms slow to adopt emerging technologies should be aware that they are now falling behind in an increasingly automated and competitive landscape, according to Nick Botha, Banking Lead at AutoRek.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Nick Botha continued: “While automating data flow has been a priority for some years now, this survey makes clear how many inefficiencies continue to plague firm’s day-to-day operations when it comes to data processing and reconciliation. Legacy banks in particular are grappling with often more than 20 disparate systems written in varying generations of software, none of which are designed to interact with one another.”
“While a decade ago that might have flown under the radar, the last few years have seen control of the payments space shift from banks into the hands of Payment Service Providers (PSPs), whose ability to deliver totally user-native customer service is forcing the whole industry to step up.”
“Beyond competing for market share, it’s a question of compliance. The costs associated with non-compliance are substantial both from a financial and reputational perspective, and regulators are increasingly less forgiving, as we have witnessed in the last few months with significant fines incurred by some of the world’s largest banks.”
“New technologies like AI, ML and APIs can be used to create greater interoperability and remove or significantly reduce manual interventions and use of spreadsheets. Investing in these capabilities today will enable firms to address evolving customer preferences, mitigate risk and achieve regulatory compliance down the road ”“ essential elements for remaining competitive in the payments landscape of today.”
The future of automation for UK asset managers
The last 18 months have been amongst the most disruptive that the financial services industry has ever experienced, forcing many sectors to reconsider business models.
Asset managers in particular have undergone a substantial transition as video conferencing has replaced client-facing interactions. To better understand how these firms have responded to market disruption, we surveyed 100 Heads of Operations across UK asset management firms to learn about their operational challenges, automation objectives and plans for regulatory compliance in 2022.
From this study, three lessons stood out for their relevance to the wider fintech industry:
1. Operational challenges and tech improvements are company-specific
We asked asset managers what does and doesn’t present a challenge to their daily operational processes.
While the availability of automated systems and adequately skilled staff were highlighted by two-thirds of respondents as the most significant challenge, firms also pointed to many others including the functionality of manual resources, process complexity and a changing regulatory burden.
Although nearly 8 in 10 acknowledge that the capabilities of current systems are hindering operational growth, firms have identified a range of priorities to improve these systems from seamless data flow, AI-assisted dashboards and dynamic data management through to enhanced risk management and talent acquisition.
The variety of responses tells us that no two firms face the same operational challenges and, consequently, that technology infrastructure improvements for 2022 will be equally varied in their application to the asset management industry.
2. Manual reconciliations continue to challenge asset managers
Reconciliation is an essential process for keeping accounts and financial records accurate. In recent years, more firms have been automating reconciliation procedures to eliminate risk of error and improve accuracy.
Despite this, our survey reveals that:
- 60% of asset managers worry that manual reconciliations are the greatest risk to their organisation
- 75% say that the number and volume of manual processes is an immediate operational challenge
- Only 7% say that manual processes present no challenge to their firm
Data preparation was also highlighted amongst the most time-consuming tasks for businesses, which further highlights how the complexity of data management continues to grow year on year. This is consistent with our work across other sectors, where we find that manual processing is really the core issue underlying poor reconciliation disciplines.
With half of UK asset management firms allocating budgets between £0.5 and £10m to address manual inefficiencies, we can expect automation to become more deeply embedded in the industry throughout this year.
3. Regulation is accelerating the trend towards automation
Although manual processing has been steadily declining for years in favour of automation, our findings show that a growing regulatory burden is definitely a factor in this transition.
Just 2% of asset management firms in the UK have no plans to invest in automation to achieve regulatory compliance. For the majority that did, top focus areas include operational resilience, prudential regulation, MiFID II and CASS. A further 7 in 10 felt that automation will be instrumental in achieving compliance with the IFPR regulation, which came into effect on 1st Jan 2022.
These findings tell us that UK firms are actively pursuing automation as a convenient and cost-effective way to fortify against regulatory breaches. Nevertheless, with 42% still pointing to new or changing requirements as the biggest threat to their company, such solutions need to be flexible as requirements continue to grow in scope and complexity.
What does this mean for software providers?
The results of our survey clearly demonstrate that automation in finance will become ubiquitous in the medium to long-term. However, the variety of responses and priorities outlined also shows that firms do not want an off-the-shelf solution; instead, they want a reconciliation platform which:
- Is configurable to specific operational needs
- Eliminates manual intervention through end-to-end automation
- Is purpose-built around specific regulatory requirements
- Is flexible to accommodate for multiple iterations of regulations
Of course, these are welcome findings at AutoRek, where we have spent over two decades working with financial firms to build bespoke solutions for unique reconciliation, operational and regulatory requirements.
In the short-term, it is clear that asset managers recognise how automated reconciliation disciplines do and will continue to form the cornerstone of an effective business model in today’s post-pandemic environment. It will be interesting to see how this plays out across the wider financial industry over the next 12 months.
Photo by George Morina from Pexels
Origo – Four of our proudest achievements in 2021
Antony Rafferty, CEO of Origo, reflects on four of the Edinburgh-based FinTech’s key achievements over the past year.
While 2021 has been another year that most people are probably glad to see the back of, as this time of year is traditional a period when we take a step back and reflect, I feel as a company we should take the time to consider what we have achieved.
Origo has a 30-year history of delivering technology solutions that make a difference to the financial services industry and to the consumers buying its products and services. Our expertise is in identifying the pain points for the providers, platforms, software companies, and financial advisers in the market and delivering a utility solution that solves the issue and whicheveryone can buy into.
We are proudly based in Edinburgh, but we work collaboratively with companies from the UK and overseas in delivering our industry solutions.
This year there are four areas I would like to highlight where, despite the pandemic, we have been able to help the industry become more efficient, more cost effective and as a result, help deliver better outcomes for consumers.
1. Being selected to build and run the core architecture of the UK Pensions Dashboards.
This year Origo was delighted to be able to announce that Capgemini and Origo had been appointed to supply the central digital architecture for the Pensions Dashboards Programme (PDP).
Pensions Dashboards will enable pension holders to identify and see displayed their pension policy data, which will help them make more informed decisions around their retirement planning.
This is a project we feel particularly passionate about and Origo was fully committed to progressing pensions dashboards from the day the project was announced. We see it as a major milestone in helping UK citizens to prepare for their futures.
PDP stated that the Capgemini/Origo bid was successful “due to its quality and value for money, plus the credibility and expertise of both parties to deliver the contract.”
2. Driving integration between systems and software.
One of the bugbears of our industry is that systems and software needed to run financial services businesses do not talk to one another and so force the re-keying or manual transfer of data and information between them. Not only does that increase risk to businesses but it makes for inefficient, overly time consuming and so costly operations. The solution is to integrate between companies and systems. In the past that has meant point-to-point integration between individual companies, which is expensive, resource heavy and requires ongoing maintenance and updating as rules, regulation and legislation changes.
As an industry solution, we launched the Origo Integration Hub, which enables participants to integrate once with the Hub and then operate with any other user. Currently, these arefor key operations, such as valuations, account opening, remuneration, transfer tracking and bulk transaction history, and further developments are in hand.
The Hub also helps drive competition and innovation, by levelling the playing field for all players, no matter how deep their pockets.
In 2021 signings to the Hub doubled and we now have over 40 companies integrated, from large providers to innovative new joiners to the market.
3. Doing away with inefficient paper-based systems.
Given we are in the 21st century, it is surprising that paper is still used to the extent that it is in our industry. While tackling operational inefficiencies has not been top of the priority list for financial services firms during the pandemic, for obvious reasons, this is now beginning to receive renewed focus amongst providers as they see it as a means to reduce costs and create operational differentiation in the market.
The Letter of Authority process, which is the way financial advisers notify providers that they are authorised to work with new clients, is a case in point. Currently, advisers have to manually fill in forms and have them signed by the client and then email, or in some cases fax them, to providers. Origo is making a dent in this with our Unipass Letter of Authorityservice, a way for providers to help simplify the current ad hoc way Letters of Authority are processed, creating a utility that delivers greater efficiencies for providers and adviser firms alike.
4. Keeping communications secure.
Cyber security has definitely risen up the priority list for financial services firms in 2021. As an industry we are handling huge amounts of personal and confidential information about individuals, which, if it falls into the hands of criminals, can be used to scam them or steal their identities. This can lead to devastating consequences for individuals as well as fines and reputational damage for the companies involved.
One of the most commonly used ways to communicate, i.e. email, is often the most vulnerable. This vulnerability is why we launched Unipass Mailock as a centralised industry utility to help businesses of all sizes secure their communications.
It encrypts email to keep the contents safe, combined with dual factor authentication, so the sender knows only the intended recipient can open it, and an audit trail is created for compliance purposes.
Two of the industry’s larger providers ”“ Aegon and Royal London ”“ started using Unipass Mailock in the past year to protect their communications with intermediaries and their clients and other companies are in the pipeline to go live.
These are four of our achievements over the past year. We arenot a large company and all that we have achieved is because of the dedication and expertise of our people, who, working together, physically and virtually, have done great things despite the pandemic.
If you haven’t done it already, I highly recommend taking a step back and contemplating your achievements this year. 2021 may not have provided the best environment for success but I will bet you will find you’ve achieved more than you think you have.
An end of year “Thank You” message from our CEO
As we come to the end of 2021 and look forward to 2022, we’re reflecting on the year and are hugely proud of what’s been happening across Scotland’s FinTech Cluster. Despite the continuing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve seen fintech SME Growth, both in number of businesses and in terms of scale, we’ve seen record levels of investment in Scottish fintech SME’s, a true testament to the calibre of the businesses and leaders who continue to inspire us day on day.
The past twelve months have also seen more international growth with up to 50% of Scotland’s fintech SME’s building plans for international trade and more global businesses locating to Scotland as they establish a UK base.
We’ve also had the Kalifa review of UK fintech acknowledge the established progress of Scotland’s FinTech Cluster, and we’re looking forward to supporting the implementation of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review led by Mark Logan and building a plan to enable Scotland’s future digital economy.
The FinTech Scotland festival provided us all with an opportunity to meet again face to face and if we needed it, it reinforced the energy, optimism, diversity of contribution and breadth of collaboration that contribute to our fintech successes. A highlight for all of us in the FinTech Scotland team were the hybrid and in person events, kicking off with the DIGIT FinTech summit and ending with the Times and Futurescot event where we welcomed the UK regional fintech clusters to Scotland in the Accelerating UK FinTech conference.
During 2021 we have seen a growth in climate fintech, with new fintech SME’s starting to develop businesses to help address the impact of climate change and support the journey to net-zero, as well as established fintech SME’s expanding their existing capabilities to tackle this important issue. I have no doubt we’ll see more of this in 2022 and we’re looking forward to doing more to stimulate and accelerate climate fintech in Scotland.
With the establishment of the Scotland fintech SME advisory Board we have a clear plan on fintech SME priorities for 2022, and it is a privilege to work with these dedicated leaders who have come together aligned behind the vision of economic, social, and sustainable growth across the FinTech Scotland Cluster.
Looking forward to 2022 we’re focused on supporting fintech SME’s to scale and grow, strengthening international connections, building more impactful fintech collaborations and deliberately driving more fintech Research and Innovation (R&I) in Scotland and across the UK. We plan to launch the FinTech Scotland R&I roadmap early in 2022. It’s a plan that pulls together industry R&I priorities as we ask ourselves, what should finance look like in 10 years-time, and it provides us with a framework to lead the answers to that important question.
In drawing to a close, I’d like to say thank you to everyone that’s supported the FinTech Scotland Cluster across 2021. I’m continually reminded of the privilege it is, to know you and work with you in our collective efforts to lead and achieve our ambitions for fintech in Scotland. I’d also like to say a special word of thanks to the brilliant team at FinTech Scotland. I see their energy, commitment and drive everyday and it’s a pleasure to work them.
My final note is to wish you all a happy and healthy 2022 and we’ll look forward to seeing you all next year as we continue to build on our plans and drive the FinTech Scotland Cluster.
Together we can do so much more: introducing Finclusion 2021
In this guest blog, Victoria Roberts, director of the Fintech Delivery Panel and Insurtech Board at Tech Nation, announces plans for Finclusion 2021, a month-long focus on fintech and financial inclusion that aims to raise awareness, inspire and support innovation, and promote collaboration.
It was Helen Keller that once said: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”. She didn’t say this to disparage the efforts of individuals ”“ far from it ”“ but to highlight the power and potential of people working together.
Because there is some sort of magic ”“ some intangible spark of creativity and inspiration and innovation ”“ that happens when human beings come together in pursuit of a common goal, particularly when that goal is for the greater good.
Fighting financial exclusion
In the UK, we are at the cutting edge of fintech and innovation in financial services, and yet there are still around one million people in the UK who find themselves financially excluded.
A global pandemic hasn’t helped. While on one hand the economic and social disruption of Covid-19 has increased fintech adoption and customer use of digital propositions, it has also magnified pre-existing challenges of financial exclusion and vulnerability across society ”“ and at the same time created new ones. These include financial and personal vulnerabilities, access to services and information on financial products, intersecting struggles between health and care challenges and income instability, access to a safety net’ of affordable credit and insurance products, and the impact of lower financial literacy and planning which is often particularly highlighted in times of crisis.
Fintech as a force for good
Those of us who work in fintech can see the potential power of technology to make a real and lasting difference in this area. As we look to help individuals throughout the recovery, there is an opportunity for fintech to play a significant role in helping both those adversely impacted by recent events, and those who have traditionally been underserved by the existing financial system.
The Kalifa review highlighted the need for low cost, far-reaching fintech solutions to reach the financially excluded. Whether it is digital IDs to combat fraud, financial wellbeing apps to support sustainable financial behaviour, or a potential game-changing technological innovation that is as yet only a glimmer of an idea in the mind of a forward-thinking individual, we know from our work with fintech entrepreneurs and in helping to scale fintech companies that the talent, ideas and drive are out there ”“ we just need to support and scale it to create the change we want to see.
“Financial Inclusion is a significant driving force and motivator for so many of the fintech SME’s working in Scotland. They are working to create a more inclusive financial sector for all. Finclusion 2021 helps us highlight fintech’s power to address important social and economic challenges, and improve financial well-being for people across Scotland and the UK. We are hugely excited to be part of the Finclusion 2021 campaign, and to do what we can to encourage the whole ecosystem, from investors, founders, institutions and advisors, to embrace this opportunity to design an inclusive future of finance.
“As the Kalifa Review made clear, there is a pressing need for the undoubted ingenuity and disruptive power of fintech to be energetically applied to eradicating the obstacles to financial resilience impacting the everyday lives of our fellow citizens in the UK. This was a big problem pre-Covid: it is, arguably, nothing short of an emergency today.”
Shan M. Millie, founder of Bright Blue Hare, member of Tech Nation’s Insurtech Board, and co-chair Finclusion 2021
Introducing Finclusion 2021
That’s why we’ve launched Finclusion 2021, a series of connected happenings designed to stimulate, inspire, showcase and scale fintech’s contribution to financial inclusion, from potential game-changing products and collaborations, to the here-and-now actions being driven by the UK’s leading firms reshaping financial services.
Throughout November 2021, there will be virtual and in-person workshops, show-and-tell-events, and sprint challenges, together with thought leadership and discussion across social and traditional media.
We hope that the month-long focus will promote conversation about the key issues, inspire innovation for financial inclusion and wellbeing, and kick-start a broader call-to-action for the entire fintech community to collaborate to directly solve financial inclusion challenges to the benefit of end consumers.
“The impact of financial exclusion on peoples’ lives can be devastating, leaving many without savings or insurance, and sometimes even without access to a bank account, often having to turn to unaffordable, unregulated credit when they have no other options. If we can turn the energy and innovative ideas of the fintech community towards the development of products and services that meet people’s needs, we could help build resilience and improve financial well-being for millions.”
Chris Pond, chair of the Financial Inclusion Commission, member of Tech Nation’s Fintech Delivery Panel, and co-chair of Finclusion 2021
No one left behind
Fintech is driving fantastic innovation in financial services but, as this digitisation continues apace, we need to ensure no one is left behind. It’s great to see the fintech industry already stepping up to this challenge, and I have been inspired to see fintech firms and financial institutions coming together to listen and learn from lived experience experts during development of the campaign.
I’m really excited to see what more Finclusion 2021 can do to help educate the sector on which challenges are most pressing, and encourage innovative action to address these.
We hope as many people as possible will join us online for the virtual launch of the campaign on 3 November, where we will be sharing more information on our vision, mission and the programme of events.
We’re also inviting fintech entrepreneurs and ecosystem stakeholders to get involved by organising an event, joining the conversation, showcasing existing fintech solutions and registering to attend Finclusion events. More information on the campaign is available on our website.
#FinclusionUK2021 ”“ what part will you play?
82% of 50s market would not take robo-adviser financial advice
New research from Visible Capital on the over 50s market shows that 82% would not take financial advice from a robo-adviser and 88% would not be willing to give details of their finances to a robo-adviser to enable them to give a better personalised service.
The results come from new research carried out amongst UK adults with an age range from 50 upwards, with the bulk of the respondents aged 60 to 80. 38% said they currently access financial advice through an adviser or accountant.
This aversion to pure digital advice was amongst a cohort of whom over 60% said they had been relying on technology more during the pandemic period and are comfortable with technology and have clearly adapted well to navigating the huge range of interactions and services which have gone online during COVID19.
Among the group, 84% were using online services for general banking, 52% for insurance, 44% savings and investments, 64% for payments and transfers and their 55% were managing their credit cards digitally. Yet only 15% of respondents used online services for advice.
A fifth (20%) of respondents said they trusted technology less coming out of the pandemic; perhaps some of their digital encounters have been frustrating and only borne of necessity.
Ross Laurie, CEO Visible Capital, comments:
“This should be interesting reading for financial advisers being a wealth cohort of which 64% said they felt reasonably well off’, which for the majority of advice firms will sit squarely within their core client group.
The results of our survey show that age 50+ savers and investors are no strangers to using digital services, which has been accelerated by the pandemic and is likely to grow in the post pandemic world. But, as yet, they have not taken advantage of online financial advice. Our survey results show that trust is a major factor here. Utilising the tools and services with which this group are already familiar ”“ online banking, investing, saving, etc, ”“ advice firms can offer this day-to-day technology with the kind of personal, trusted human advice which many of them already value.
Advisers have a real opportunity to step into the hybrid advice space and claim it as their own.”
Scotland Fintech festival! We loved it and can’t wait for next year!
We recently concluded the FinTech Scotland festival ending a wonderful four weeks where we got to celebrate fintech innovation in Scotland, across the UK and around the world!
With 60 events covering a broad range of interesting topics, discussions, and views for the future there was plenty to talk about and more to excite us for the next 12 months ahead.
We started in Edinburgh and ended in Glasgow taking a trip around the world via Australia, America, Europe, Dundee, Stirling and London!
Among my favourites were the face to face events, where the buzz and energy in the room confirmed there’s much going on in FinTech innovation in Scotland, and that we all were excited to be out and about reconnecting face to face, enjoying new conversations and sparking new ideas.
Digit’s FinTech Summit kicked everything off in true Digit style. It was great to see Visible Capital, LendingCrowd, Amiqus, Sustainably, ShareIn, Zumo, Nude, Exizent and Love Electric, all Scottish home grown fintech talents, building and scaling businesses, and developing the future of finance.
Other one of my favourite events was a truly brilliant and informative discussion on the meeting of Space Data and FinTech! Thank you, the University of Strathclyde, Trade in Space, Go-to-Market for sharing your insights, experience and expertise on how Space Data gives us an exciting prospect for more fintech innovation!
FinTech innovators never fail to inspire me, it was an privilege to share an event that saw Know-it, Doqit, Biscuit Tin, PolyDigi and Gigged.ai talk about their businesses, innovations and aspirations for the future.
We connected around the world, sharing experiences of Open Banking innovation with FinTech Australia and hearing directly from a range of European regulators on their experiences of fintech.
Our own regulator the FCA hosted a record number of events covering topics from crypto, Innovation, Sustainable finance and RegTech!
We rounded the festival off in Glasgow with the Times Scotland and Canongate event and an opportunity to discuss accelerating fintech across the UK! Another event that reminded me of the value of connection, the true potential for UK fintech innovation and role that Scotland plays in influencing that story and setting direction.
Thank you for joining us, being part of our story and helping us to shape the future.