Mistakes to avoid when scaling a fintech
Season 3, episode 1
Listen to the full episode here.
The fintech sector is growing at pace with more and more entrepreneurs launching their own innovative firm. Whilst starting a new company can be difficult, scaling one to the next stage isn’t any easier and comes with its own challenges. What makes a start-up different is its size, allowing it to be more nimble, faster and more agile which in turns allows for faster innovation. As it grows, employs more people, develops new operating models and uses more technologies, the danger is slowing down, increasing costs to deliver and less innovation. In this podcast we learn about those mistakes and pitfalls scaling fintechs can avoid. What are things to think about and when should you start planning? Guests: James Varga – CEO and Founder at DirectID David Spencer – Head of Analytics Sales, Merkle UK
Fintech and space: Innovation examples
Season 2, episode 8
Listen to the full episode here.
Fintech innovation is powered by data. New solutions appear every day, always consuming new data to develop new services to help people and organisations deal with money. Innovators are constantly in search for new data sources. The Scottish space sector has developed to be one of the largest in Europe. This industry, thanks to technology advances, can generate an incredible amount of data, from climate data to supply chain data, and much more., The fintech sector in Scotland is developing rapidly alongside an already very well-established financial sector. As new innovative solutions require more and more data, we’ve turned to the sky to understand how earth observation type data can help leverage the fintech opportunity. Guests: Christophe Christiaen – the Data, Innovation and Impact Lead within the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group Robin Sampson – CEO and founder at Trade In Space
Fintech and Space
Season 2, episode 7
Listen to the full episode here.
As we transition to a more sustainable future, data, technology and innovation will help to drive and accelerate the insights, products and services to enable the changes needed.
Earth Observation Data can enable new innovations that can help to advance financial inclusion, incentivise better climate related behaviours, and support the net zero agenda.
Scotland has built significant experience in Space Tech and Space Data. Combined with the strength in FinTech innovation, this offers a substantial opportunity for future FinTech innovation and research.
We can accelerate change through greater collaboration across Space and FinTech. This starts with building an understanding of current capabilities, in both space and fintech innovation.
FinTech Scotland and Space Scotland are working closely together to bring our ecosystems together to share learnings & explore the challenges in the financial services sector that innovation could address, shaping more sustainable finance, and building confidence in future investments
Participants
Host: Mickael Paris – Marketing Director at FinTech Scotland
Guests:
Peter Young – CEO at Global Surface Intelligence & co-founder of the Scottish Space Leadership Council
Kirsty McKenna – Innovation programme Manager at FinTech Scotland
Hiring strategies for fintechs
Season 2, episode 6
Listen to the full episode here.
Fintech firms around the world are becoming more and more vocal about how difficult they find it to hire new colleagues. Whether it is the skills gap or the increase in salary levels, start-ups and scales-ups are not always best equipped to compete in a global and highly competitive market.
At the same time, many fintechs from around the world have and are still choosing Scotland to expand, finding it easier and sometime cheaper to recruit. So, is Scotland still attractive from a job market perspective?
In this podcast episode we’ll discuss how Scotland is positioned now the job market is really global in a post-pandemic world. We’ll also try to understand how Scotland is getting ready to face the growing tech talent demand. Finally, we’ll discuss strategies fintech companies can put in place to become attractive and retain talent.
Guests:
Pardeep Cassells – Head of Securities and Claims Products at Access Fintech
Justin Black – Business Director at Hays Technology Scotland
Killian McAlesse – Marketing Director at CodeClan
Marina Brizar – UK & Europe Director at Talent Beyond Boundaries
RegTech, why now is the time to start caring
Season 1, episode 5
Listen to the full episode here.
Financial Regulation Innovation (RegTech) was highlighted in the FinTech Scotland Research and Innovation roadmap published in March 2022 as an essential area of focus for the financial sector.
Understanding and managing regulatory requirements costs financial institutions millions of pounds every year. As regulation evolves all the time to protect consumers, so do new tools and technologies. In recent years new solutions have emerged to help companies reduce cost, better understand requirements, and meet their reporting obligations. Open Banking, AI, Machine Learning and many more technologies have led to increased innovation.
In this podcast we will discuss what RegTech means, adoption within the financial sector and why now is the time for financial firms to consider and explore innovation around financial regulation. This podcast will also be an opportunity to promote the upcoming fintech table event during Scotland FinTech festival.
Guests:
Yvonne Dunn – Partner at Pinsent masons
Callum Murray – Founder and CEO at Amiqus
A conversation about art and NFT with Trevor Jones
Season 2, episode 4
Listen to the full episode here.
The NFT movement seems to have taken the world by storm. For most people it came out of nowhere and when most people are grappling with the idea of digital currencies, they now have to deal with non-Fungible-tokens. Digital currencies are changing everything and not just the way we deal with money. However, it’s not just about coins anymore. Today, in the episode we’re speaking about how it’s affecting one of the oldest disciplines in the world. Art. And just like appetite for cryptocurrencies is going up and down (down at the minute) so might NFTs. However, one thing is for sure is that they are here to stay. On this episode we welcome on of the top 10 NFT artists in the world according to most NFT specialists, Trevor Jones. Trevor is Canadian but has chosen bonny Scotland to establish himself and his art. With him we’ll discuss his incredible story and his vision on this new world. This podcast will also be an opportunity to showcase the Stirling Castle Party.
The role of fintech in fighting the cost-of-living crisis
Season 2, episode 3
Listen to the full episode here.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 87% of adults in the UK reported an increase in their cost of living in April 2022.
The Office for Budget Responsibility expects household incomes after tax and adjusted for inflation to start falling in Q2 2022 and not recover until Q3 2024.Since Russia invaded Ukraine, economic forecasters have raised their expectations for consumer price inflation, not just in the near term but that it will be higher for longer.On 5 May, the Bank of England forecasted inflation to peak “at slightly over 10% in 2022 Q4, which would be the highest rate since 1982”.
In this podcast we ask ourselves what the financial sector can do to help people and businesses. How can collaboration between fintechs, established firms and support organisation can improve outcomes for individuals and companies
This podcast will also be an opportunity to announce the launch of the fintech innovation labs at TSB.
Participants
Sharon MacPherson – CEO at Scotcash
Jason Wilkinson Brown – Head of Partnerships & Open Banking at TSB
Iain Niblock – Head of Product at ClearScore
Fintech Innovation – the need for collaboration
Season 2, episode 2
Listen to the full episode here.
Whilst the fintech movement often makes headlines with those firms that are trying to replace traditional financial institutions, there are many more fintech firms out there trying to work, collaborate or sell to those incumbents to help them deliver better outcomes to their customers.
In this podcast we discuss the opportunities for increased collaboration and some of the challenges? Has the pandemic changed the state of play and what are the solutions to accelerate fintech adoption by historical brands?
This podcast will also be an opportunity to announce the launch of the fintech innovation forum at Phoenix.
Guests:
Josif Grace – CEO at Legado
Kevin Spence – Director Financial Services, Scotland & Client Partner
Andy Young – Group Head of Digital & UX at Phoenix Group
The FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap
Season 2, episode 1
Listen to the full episode here.
In March 2022, FinTech Scotland released its 10-year Fintech Research & Innovation Roadmap for the UK.
In collaboration with leading universities, large financial institutions, fintech businesses, citizens, industry experts and senior officials this report explores the opportunities that will help the UK maintain its fintech leadership globally.
In this episode we explore what this roadmap means for Scotland and what the next steps are to deliver on the roadmap recommendations.
Fintechs empowering SMEs
Season 1, episode 11
Listen to the full episode here.
The fintech movement hasn’t just disrupted the way customers and citizen deal with money and access financial products or large financial institutions digitise themselves. Fintech is transforming how SMEs work and organise themselves.
In this episode we’ll explore how fintech is transforming SMEs. We’ll discuss adoption rates, opportunities and challenges faced by fintechs trying to sell their solutions to SMEs. Can collaboration with trusted financial institution be the solution to mass adoption. We’ll also look at ahead and explore future trends.
Anthony Persse – CEO at Optimum Finance
Lynne Darcey Quigley – CEO and Founder of Know-it
Derek Smith – Head of Digital Solutions at Virgin Money