The Fintech Times -Edition 49

BRINGING FINTECH TO THE WORLD

Welcome to the latest edition of The Fintech Times, where we delve into two critical issues shaping the future of the fintech landscape: diversity and inclusion.

Fintech has the potential to drive transformative change across the financial sector, and a vital aspect of that change is in promoting inclusivity and diversity. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, it is essential that the fintech community reflects the rich tapestry of human experiences, perspectives and backgrounds that make up our global society.

This can lead to more innovative, effective and culturally relevant solutions, which in turn have the potential to reshape financial services and bridge the gap between the underserved and mainstream markets.

In this edition, we delve into how fintech companies are taking concrete steps to create a more inclusive environment within their organisations, as well as providing innovative solutions to address the challenges faced by underrepresented communities.

We also hear excellent insight from people working in the industry and how fintechs can do more to make workplaces more accessible for those who face challenges due to disability or neurodiversity.

I know features editor Polly Jean Harrison found it very rewarding to listen to the inspiring personal stories of Jayne Sibley, who cofounded Sibstar to help families living with dementia to safely manage their everyday spending, and Kris Foster, a mental health advocate and ambassador for those with disabilities, as they shared their experiences with her. Meanwhile, I really enjoyed chatting to Kristy Duncan, CEO and founder of Women in Payments, on the ongoing need to promote gender equity in the payments and fintech industries, the challenge many still face and what more can done to level the playing field.

Alongside our focus on diversity and inclusion, we also explore the rapidly evolving world of regtech. As fintech solutions become more widespread and sophisticated, the need for robust

regulatory oversight and compliance is paramount.

Regtech offers a dynamic approach to managing the complex and often daunting regulatory landscape, harnessing the power of technology to streamline compliance, enhance transparency and minimise risk.

We hear about the latest developments and trends, highlighting the innovative solutions that are helping financial institutions navigate the evershifting regulatory environment.

As always, our expert contributors provide valuable insights and informed opinions on the topics at hand. We hope that this edition of The Fintech Times will spark fruitful discussions and inspire new ideas, as we strive to shape a more diverse, inclusive and well-regulated financial future together.

Claire Woffenden, Editor, The Fintech Times

FINTECH’S DIVERSITY IMPERATIVE

FINTECH’S PUSH FOR DE&I IN FINANCE BREAKING BARRIERS:

As diversity and inclusion take centre stage in society, fintech is leading the charge to make the finance industry accessible to everyone. But how are companies ensuring an industry that’s diverse and inclusive for all? Features editor Polly Jean Harrison explores the issue

Traditionally, when we talk about diversity, people immediately jump to gender and initiatives to aid women. That’s not to say gender isn’t a part of diversity, and any effort to champion or benefit women is always welcome. However, diversity encompasses far more than just gender, and unfortunately, many companies seem to forget that. Diversity can include race, ethnicity, sexuality, location, language, disability, age and many other factors. This wide-ranging list poses a significant challenge, perhaps bigger than people expect. There is a huge laundry list of circumstances that prevent people from accessing the financial services they need. In a world of hoverboards, AI robots and virtual reality, it seems odd that the financial world still isn’t accessible to everyone, regardless of their circumstances. Yet, things still lag behind.

In the UK alone, an estimated 1.5 million adults were underbanked in 2020, with the access gap to financial services threatening to grow even bigger with the move to digital and the push towards a cashless society.

Consumers rarely fit into a standard box, and if financial services can’t meet their needs, then accessibility goes right out the window, and financial inclusion becomes nothing but a pipe dream.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION

Before delving into solutions, let’s first define financial inclusion.

According to Lord

Chris Holmes MBE, Britain’s most successful Paralympic swimmer and a constant champion of diversity and inclusion through his work in Parliament, it means: “Every citizen, every small business, every part of our economy, and every part of our society enabled and empowered through every part of what finance is and what it can be.”

In the past, he said: “People have been unfairly shut out for want of traditional financial services considering them correctly and bothering to understand

their context and their perspective and how they should be included.”

Fintechs throughout the country are developing innovative products and services to promote financial inclusion.

“What’s fantastic is how so many fintechs have that sense of purpose about them, and they really are getting after so many of these issues that have been unconsidered by traditional finance for far too long,” added Holmes.

MANAGING MONEY

Sibstar provides an excellent example of a fintech that is working to make finance more accessible.

Founded by Jayne Sibley, Sibstar recently launched to the wider community to help families living with dementia to safely manage their everyday spending.

Sibley explains that the inspiration for the company came from caring for her parents who both have dementia.

“I was caring for my mum and dad who both have dementia. As mum’s condition progressed, she started to mismanage her money. It meant she couldn’t really understand the value of money. She was overspending on food or other things she didn’t need; she’d take out money from a cashpoint and give it all away or even treat

everyone to their nails at the nail bar. All of that money that she worked hard for all their lives was just disappearing.

“We tried lots of different solutions, but nothing worked. So that’s when we came up with the idea for Sibstar, which was a way for people living with dementia to remain financially independent while knowing their money is safe.”

Since difficulty managing money is one of the early signs of dementia, individuals are more likely to fall victim to financial crime. However, very few banks and financial institutions offer dedicated services for those with dementia. Sibstar has found a truly untapped market and launched after a 10-month trial with 65 customers.

INDEPENDENCE WITH OVERSIGHT

The concept of Sibstar is straightforward. After completing the onboarding process,

users can choose to connect the debit card and app to the phone of the person with dementia or let their support person manage the app on their phone. They can then load the card with funds and customise spending options, such as enabling or disabling cash withdrawals, high street spending, and contactless payments. Budgets can also be set per day or per month to help manage finances more effectively.

“People with dementia have varying needs,” continued Sibley, “and sometimes it’s quite difficult to access financial services because of that. We built an onboarding process that keeps that in mind and addresses the different needs individuals might have.

“Sibstar has been received really well and our customers are happy, which is what we set out to achieve. People tell us that we’re giving them peace of mind and allowing themselves or their family members to have more independence, so are all very supportive of what we’re trying to achieve.”

BETTER ACCOMMODATIONS

Mahalo Banking, a US-based credit union service organisation that provides online and mobile banking solutions for credit unions, is another example of fintech pushing the inclusivity and accessibility of finance. In February, it announced the launch of its next-generation digital banking platform designed to deliver neurodiverse functionalities intended to improve accessibility and better accommodate the cognitive needs of all credit union members.

The platform makes use of different features that are designed to cater to the 15 to 20 per cent of the world’s population that lives with a neurodiverse condition, such as dyslexia, autism, ADD, ADHD and others. Among the platform’s new features are left- and right-hand use modes, font options for those with dyslexia or visual impairments and the ability to disable animations for individuals affected by epilepsy.

“Never before has our industry developed a banking platform for credit unions that is engineered to incorporate the neurodiversity of our members,” said Denny Howell, COO of Mahalo.

“As a credit union member and one who is colourblind, I know first-hand what

it is like to leverage digital banking channels that lack functionality. Mahalo’s goal in reimagining our platform was to deliver digital banking humanised – a robust, high-quality experience for all members, regardless of their unique conditions. We are proud of our next-gen banking platform, but we are equally excited as we continue to enhance our solution to build out more user-centric features that enable additional diverse groups of credit union members to have better digital banking experiences.”

THE PUSH FOR INCLUSION

Though not operating with a specific niche, plenty of other companies are attempting to promote diversity and inclusion within the products and services they offer.

The Beans is a financial wellness technology company aiming to simplify the path to financial success by automating financial planning and support. Its founder and CEO, Melissa Panocast , advised that it promotes diversity and inclusion by “building products with and for a diverse audience”. She continued: “For example, we built our data models after building plans by hand for 1,000 teachers in one of the most diverse cities in

the country. We know that making our tools and resources that reflect the needs and experiences of a diverse population makes us relevant to a broad community of consumers. Doing so is not just good business, it’s smart business, too.”

UNIQUE FINANCIAL NEEDS

Aimee Griffiths, head of social impact, employee engagement and internal communications at transfer company MoneyGram shares a similar view.

She said: “It is important for financial technology companies like MoneyGram to develop products and services that help meet the unique financial needs of

consumers globally. Global fintech organisations should also work to address the ongoing lack-of-access issues for immigrants and refugees, as well as assisting those in countries with vulnerable banking systems or enduring crises.

“That’s why MoneyGram’s mission is to deliver innovative financial solutions to connect the world’s communities. MoneyGram’s cross-border platform provides millions of consumers annually the ability to seamlessly send money home to family and friends through a variety of methods tailored to satisfy the evolving needs of consumers. Between our expansive set of digital fintech offerings, MoneyGram is prioritising financial inclusion for all global citizens and supporting the unbanked and underbanked communities.”

THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL EDUCATION

Shyam Pradheep, general manager of financial literacy platform Zogo, adds: “Diversity and inclusion are woven into Zogo’s fabric from how we design our product, like text-to-speech features, to the broader company strategy and goals, like creating a free education app for everyone nationwide. We’re also thrilled to be releasing a version of the app in Spanish to promote further inclusivity and accessibility.”

Pradheep continues, advising that inclusion can be helped achieved via financial education, an essential to building the knowledge and skills one needs to survive and thrive in life. He said: “This education has historically been delivered inequitably, furthering both the financial literacy gap and wealth gap for minorities.

“Zogo is dedicated to closing these gaps by democratising financial education and making it accessible and effective for everyone. We make financial education not only free but fun by delivering our curriculum in a smartphone app. By creating engaging bite-sized lessons on nearly a thousand topics in finance, our education is equipped to help a diverse range of people with a diverse range of problems and goals.”

A WAY TO GO

The challenges of accessing finance are a significant problem for many individuals, for various reasons. When considering disability and long-term illness, the financial industry has very few provisions to assist people in the way they need.

Fintech is not a magical solution to these problems, but it can significantly contribute to addressing these issues and making the financial world more inclusive and accessible to those who need it. Ultimately, isn’t that what fintech is all about?

Never before has our industry developed a banking platform for credit unions that is engineered to incorporate the neurodiversity of our memberships

DIVERSITY OR DIE: CHAMPIONING DIVERSITY

While many companies tout their commitment to diversity and inclusion, are they truly making their workplaces accessible for those who face challenges due to disability or neurodiversity? Polly Jean Harrison , features editor at The Fintech Times, explores whether diversity really is at the heart of fintech

Diversity, inclusion and accommodation are crucial aspects of any industry, not just fintech. However, when we look at fintech through a diversity lens, it becomes apparent that there is no better industry to champion accessibility. Fintech has always been at the forefront of improving access to finance and providing services where traditional industries have fallen short.

Unfortunately, fintech has not always been as diverse as other industries, says Nina Fleming, VP of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) at Sovos, a provider of tax compliance software, while emphasising the importance of inclusivity in attracting diversity to fintech organisations. She said: “As fintech organisations seek to attract diversity, it’s critical that organisations are inclusive. We know employees who have neurodiverse aspects can be stellar and innovative in inclusive organisations – this is a win/win. Employees are given the environment they need to flourish, and employers receive the benefits of their creativity, dedication and engagement.”

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH

It's important to recognise that diversity isn't just about achieving gender parity in the workplace. While promoting gender equality is crucial, it's only part of the picture. There are numerous other factors to consider if an organisation truly wants to foster diversity.

DE&I should extend beyond consumer offerings, products or services. It's not enough to offer inclusive products; organisations must also apply an ‘outside-in’ approach. After all, if a company isn't practicing what it preaches, then its efforts to promote diversity are ultimately meaningless.

GETTING IT RIGHT

An example of a company that has successfully provided accessibility in the workplace is payments processing company Global Processing Services (GPS).

Kris Foster (right), junior office and engagement assistant at GPS, recently celebrated his one-year anniversary in the role. An advocate for mental health and an ambassador for those

with disabilities, Foster describes his career journey as a ‘rollercoaster’, making deliveries with his father as his first job before moving to work in a factory full-time. Unfortunately, while working there Kris became very ill and, after undergoing treatment, was eventually made redundant.

Foster shared: “The whole experience completely shattered my confidence. But none more so than my manager using derogatory language and slurs about my disabilities towards me. I was obviously devastated, and he did apologise, but it had a severe effect on my mental health. It took a year off and counselling for trauma before I was able to return to work.

“The anger I felt as a result is what motivated me to become an advocate for those with disabilities, through Open Book [the disability advocacy platform Kris co-founded] and other projects. I don’t want any other young adult or child to go through that experience.”

Only after Foster took some time off to recover did he feel ready to return to work. "A year later, here I am, working at GPS, one of the fastest growing next-gen issuer processors in the payments industry. The company and everyone there has been so supportive."

PROVIDING SUPPORT

Foster has faced additional challenges in his role at GPS due to his neurodiversity and physical disabilities, but the support he has received from the company has been crucial to his success.

“Entering the corporate world was intimidating,” he said, “but the GPS team has worked to better understand how they can support me.”

Foster's experience with the company demonstrates how companies can create a welcoming environment for diverse employees.

“At the beginning of the hiring process, I met with the person who would be my manager on a Team's call to have a conversation about my role and what I would be doing for the company. It was clear that neurodiversity was important to her. A week later she asked me to come and have a look around the building, everyone was very friendly.

“After I was hired came my induction, which I found intimidating and had a horrible feeling that they would let me go after two weeks. But I now know that was my past experiences talking, as they in fact did not let me go – I’ve since worked here for more than a year. To say that in that time there has been a turnaround in

DIVERSITY IN THE FINTECH WORKPLACE

my levels of confidence would be an understatement and I couldn’t be happier with my job, the people I work alongside, and the company that I work for.”

GPS has made specific accommodations to help Foster flourish in his role, including allowing him to work different hours to avoid peak-time travel on public transport and providing a work coach through the government's Access to Work scheme to help him navigate his work schedule and routines.

MAKING WORKPLACES MORE INCLUSIVE

For Foster, making workplaces more inclusive is essential. "People with disabilities should have the same opportunities to participate in society as anyone else," he says.

"In an ideal world, inclusion would be a key part of policies and practices in every workplace. There is a wealth of people with disabilities who are brilliant with IT, and some of the best coders are autistic."

Foster believes that employers should be doing more to eliminate the barriers that make it difficult for people with disabilities to get and keep jobs, not just in fintech, but across all industries.

“Corporate organisations often fail to make it clear that people with disabilities are welcome to apply for their vacancies. Neurodivergent people and those with disabilities are often put off from applying for roles due to negative experiences they’ve had, or because there is no evidence they would be welcome in a particular company. There were times in my life when I had

been applying for jobs and sent more than 200 applications – of that number I received just two replies and no offers.”

Foster believes that taking an inclusive stance can improve and increase productivity, and that fintech companies are missing out on a massive amount of untapped talent and knowledge by not hiring people with disabilities. According to the latest figures, just over half of those with a disability are currently employed.

A WIN-WIN DE&I are a win-win for companies, as they bring numerous benefits beyond just doing good in the community. During a panel session at the recent Pay360 conference in London, Joanne Dewar (left), who is now the project ESG lead at The Payments Association but previously held the position of CEO at GPS when Kris was hired, confirmed this sentiment.

Dewar stated: “I completely underestimated the impact and positive contribution Kris was going to make to the company. This experience has driven me to pivot my focus towards sharing similar stories and encouraging other organisations to consider their diversity and inclusion strategies. Not prioritising diversity and inclusion means missing out on extraordinary talent and potential."

DIVERSE OR DIE

The importance of diversity in the

workplace has never been more crucial for companies, and it should be an integral part of everything they do to ensure long-term success.

Lord Chris Holmes MBE (right), a member of the British House of Lords, comments: “Diversity and inclusion are a golden thread that should run through everything. In parliament and beyond I try to align all of my work around talent and technology, inclusion and innovation. Inclusion is the spark that will lead and create that innovation. Diversity of individuals and diversity of thought is the only way organisations, institutions and businesses can come up with the best product and truly serve their customers and community.”

If we can really strain every sinew to construct and enable inclusive cultures, and more crucially inclusive leadership, then those in organisations will inevitably become diverse.

“What I say to any organisation is that it's as simple as that right now – become diverse or die.”

PUTTING THE THOUGHT IN

So, it's clear that more needs to be done, but what exactly can companies do to help make these changes? Foster offers some advice and suggests starting right at the hiring process.

“Employers should consider carefully the wording of their job descriptions so it’s clear that people with disabilities are welcome to apply, and that support is available for a range of disabilities.”

Additionally, he suggests advertising job roles in multiple places to increase the likelihood of attracting a diverse group of candidates.

He continued: “There's no question that more needs to be done in order to enable the industry to be more diverse and more inclusive across the board. When you consider the fact that 94 per cent of fintechs don’t have a disabled person on their staff, there's plenty to be done. “But it's beyond disabled people. It's beyond protected characteristics.

“Once in the workplace, it’s okay to simply ask employees how their working experience could be improved, but colleagues should avoid making comments such as ‘you’re a hero’, ‘you’re doing so well’ or ‘you’re inspirational’ – this is patronising,” he added.

Finally, to ensure that the workplace is more inclusive, it's important to ask each employee directly about their particular needs.

“Making reasonable adjustments is not necessarily a complex or difficult thing to do, but like most things it just needs some thought put into it.”

When you consider the fact that 94 per cent of fintechs don’t have a disabled person on their staff, there's plenty to be done

Seamless Middle East 2023 Unveiling the future of fintech and digital commerce

In 2022, Seamless Middle East broke records with the amount of exhibitors, speakers, startups, and attendees who walked the exhibitor floor. This year, the flagship event promises another record-breaking experience.

Seamless Middle East 2023 expects over 15,000 visitors from 100+ countries, eager to explore the future of digital commerce. The agenda boasts over 500 industry leaders in payments, fintech and commerce, including renowned names such as:

■ Arif Ahmed, senior vice president of enterprise artificial intelligence and analytics, US Bank

■ Suren Siva , managing director

– strategy & fintech, Credit Suisse

■ Sam Everington, CEO of Engine by Starling, Starling Bank

■ Sateesh Kumar Challa , head of digital transformation office, Societe Generale

■ Philippe Gijsels, chief strategy officer, BNP Paribas

■ Emmanuel Daniel, author, The Great Transition, The Personalisation of Finance is Here

These industry experts will discuss topics like digital banking in the Middle East, the fintech dilemma, collaboration and interbank ecosystems, money in the metaverse, banking super-apps, and the future of cross-border payments.

The exhibition will feature product categories for the industry, showcasing the latest tech in banking, financial services, POS terminals, mobile payments, digital currencies, eKYC, and data, among others.

Top companies will take to the exhibition floor including; Geidea, HPS, Namo, neoleap, Tap Payments, Verifone, Worldpay from FIS, Adyen, BPC, B2Broker, Dapi, Facephi, Mambu, Nuvei, Nami, Paymentology, capital S2M, Terrapay, Batelco, Areeba, Callsign, Fintech Galaxy, Payoneer, Single View, Telr, IDEMIA,

Postpay and hundreds more will be present on the exhibition floor.

Seamless Middle East 2023 will enhance its on-site experience with the return of the Demo Zone, showcasing live demonstrations of cutting-edge fintech and payment technologies.

The event will also be the region’s biggest celebration of startup talent in the fintech and payments space. Wander through the Start-up Village powered by Tap Payments, be inspired during one of the Start-up Stories Sessions, or watch a dragons den style pitch during the Start-up Pitch-off.

Visitors can explore the Fintech Pavilion, which will feature an impressive lineup of international and regional fintech companies revolutionising transactions in retail, institutional and corporate banking, insurance and lending.

Entry to the exhibition is free, so join The Fintech Times and discover the future of fintech, payments, and banking across the Middle East. For more information go to www.seamless-expo.com/me.

■ The dawn of digital banking across the ME: Making giant steps to ensure the region’s placement as a forward thinking fintech hub

■ The fintech dilemma: When to scale up your business?

■ Collaboration and interbank ecosystems: Accelerating the transformation of banking services for tomorrows agenda

■ Money in the metaverse for the immersive experience: Ensuring secure and reliable ways to pay for virtual goods, paramount for the modern consumer

■ The rise of the banking super-apps: Taking on an aggregator role

■ The future of cross-border payments: Supporting the next generation for a transparent existence

■ Approaching the MeTaFi era in the face of the banking industry: A journey or a destination

■ New entrants acting as the top drivers of cryptocurrency growth: aggregating the market

Building a fintech ecosystem

The Fintech Times’ Mark Walker meets Mohammad

Alblooshi , head of DIFC Innovation Hub & FinTech Hive , to learn more about the rise of fintech in the region

The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a financial free zone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was established in 2004 to provide a platform for financial institutions and businesses to operate in a regulatory environment that meets international standards. DIFC has gone on to become a leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia and has played a significant role in developing the UAE’s financial services sector.

In recent years, DIFC has put the spotlight on developing the fintech sector in the UAE, establishing several initiatives and partnerships to support the growth of fintech companies in the region. For example, it established the Fintech Hive accelerator programme, which provides mentorship and support to fintech startups in the region. It has already accelerated more than 200 start-ups to date who have collectively raised more than $530million.

DIFC also recently announced the launch of its venture building platform ‘DIFC Launchpad’ to accelerate growth of innovative startups and scaleups in the region. DIFC Launchpad expects to support the launch of over 200 new ventures in Dubai, create more than 8,000 new jobs and attract over AED2billion in venture capital as part of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33) to position Dubai in the top four global financial centres.

“Innovation is at the centre of transformative change,” explains

Arif Amiri, CEO, DIFC Authority. “The DIFC Launchpad presents a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs, venture studios and corporations from around the world to access the support and resources they need to grow and succeed, powered by DIFC Innovation Hub. DIFC Launchpad is creating a platform that leverages our unique position in the ecosystem to help members identify and structure impactful partnerships, investments, and co-creation opportunities.”

DIFC’s work in fintech has helped to position the UAE as a leading fintech hub in the Middle East, as well as attracting significant investment in the fintech sector. Additionally, the DIFC’s regulatory framework

has helped to create a secure and stable environment for fintech companies to operate in, which has further supported the growth of the sector.

With over seven years of experience working for the Dubai International

“WE BELIEVE THAT INNOVATION AND COLLABORATION ARE THE KEY DRIVERS OF SUCCESS IN THE FINTECH INDUSTRY. WITHOUT FRESH IDEAS AND NEW TALENT, THE INDUSTRY WILL STAGNATE AND FAIL TO MEET THE EVOLVING NEEDS OF CUSTOMERS”

Financial Centre (DIFC), Mohammad Alblooshi has been instrumental in building the fintech ecosystem in the UAE. We recently caught up with the head of the DIFC Innovation Hub & FinTech Hive, to discuss fintech successes and challenges in the region.

THE FINTECH TIMES: Can you tell us more about your background and how you got involved with DIFC Innovation Hub and FinTech Hive?

MA: I have been working for the DIFC for the last seven years, prior to which I had several roles within the banking industry, working for the likes of Standard Chartered and Barclays. I started at the DIFC Authority and, in 2017, I moved over to the DIFC Innovation Hub, which was when we decided it was time to have a planned strategy around how to create a fintech ecosystem.

TFT: What were some of the key elements of this strategy?

MA: We spent a lot of time looking at various other ecosystems around the world and decided that this was where the future of DIFC needed to go in order to embrace fintech. We needed to embrace various different ideas and deal with things very, very differently. That was at the time we were working alongside the DIFC Authority and the DFSA to reduce some of the regulatory burden for fintechs to start and be set up here in the UAE.

TFT: Can you talk about some of the successes you’ve had in building the fintech ecosystem in the region?

MA: In 2017, the first use case we found was actually crowdfunding with a company called Beehive. This gave regulators an idea of how they could change some of the requirements for people to be able to crowdsource smaller amounts of investment into one larger investment pool that was then injected into a company. This started off a little bit of a drive of inquiries for people looking at DIFC as a region to base themselves in. In 2018, we had 30 companies interested in and set up, and that grew to 100 in 2019. Now, there are way over 650 currently residing in the DIFC.

TFT: What were some of the challenges you faced in building this ecosystem?

MA: In 2019, we saw that the challenge was giving fintechs

access to capital at all levels of capital requirements. So, from seed investment to series A and onwards, we had to make capital available and attract VC firms, family offices, etc. to come to the DIFC and set themselves up there to supply that capital into the ecosystem. We also launched the DIFC Fintech Fund of our own and used our own capital to get the ecosystem going.

TFT: How did the Covid pandemic impact the fintech ecosystem in the region?

MA: Covid-19 saw a major change and acceleration of fintech in the region. The uptake of digital solutions and digital payments really provided an acceleration of fintech in the region. Once the Covid

DIFC Living is pretty much good to go and will start giving us extra capacity, while Innovation Two combines a little bit of working and living in the same place. Our concept of smart living where there are residences, fintech offices, and facilities all combined into one centre is quite interesting.

At the moment, our main focus is on talent, as it’s a key requirement for us as we grow and expand the ecosystem. We’re also looking at how we can support fintechs in the region to scale up and go global. So, we’re working on partnerships and collaborations with other fintech hubs and organisations around the world to provide more opportunities for our fintechs to grow and expand. Additionally, we’re looking at ways

TFT: Can you tell us about your plans for the Dubai FinTech Summit 2023 this May and why it is an important event in your calendar?

MA: The Dubai FinTech Summit is an incredibly important event for us. This year, we’re expecting 5,000 delegates and many, many speakers from around the world. The key thing is that it’s not just people from the UAE and Dubai, it’s a very international audience. We really want to use this summit as a way to showcase to the rest of the world what the UAE Dubai and DIFC have to offer, what we’ve built, how we built it, and how we’re proposing to move that into the future. We believe it’s a pivotal event to showcase our ecosystem and convince people to join us on this journey. Our ecosystem continually needs fresh new talent, fresh new ideas, and fresh things to be brought into it to actually be able to bring it forward. We believe that innovation and collaboration are the key drivers of success in the fintech industry. Without fresh ideas and new talent, the industry will stagnate and fail to meet the evolving needs of customers.

■ Register for the Dubai FinTech Summit at https:// dubaifintechsummit.com

AT A GLANCE

WHO WE ARE: The DIFC Innovation

Hub is an important pillar of the new Dubai Future District, located in Gate Avenue and elevates DIFC’s Strategy 2030. It is home to the largest innovation ecosystem in the region and paves the way for early stage startups, growth stage startups, unicorns and Big Tech firms to accelerate success.

COMPANY: DIFC Innovation Hub

FOUNDED: 2017

CATEGORY: Fintech and Innovation

threat had reduced and everyone was allowed to go back to offices, we found that people really needed and wanted a central physical space, a meeting area and networking place, a place where all elements of fintech could really come together and call themselves home.

TFT: What are some of the projects you’re currently working on?

MA: We’re currently looking at two major new projects, DIFC Living and Innovation Two – buildings that will become a major part of DIFC’s Innovation Hub.

to integrate emerging technologies like blockchain, AI, and machine learning into the fintech ecosystem to create new and innovative solutions for the region.

We have also recently launched our very first Metaverse Accelerator programme which is in line with Dubai’s Metaverse strategy. We plan to on-board our cohort this June and run an eight-week intense programme to accelerate their growth and build connections within the MENA Financial and Technology ecosystems.

KEY PERSONNEL: Mohammad Alblooshi, Head at DIFC Innovation Hub & FinTech Hive

OFFICES IN: DIFC, Dubai, UAE

ACTIVE IN: Global WEBSITE: https://innovationhub.difc.ae

LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/company/ innovationhubdifc

TWITTER: @InnovHubDIFC

The journey to perpetual KYC

enable pKYC across five categories: Data, Policy, People, Process and Technology.

The journey to breaking the cycle of costly, inefficient, manual KYC processes becomes possible with automation and a transition to perpetual KYC (pKYC).

pKYC requires a digital ecosystem of internal and external systems involving multiple vendors, where component parts and providers come together to deliver continuous ongoing monitoring for the entire client lifecycle. Digital KYC customer profiles are maintained dynamically, in a proactive, technologycentred, and data-driven environment.

This moves the dial from traditional reactive periodic due diligence refresh cycles, which are typically five, three and one years for low, medium or high-risk customers, to an event-driven dynamic approach. By transforming the process, an organisation drives:

■ Risk reduction by moving from a reactive approach to a proactive approach of mitigating risks before they escalate

■ Increased efficiency and productivity through higher levels of straight through processing (STP), allowing analysts to focus on more complex profiles

■ Improved client experience that results in higher levels of customer loyalty and advocacy

■ Better KYC outcomes with a holistic single view of the customer, throughout the client lifecycle

■ Future proofing for regulatory change and scale across jurisdictions

p

KYC ADVISORY BOARD

The journey to pKYC is not straightforward. Aside from a widespread lack of understanding of what it takes to get to a truly perpetual process, banks are likely to face several other challenges.

The latest whitepaper from Encompass’ pKYC advisory board, Planning Your Journey to Perpetual KYC, provides a framework for pKYC adoption, brought together by the insights of KYC experts from financial institutions, consultancies, and technology vendors. This framework outlines the components required to

Each organisation will begin their journey from a different point and sub-components of the five categories will have various levels of importance at each stage. The framework can be used to develop a realistic plan for how to progress to perpetual KYC; making the adoption journey easier to execute.

STRONG FOUNDATIONS

From the outset the organisation must recognise the need for robust data – both from internal and external sources. Without access to real-time accurate data there will be a temptation to return to time-consuming and inefficient periodic reviews. Initially, data cleansing may be required and, although this is tedious, it is essential to achieve a baseline of clean data to kickstart a process.

It is important to understand what elements of data, as well as customer attributes, are important to fulfil the pKYC requirements laid down in the scoping phase. If pockets of data are identified as being irrelevant to decision-making, they

to unearth material risk, and with low levels of human intervention. A digital customer record produced during onboarding, via a KYC process automation platform like Encompass, provides the foundation for pKYC and the digital baseline for future comparisons.

Third-party data ingestion is a critical element of obtaining a single view of a client that an institution can trust. Tracking sources and history of third-party data is key. Triangulation helps to understand where data is misaligned to reveal areas of risk and generate review triggers. Effective entity resolution and a unified data model are paramount if firms are to realise the utility of their technology stacks.

Organisations can now address the issue of analyst resource levels, which, in recent years have been a huge headache and one not forecast to change soon. Often, firms have been faced with numbers of analysts at their disposal either being too low to achieve the policy, or so high that the process becomes a budget-stretching challenge.

Automation addresses these major bottlenecks and facilitates STP for operational efficiencies, a reduction in risk exposure and in costly human error.

TRANSITION JOURNEY

before seeking the best way to improve their own situation. While identifying all the attributes required for the journey to pKYC, the organisation must also satisfy its own risk management policies.

STARTING THE p KYC JOURNEY

Ultimately, pKYC is a business decision, based on the desire to reduce risk, improve compliance and increase efficiency.

Securing the budget for a business transformation project is the first step, but resourcing the project, and the process, are equally important. Digital transformation is a specialist area and the right components to achieve the stated aim – or even to determine the best way forward – need to be considered if success is to be found. It is important to recognise that pKYC approaches continue to evolve, and there’s no one size fits all solution.

Finding the right solution partners, who are capable of understanding and then delivering the process, is vital.

Taking steps to introduce a strong, digital automated KYC process, is one thing. Going further and appending a digital automated perpetual monitoring process is quite another. The two, however, have a symbiotic relationship –one does not work well without the other.

can be de-prioritised. By doing this, the organisation’s remediation workload will lighten as the transformation journey progresses, and priority can be given to the most important data elements.

EVENT-DRIVEN KYC

A process that involves parallel running of periodic and event-driven reviews across the whole pKYC journey, can be critical to the success of the transformation project. Event-driven reviews should combine trigger-based investigations with analyst-led manual file reviews for more complex profiles. Technology is the enabler to these processes and policies. It allows vast levels of data to be analysed and verified quickly

Banks that encounter the daily challenges brought by legacy systems, manual processes and siloed data can build a dynamic journey to overcome specific KYC challenges through the adoption of automation. From the outset of the pKYC journey, a strategy and culture for transformation is necessary. A commitment to building a framework, delivered over time, will be required across a variety of stakeholders – from the executive through to the regulators. With an agile approach, and commitment to the longer term, the journey must outline key milestones, and include review and measurement.

REGULATORY TIGHTROPE WALKING

Internal factors are key, but the regulatory environment must also be considered. Many clients’ activities span the globe, and the differing attitudes and rules of regulators across jurisdictions can prove problematic to finding a level of consistency. Understanding the regulator’s appetite for new KYC processes such as pKYC is vital to adoption and success. While data is a priority area, organisations should begin by assessing their current state of operational readiness,

At any point in the transformation journey, organisations can benefit from automating the KYC search part of the process to create digital KYC profiles for all customers containing company information and documents, data attribute lineage and a dynamic audit trail.

Those that choose not to embrace new techniques and technology will miss the opportunity to improve operational efficiencies, reduce risk and enhance customer experience.

About Encompass

Encompass enables firms to deliver revenue faster, drive operational efficiency and demonstrate consistent compliance with dynamic KYC process automation. Its customers include global banks and financial institutions, such as Wolfsberg Group members. It has strategic alliances with a range of trusted data, technology and consulting partners, enabling seamless integration into existing workflows and systems.

Website: encompasscorporation.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/ encompass-corporation

Twitter: @EncompassCorp

Wayne Johnson, CEO & Co-founder at Encompass Corporation

If banks are to keep up with the exponential geopolitical and economic change within the financial crime landscape, digital transformation must be a key priority

Those that choose not to embrace new techniques and technology available will miss the opportunity to improve operational efficiencies,reduce risk and enhance customer experience

MAJOR CHANGES IN ONLINE IDENTITY VERIFICATION 4

The new normal – and how it might evolve

Most people have accepted that Covid initiated or facilitated significant changes in our lives and work. From the new world of remote and hybrid working to permanent global changes in how businesses operate, very little is the same as in 2019. Some changes have been good, some bad, and others, it’s too soon to tell - but we can all agree that some changes are here to stay.

In online identity verification (IDV), Covid has created several new use cases. For example, conducting right-to-work checks was traditionally done in person. Still, the widespread lockdowns forced companies to find a way to conduct compliant checks without meeting face-to-face. Arguably, this has led more people to ask themselves, ‘Does this need to be done in person?’ - and the answer is no, not if you have the right tools.

However, it is an entirely new challenge for many businesses to verify customers remotely. Regulatory requirements can be more difficult to manage if you don’t meet the customer in person and verify the authenticity of their documents. There are four major changes that we’ve seen since Covid that we expect will continue this year and beyond:

1 Digital ID becomes ubiquitous: Growing uptake of digital services and products has been further accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic (e.g, digital banking, payments, synthetic media) and is becoming the new normal. Unlocking your car

with your face is now a reality. Thus, digital ID verification becomes the de facto gatekeeper for all things digital. This need for ‘ID Everywhere’ means it must work in more countries, understand more languages, and be available at all times.

A new breed of customer has emerged that is reluctant to access services on-premise, opting instead for digital access. It is inevitable that the explosion of digital opportunities will lead to increased digital precautions, a problem that is expected to become more prominent as Web3 approaches.

2 Deepfakes rise up: ChatGPT has transformed natural language processing (NLP), allowing computers to talk and type like humans. Gaming engines (like Unreal Engine 5 used to create realistic video games like Fortnite) are transforming natural vision processing (NVP), enabling computers to see and perceive like humans and, in some ways, better than humans. Fraudsters will use gaming engines to create ever more realistic digital IDs and deep fakes; thereby, deep fake defence is the name of the game. Deepfake content is becoming more affordable, and experts from different disciplines agree that technology is rapidly advancing. Therefore, we expect an evolving

threat landscape wherein attacks will become easier and more successful, requiring orchestrated efforts and tools to mitigate them.

3 Zero bias AI becomes a differentiator: Debiasing identity algorithms will become increasingly important as governments legislate inclusion. Although most would agree that there is a moral imperative to ensure that all companies provide accessible products, having a legal imperative to do so will fast-track attempts by digital providers to become compliant with the new regulations.

Some legislation around inclusion is already in place - for example, the UK Government Digital Identity and Attributes Trust framework (DIATF) has rules in section 13.3 that require companies to submit annual reports showing how they have prioritised inclusion. In the US, the White House has also created a blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights that says people ‘should not face discrimination by algorithms and systems should be used and designed in an equitable way’. And in Australia, the government is seeking feedback on regulatory frameworks for AI. This is only the beginning - and providers of AI-enabled technology who are already ahead of the curve in prioritising inclusion will be the ones who succeed in winning and keeping business.

If you’re looking for a better understanding of what it means for AI to be truly inclusive, check out our report on the quest for ZeroBias AI.

4 IDOps as new orchestrator: Globalisation requires delivering highly tailored customer experiences across all markets and geographies. This consumer preference for convenience requires fraud and UX teams to work seamlessly and fully-orchestrated with end-to-end solutions that holistically address the entire identity verification and fraud detection workflow. Just as DevOps transformed software development, IDOps is transforming ID verification. IDOps is the orchestrated combination of identity verification, fraud operations and AI/ML processes.

Our recent survey on tackling identity fraud confirms it: findings show that many companies are especially interested in using artificial intelligence for fraud detection and to enhance anti-money laundering measures, making it a priority for 2023.

With change coming thick and fast, ensuring that your organisation can react quickly and adapt without increasing customer risk will be essential. Good AI solutions can learn from each new fraud attempt they see and stop burgeoning trends in their tracks. Hopefully, in a world with machine learning fighting fraud, this knowledge will be more easily shared among organisations and customers, and more people will be kept safe.

About OCR Labs Global OCR Labs Global helps quickly scale businesses globally. Its fully automated solution verifies new users in seconds with just their face and smartphone – in over 220 countries and territories with any ID document – without the burden of human intervention. Through its Zero Bias AITM technology, it is pioneering the use of generative AI to train deep neural network systems to protect against discrimination on the basis of race, age and gender. Founded in Australia in 2018, OCR Labs Global is a Series B venture-backed company with headquarters in London and offices in North America, Asia and Europe.

Website: ocrlabs.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ company/ocrlabs

Twitter: @ocrlabs

Dan Aiello, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at OCR Labs Global

Are you listening to what your customers are saying about you?

Jacqueline Dewey, CEO of Smart Money

People on enhancing trust and adapting to new regulations

For those working in financial services today, there’s many challenges to be faced. Not only is there the need to support your customers as they continue to grapple with the cost-of-living crisis, there’s also the introduction of the new Consumer Duty in July this year to contend with. These two key focuses for this year mean it has never been more important for companies to listen and learn from their customers, and to ensure that products and services meet customer expectations and demand.

CONSUMERS ARE LISTENING TO EACH OTHER

In any industry it’s rare for someone to make a purchase without doing research, and in the financial services sector, this is arguably more important than other business sectors. Our recent research found:

● Eighty-four per cent of consumers trust reviews from other consumers, compared to 67 per cent who trust reviews from professionals within the industry

● Sixty-nine per cent of consumers are likely to change their mind after reading reviews

● More people read reviews than consult advisors when deciding which financial products to use (23 per cent vs 17 per cent)

● Over 40 per cent of consumers seek reviews if the product or service they’re considering is new to them

Added to this is the fact that after years of being told to be cautious with scams and several banking scandals in the headlines, being able to trust an organisation is a top priority for consumers within financial services. Ensuring you listen to your customers and are regularly collecting

feedback from them at all key stages in the customer lifecycle should form an important part of your product management approach. Customer feedback solutions don’t have to be complicated but can offer a wide range of benefits to a company. If you’re not actively collecting and using customer feedback on a regular basis, here’s six reasons to make you think again.

1SOCIAL PROOF

Genuine customer feedback can have a positive, psychological impact on prospective customers, building a sense of trust and credibility for your business. If a company has received a variety of positive reviews, cautious consumers are likely to feel reassured that the product or service provided is good quality and from a reputable company. Our recent research found that consumers were 69 per cent more likely to buy something after reading several positive reviews, demonstrating the power of public customer feedback. Many consumers expect to easily find customer reviews so a lack of public reviews can be a red flag. When it comes to financial products, consumers rely on reviews to reassure them that they’re getting the best deal from the best company. People are becoming less comfortable signing up for credit agreements or insurance policies without some form of evidence that the company can live up to its claims.

2 GAIN EXTERNAL, IMPARTIAL INPUT INTO YOUR PERFORMANCE

While you can collect feedback from your customers internally, using an external company for data collection, or to supplement your own data, can have several benefits. It’s common that a company can have a bias towards how they view their own data, especially when they’ve collected and then analysed it

If you’re not already asking your customers to leave a review and collecting that valuable feedback, there’s never been a better time to start

themselves. It’s also possible to overlook areas of opportunity or be over-sensitive to the minutiae of the feedback received. Getting an independent and impartial view of your data offers companies a different perspective and opinion on the data. You’re also able to benefit from the external company’s expertise to make sure you’re getting the most from the data and focusing on the key points from the feedback. At Smart Money People we’re also able to benchmark performance compared to peers at both a product and sector level.

● Products and services meet the need of their target customers

● Products and services offer fair value

● Customers are given the support they need.

For the new requirements, companies need to assess and monitor whether they are delivering good outcomes to customers, with additional reporting required for their Board. To achieve this, collecting customer feedback at each stage of the client lifecycle is critical. Not only does this ensure you’re delivering on your customer’s expectations, but also it also enables you to meet the requirements of the regulator.

At Smart Money People we have been collecting feedback from customers on key FCA outcomes for over eight years and have a wealth of data on the industry to support and supplement your reporting requirements. We’re able to offer you an independent and impartial view of your data.

4 REACT QUICKLY TO CHANGES WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS

have loved, liked and disliked about their experience with your company. We believe the only negative review is one not listened to. Don’t view them as a setback and instead consider them as feedback for where you can make improvements and deepen your understanding of your target market.

It’s equally important to consider how you acknowledge and respond to the feedback and reviews you receive. Our research found that 50 per cent of reviewers expect their review to influence readers to use or avoid the business or service, and 45 per cent expect a reply to their review. Your response acts as a public example of how you treat your customers, and what any prospective customers can expect from you, particularly when responding to any criticism.

Reviews on an external review site can also help your business by expanding your reach further. Consumers who haven’t heard of your brand may see your reviews, and then investigate your business as a viable option.

Reviews are a powerful tool for any company to help ensure you’re delivering a great customer experience and outcomes. But this is especially important for financial service providers, who often need to secure some extra credibility before consumers take the plunge.

Some companies may be deterred from encouraging customers to give feedback and leave a review in fear of negative reviews surfacing and potentially damaging their reputation. However, while you can deter consumers from leaving a review on your site, you can’t stop them from sharing with an independent review site, such as Smart Money People. Instead, it’s better to proactively embrace reviews and make sure you’re listening to your customers. It’s almost impossible to please everybody, however, if consumers can see that you’ve responded to a negative review and made positive changes due to it, their trust in your business and its credibility will improve.

This allows companies to get a greater understanding of their data and see their feedback relative to others.

3 COLLECT DATA TO MEET REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS, INCLUDING CONSUMER DUTY

The introduction of the FCA’s new Consumer Duty in July is just around the corner. For those who need a reminder, the new Consumer Duty will require companies to act to deliver good outcomes for customers, and has four outcome rules that require companies to ensure:

● Customers receive communications at the right time, that they can understand

Companies are always looking to make efficiencies and it’s good to question and challenge processes to ensure they’re delivering the best possible customer outcomes. Perhaps your speed of responding to customers on the phone has improved dramatically due to a change you’ve introduced, but are your customers still getting the same level of service from you? Or maybe you’ve introduced an extra step within the application process to help make it easier for your admin team, but it’s created an extra 15 minutes of effort for your customers. Without an always-on customer feedback process, how do you measure and know if these changes have had a positive effect? By listening to what your customers are saying, any changes you introduce to a process can be understood and acted upon quickly, making sure that customers continue to receive the best possible outcomes. This may mean reversing a newly introduced process that has unintended consequences or making a trial process permanent following positive feedback.

5 COONECT WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

No company is started, or product launched, without the idea of solving a problem or filling a gap in the market for customers. But in an ever-competitive world, if consumers aren’t making new purchases or you’re not retaining customers with repeat purchases, businesses won’t survive.

Collecting customer reviews can be a great way to bridge the gap between your company and your audience. The reviews can provide insight into what customers

6 A VALUABLE MARKETING TOOL

Collecting customer feedback publicly via a customer review platform can also improve your company’s online visibility, supporting your existing marketing strategy (for no extra cost!).

Featuring your company’s reviews in your organic search engine listings can help to improve your click-through rate, and in turn your website traffic. This can then help to boost your SEO performance, which keeps your site ranking highly on Google, so it’s a smart choice.

We all know that within the financial services industry companies need to be more considered with their marketing approach, treading carefully when making any promises or claims to potential consumers. This is even more important with new or more innovative products and services, particularly those which may not be regulated (as yet), but still fall under the remit of any rules set by the Advertising Standards Agency. By using customer reviews as a marketing tactic, or even featuring some customers as case studies, prospective customers can learn about your company through genuine customers. These provide reassurance, confidence and build trust in your brand, which can ultimately mean more conversions.

SO, ARE YOU READY TO START LISTENING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS?

Steve Jobs once said: “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it. And I’ve made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room. And I’ve got the scar tissue to prove it. And I know that it’s the case.”

Remember, even if you don’t encourage customer reviews, your competitors probably do. If you’re not already asking your customers to leave a review and collecting that valuable feedback, there’s never been a better time to start.

About Smart Money People

Smart Money People is the UK’s dedicated financial services review site, with over 1.2 million financial product reviews and insights. It uses customer reviews and feedback it collects to provide insights and ideas that will help shape the future of finance. Companies can claim their review page on Smart Money People for free to start collecting and listening to their customer feedback. Smart Money People also offers support to companies with their Consumer Duty requirements through a range of different feedback services. It has over eight years’ worth of data asking customers whether they felt fairly treated, understood product details and thought products were good value for money. It also runs the British Bank Awards, Consumer Credit Awards and Insurance Choice Awards each year. The awards are decided using data collected from the reviews received during the voting period, making them a true reflection of customer feedback and ensure customers are being heard.

Website: smartmoney people.com/business

Accelerating trust for financial services

AI-powered

complying with KYC regulations

As more and more customers transact online, smart banks are making sure they can stay in the fast lane and onboard as many customers as possible. But is it possible to establish trust with a customer you’ve never met?

GREEN LIGHT FOR DIGITAL ONBOARDING

Challenger banks and fintechs have figured out that today’s customers are unwilling to take the scenic route when it comes to their money. We want to open an account and provide all necessary information online without ever having to step inside a branch.

Traditional banks have been slow to adopt this new approach, citing concerns about security and know your customer (KYC) compliance. But advanced identity proofing solutions spot more fraudulent IDs than bankers can, thanks to the use of highly sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI).

lead to fraudsters slipping through the cracks. They also introduce bias against legitimate customers who don’t look like the people in the data set.

Many solutions claim to be 100 per cent automated, but what happens to the scans they can’t process because it’s from an unrecognised ID type? If your provider doesn’t have identity verification experts to manually process those

inconclusive transactions and give you a yes/no decision in real time, you’re going to have to review them yourself – which puts you right back at the starting line.

You also need to make sure legitimate customers don’t abandon the account onboarding process because it’s too burdensome. The best solutions solve this problem through orchestration.

Orchestration lets you create dynamic workflows that run the right checks for the right people at the right time. For example, you might backgroundcheck the user’s device before they even enter their name and then require more stringent KYC checks if this device is suspicious. You might even stop the process completely if this device has been used to open fraudulent accounts in the past.

It’s also critical that your provider has bank-grade security practices under the hood. Make sure they have industry-standard certifications such as ISO/IEC 27001, PCI DSS and SOC2. If they don’t, it’s time to hit the brakes and look for an alternate route.

PAVING THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

The good news is that Jumio makes it simple to trust that your customers are who they say they are and evaluate their risk while allowing them to onboard easily and quickly, wherever they are. Jumio’s identity proofing solutions have bank-grade security certifications and are easy to integrate from a single API.

About Jumio

Jumio is a leading provider of AIpowered end-to-end identity verification and eKYC solutions.

It protects its customers’ ecosystems through a unified, end-to-end identity verification and eKYC platform, Jumio KYX. The platform offers a range of identity proofing and AML services to accurately establish, maintain and reassert trust, from account opening to ongoing transaction monitoring.

This technology can also ensure the person holding the ID is actually the person on the ID through a simple selfie. And with liveness detection, you don’t need the person to be sitting across from you to determine that they’re physically present.

AVOIDING SPEED BUMPS

Not all identity proofing solutions are created equal, however. They are often too lax and inaccurate, letting fraudsters through. Or they create too much friction for legitimate customers, driving them away.

Take AI, for example. This powerful technology is only as accurate as the data sets on which it was trained. Unfortunately, many solutions were trained on limited data sets intended just for testing, not real-world data with actual fraud attempts. Poor data sets

Leveraging advanced technology that includes AI, biometrics, machine learning, liveness detection and automation, Jumio helps organisations fight fraud and financial crime, onboard good customers faster and meet regulatory compliance, including KYC, AML and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Jumio has carried out more than 500 million verifications, spanning 200-plus countries and territories, from real-time web and mobile transactions. It has been the recipient of numerous awards for innovation.

WEBSITE: www.jumio.com/

LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/company/ jumio-corporation

TWITTER: @jumio

identity proofing solutions enable easy and fast digital onboarding while

Many solutions claim to be 100 per cent automated, but what happens to the scans they can’t process because it’s from an unrecognised ID type?

Due to the complexities involved in delivering an effective, compliant fraud and antimoney laundering (AML) program, many firms decide to partner with a regulatory technology (regtech) partner. With the regulatory and reputational stakes rising, partnering with the right vendor has never been more critical. But how should firms identify who they can work with? What assessment criteria should they use? In this article, I make the case for the importance of a sound and seamless implementation process as one of those core considerations.

The vendor evaluation process often focuses on factors like the scope and quality of their data, ease of integration and usability, and coverage of relevant industries. While all of these are important, one often overlooked factor is implementation – an area that can cause friction and much frustration if not executed well. How vendors implement their clients’ AML programs is critical, as a slow implementation process risks undermining the customer experience and delaying the roll-out of new products and services. Poor support over time can become a chronic issue weighing compliance teams down if, for example, the ability to add new rules and configurations is impacted. So how can firms avoid these frustrations? Here are five common pain points experienced by compliance teams and how they can be relieved by a firstrate AML implementation process.

1INEFFICIENCIES THAT LEAD TO LENGTHY ONBOARDING TIMES

Depending on the complexity of the implementation and specific client risk appetite requirements, onboarding times will inevitably vary. This can become a real frustration for firms as they risk creating friction in the customer journey, customer dissatisfaction, and incurring reputational damage in the market if, for example, the roll-out of a new product is delayed by the onboarding process. However, there are steps vendors can take to make this smoother.

For AML solutions like transaction monitoring and screening, one important feature compliance teams should look for is ‘plug and play’ capabilities that make the integration process more efficient. Offerings indicative of a plug and play model include:

■ Hyperscale and configurable datasets of sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs), adverse media, and watchlists

■ A pre-built library of rules and risk typologies

■ An integration and API guide

■ Best practice configurations and matching algorithms

■ Dummy data and a sandbox environment for testing

AML Software Implementation: Five common pain points

Vendors should be realistic about the length of the implementation process. However, with cost-effective solutions and the right resources on the client side, implementation can be as short as two weeks.

2 KEEPING UP WITH COMPLEX CLIENT REQUESTS

Depending on product offerings, delivery channels, customer types, and jurisdiction coverage, many financial institutions require the ability to build ‘out-of-the-box’ features, such as bespoke rule sets, into their AML program. Frustrations can occur when customised implementation requests such as these are not executed swiftly by vendors or are not supported by technically skilled personnel to ensure the fraud and AML detection and prevention system works effectively post-implementation.

about working remotely or on-site with the customer, based on whatwill enable them to progress more effectively. Post-go-live customer success or solution engineers should be at hand to ensure the AML program is working effectively and efficiently, to detect and prevent fraud and AML risks. This kaizen approach to financial crime risk mitigation ensures that a firm is in control of its current risks whilst being aware of its emerging risks.

3 LACKING RELEVANT IN-HOUSE EXPERTISE

things don’t initially go as planned. The best vendors will have a ‘test and iterate’ mindset. This should begin with a sandbox, enabling integration to start immediately. A sandbox approach also means implementation can be phased, with deliverables that are ready starting immediately while work on other areas of the solution is ongoing.

The intersection of implementation and customer success is also critical. Customer success managers will be their clients’ front-line representatives when explaining and working through the roll-out of new vendor features, or when managing client requests for new configurations or capabilities. A knowledgeable and engaged customer success manager can also proactively recommend optimisations based on their experience working with similar clients.

5 SLOW RESPONSE TIMES

Waiting for a vendor’s IT team to implement a change to sanctions, PEPs, adverse media or other watchlists based, for example, on new information from law enforcement can have costly consequences if not done quickly. If not addressed promptly, the results could look like criminal behaviour going undetected for weeks, or even months.

To avoid this, compliance decisionmakers should evaluate vendors’ ability to support changes over time as new risks emerge. Look for a firm that offers features like the ability to build new rules quickly or update screening lists without the need to raise a time-consuming support ticket.

Learn more about how good AML software implementation is critical for compliance teams by hearing what ComplyAdvantage’s customers have to say at complyadvantage.com

To manage this complex array of requests, firms should ask vendors how they manage the implementation process. A best practice approach is for each client to have a dedicated implementation consultant who will support them through to go-live, ensuring continuity of service and a speedy response to inevitable questions and challenges. Ideally, this consultant will be flexible

Some regtech vendors will also specialise in supporting certain markets like digital banking or payments. Others have a broad suite of clients, with implementation and customer success teams dedicated to each. While both approaches can make for a successful business, frustrations can emerge if an AML vendor does not have the necessary experience within a relevant sector. To mitigate this, firms should look for vendors with complementary areas of expertise. This will enable greater lateral thinking when solving inevitable challenges and roadblocks. It also empowers implementation teams to be proactive, offering creative solutions that can help firms get to their intended solution quickly and more efficiently than anticipated.

4 RUSHED IMPLEMENTATION WITHOUT THOROUGH TESTING

AML solutions that are quickly implemented without a predetermined extensive testing phase can cause major headaches for compliance teams when

About ComplyAdvantage

ComplyAdvantage is a leading source of AI-driven financial crime risk data and detection technology. Its mission is to neutralise the risk of money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, and other financial crime. More than 1000 companies rely on ComplyAdvantage to understand the risk of who they’re doing business with through the world’s only global, real-time database of people and companies. It has four global hubs in New York, London, Singapore, and Cluj-Napoca and is backed by Goldman Sachs, Ontario Teachers, Index Ventures, and Balderton Capital. Alia Mahmud has previously served senior compliance roles at HSBC, Qatar National Bank, OakNorth, Revolut, and Algbra.

Website: www.complyadvantage.com

Twitter: @complyadvantage

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ company/complyadvantage

Alia Mahmud , regulatory affairs practice lead at ComplyAdvantage explains how to relieve them

How vendors implement their clients’ AML programs is critical, as a slow implementation process risks undermining the customer experience

FUELLING THE SUBSCRIPTION ECONOMY

Minna Technologies’ new API helps manage subscriptions as cost of living rises

With subscription businesses citing retention as a top strategic priority and subscribers seeking flexibility as the cost of living rises, Minna Technologies – a global market leader for subscription management embedded in banking and fintech apps – has launched its Subscriber API to fuel the subscription economy, connecting banks, fintechs and merchants with subscribers to transform how subscriptions are managed.

Minna’s Subscriber API enables retail banks and fintechs to embed subscription management in their apps and take features live rapidly – including cancelling, pausing, upgrading or downgrading plans, receiving offers and changing payment methods. Minna’s B2B2C platform has an automated subscription management engine, bank-grade compliance and global subscriptions and payments coverage.

Subscription businesses can integrate with the API to reach over 50 million global users in banking and fintech apps and help reduce churn by giving subscribers flexible in-app options, including pausing, upgrading or downgrading plans and accepting offers. This launch comes as the cost-of-living crisis and economic uncertainty are driving increased awareness of subscription spend among consumers and a focus on churn reduction for businesses with recurring revenue models. The global subscription economy is estimated to be worth $650billion.

According to Subscription Economy: a Transformed World , a recent report from Minna in partnership with FT Strategies with analysis of surveys led by global research firm Savanta, 93 per cent of consumers are more aware of their subscription spend compared to 86

per cent 12 months ago. Accordingly, retention is a strategic priority for 68 per cent of subscription businesses surveyed. The report is based on surveys of over 2,000 consumers in the UK and the US, 50 subscription business executives and more than 20 thought leaders in financial services, fintech, media, ecommerce and beyond.

EMBEDDED SUBSCRIPTION MINDSET

Despite rising costs and awareness of spend, the subscription mindset has now become firmly embedded. Fifty per cent of consumers say that subscriptions enable them to access products, services and a lifestyle that they otherwise would not

have. Sixty-three per cent of consumers would rather pay more per month than a lower annual fee for subscriptions. Flexibility in managing subscription spending and services is a priority across all age and income demographics. Consumers use subscriptions to manage their recurring spend flexibly month-tomonth and want the ability to adjust product preferences instantly based on personal circumstances.

According to separate research by Minna, offering subscribers flexible options beyond cancellation has a direct impact on churn reduction. Eighty-six per cent of consumers would consider accepting an offer rather than cancelling. Eighty per cent would rather upgrade or downgrade their subscription plan than cancel. Seventy-two per cent would rather pause their subscription than cancel.

REMOVING FRICTION WITH A FEW LINES OF CODE

Minna’s Subscriber API – enabling a single integration to unlock a range of flexible subscription management features for users – seeks to remove subscription management friction for banks, fintechs, subscription businesses and subscribers and meet rising demand for consolidation.

With increasing recurring payments and subscription volumes that grew exponentially during the pandemic, three out of four subscribers are interested in having one app to manage all their subscriptions.

Gen Z and millennials are particularly interested in managing subscriptions in their banking app. One in two consumers aged 18 to 44 – and one in three consumers across all age groups – would consider switching bank accounts to have access to in-app subscription management. Twenty-five- to thirty-fiveyear-olds have the most subscriptions, with 22 per cent having seven or more.

Joakim Sjöblom, co-founder of Minna Technologies, said: “More industries are adopting subscription-based recurring revenue models. Embedding banks and fintechs in the centre of subscription services allows them to play a pivotal role in the payments journey and overall digital customer experience. Our Subscriber API fuels the subscription economy by making the subscription management experience frictionless, flexible and efficient for everyone. With just a few lines of code, we can help banks, fintechs and subscription businesses grow and protect revenue, reduce operational costs with automation and drive customer engagement, retention and lifetime value.”

Download the Subscription Economy report at https://minnatechnologies. com/subscription-economy

About Minna Technologies

Minna Technologies is a global market leader for subscription management embedded in banking and fintech apps, partnering with top-tier banks, fintechs and subscription businesses. Minna is the only B2B2C platform with an automated subscription management engine, bank-grade compliance and the widest global subscriptions and payments coverage. It fuels the subscription economy, helping businesses grow revenue, reduce operational costs, and drive engagement, retention and lifetime value for over 50 million users.

Website: minnatechnologies.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/ company/minna-technologies

Twitter: @minnatech

Mia Iwama Hastings, Minna Technologies

THE ANNUAL GUIDE TO THE MOST INFLUENTIAL, INNOVATIVE COMPANIES AND POWERFUL FIGURES WITHIN THE FINTECH INDUSTRY

RISE OF REGTECH: STREAMLINING COMPLIANCE IN CRYPTO

Digital assets and their underlying blockchain technology are becoming increasingly prevalent, leading to a greater need for effective regulation and heightened compliance requirements.

In a new report from Rise, created by Barclays – the global community of the world’s top innovators – industry experts delve into key topics in regulation technology, including its role in creating an environment for responsible crypto innovation to flourish. One of the report’s standout insights is the importance of collaboration and alignment between the industry and policymakers to strike the appropriate balance between consumer protection and innovation.

Blockchain analysis firm Chaninalysis, a 2015 Barclays Accelerator graduate, notes that “regtech firms must empower regulators” and suggests policy and regulation can only be successfully

addressed if an open dialogue attitude is adopted.

Michael Gronager, co-founder and CEO of Chainalysis, says: “Blockchain allows for an unprecedented level of transparency that can be a huge benefit to regulatory supervisors. Because of this transparency and tools like those provided by Chainalysis, regulators have a scalable way to understand blockchains, map transactions, investigate fraud and make regulatory decisions.

“Regtech firms can also provide access to data, expert analysis and tools that contribute to a better understanding of events and their ongoing implications in the market. Effectiveness requires collaboration and alignment nationally and globally, as well as striking the appropriate balance between consumer protection and innovation between the industry and policymakers across jurisdictions.”

Regtech innovation and greater inclusion

The Rise Insights regtech report also touches on making regulatory reporting more efficient and accurate in order to prevent or lessen the impact of future economic disasters. Regtech enables economic and social confidence and provides a stable financial services ecosystem, ensuring the interests of citizens, investors and enterprises are well-served.

Nicola Anderson, CEO of Fintech Scotland – the independent not-for-profit body that aims to support the growth of the fintech sector in Scotland – writes in the report: “Regtech innovation will mean financial products are less complex and expensive for consumers, driving more inclusion.

“Imagine a financial services landscape supported by technology, data and regulation that anticipates and interprets consumer need, proactively helps address climate change, builds financial resilience,

enables risks to be mitigated before they crystallise and reduces debt and the cost of services. That’s a win-win for customers and businesses.”

Chris Pond, chair of the Financial Inclusion Commission and Lending Standards Board, echoes this. He said: “Even in countries with the most developed financial and banking sectors, financial inclusion hasn’t evolved quickly enough so that financial opportunities are a reality for everyone.

“By using technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and machine learning, regtech will help companies develop more effective compliance methodologies, which is critical for data security. Regtech will also deliver financial services to a wider audience, thus promoting greater financial inclusion.”

■ Download Rise Insights: The rise of regtech report at https://bit.ly/3m1uxBy

Empowering women in the payments industry

Kristy Duncan, CEO and founder of Women in Payments, discusses the need for promoting gender equity in the payments and fintech industries, highlighting progress made so far, the challenges still faced and what women can do to succeed.

TFT: Kristy, tell us about you and why you started Women in Payments.

KD: I'm the founder and CEO of Women in Payments, a global association dedicated to promoting gender equality in the payments and fintech industries. I also describe myself as an engineer by training, a banker by trade, and a payments geek by nature.

In 2012, I started Women in Payments in Toronto. Back in those days, there was no such thing as DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), there was no such thing as ESG (environmental, social and governance) and there was no such thing as ERGs (employee resource groups). Those acronyms didn’t exist. As a woman working in the banking and technology and payments space, I was definitely in the minority. I wanted to provide women with more opportunities to speak at conferences, build their networks, and receive training, mentorship, sponsorship and leadership development. And now we've grown to six markets, so it’s very exciting.

TFT: What have been the highlights of Women in Payments over the last decade?

KD: Well, we couldn't do what we do without the support of some fantastic

partners around the world. Over the years, we have built a fantastic number of partnerships with some really fantastic sponsors around the world of payments. They include big banks, a number of card schemes and other payment players, and they have helped us to cement support and to build out the programmes and the offering that we do. We have really enjoyed working with women around the world. We engage the innovators, the leaders, the experts and the rising stars and there are opportunities for all women in our industry to engage with us. We really love working with them and doing what we can to help them build their careers.

because when we get gender parity at senior levels, or at least a third of women at senior levels, then we've got some role models for people in the organisation to aspire to. We've got studies that show that gender parity increases our employee retention, enables us to do better recruitment for employees and it helps us to develop our employees. It helps us to understand our stakeholders, our clients and our customers. So, when we've got that diversity at senior levels, that helps us to understand the diversity of our employee base, as well as our customers.

TFT: Can you explain what gender equity is and why it's important?

KD: Gender equality is what we strive to have on paper. Equity is actually making that happen in real life by giving equal opportunities to men, women and other strands of diversity for education, promotion, leadership and support. We need to make it equitable so that we can start to see some real results.

TFT: What can we do to speed up the process of closing the gender gap in financial services?

eliminating the gender pay gap. We’ve got two things here, we've got the gender pay gap, and then we have equal pay for work of equal value. And I think we're getting closer to equal pay for work of equal value. I hope we are. But the gender pay gap is the average pay that someone in our organisation takes home as a man versus a woman. And typically, that is driven not only by lack of equal pay for work of equal value, but also the fact that there are more men in those leadership, higher paying roles, rather than the women who tend to be concentrated in the lower half of our organisations.

TFT: When do you think we won't need an association promoting gender equity in the fintech industry?

KD: Please do me out of a job, as this is really hard work! It seems to be that we're making slow progress and I sure hope that I'm not here in 100 years, and that we get to gender parity before then.

TFT: What's your best advice for someone wanting to start a career in the fintech industry?

TFT: Why is promoting diversity in the financial industry important?

KD: We're not at gender parity yet at leadership levels. Perhaps at the entry level and getting there in mid-levels of our organisations but at leadership levels, we still struggle to get gender parity in most of our organisations. There’s a huge opportunity here,

KD: We need more male allies who can be champions of change and support women as we build our careers. They can offer mentorship, sponsorship, help to call out gender bias, and see things in a different light. They can bridge the gap between where we are today and where we really want to be.

TFT: What more can we do to close the gender pay gap in financial services?

KD: Pay transparency is a sure-fire way of

KD: Put up your hand for opportunities, build your track record, build your network, and don't be shy about sharing your accomplishments with others. I used to think when I worked at a big bank that if I do a really good job sitting here in the corner that someone will notice and someone will promote me but that's not really how it works in real life. So, we have to be the CEO of our own career, find a personal board of directors and just drive your career in the direction that you really want it to go.

“I USED TO THINK WHEN I WORKED AT A BIG BANK THAT IF I DO A REALLY GOOD JOB SITTING HERE IN THE CORNER THAT SOMEONE WILL NOTICE AND SOMEONE WILL PROMOTE ME BUT THAT’S NOT REALLY HOW IT WORKS IN REAL LIFE”

STEERING TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

Mary Beighton , director of people and culture at Zuto, shares the car finance platform’s commitment to balancing people, planet and profit

Z Introduce Zuto and your offering and mission

Zuto is a fintech company on a mission to revolutionise the car finance industry and bring more transparency to customers. We work with a large marketplace of lenders and have helped over 325,000 customers in the UK find the right car and finance that suits them. Our sophisticated platform connects with lenders directly and utilises extensive data and customer research to return a guaranteed rate and pre-approval within seconds.

As a business we are growing fast but while profit and market share are really important, they’re only half the story. The car finance industry has historically suffered from an image problem, sometimes seen as being plagued by bad practice and unfair lending rates. At Zuto, we want to shift this, and bring fairness and transparency back to this market. While transforming the way people buy cars is exciting, a focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) pillars signifies a purpose that goes beyond just cars and finance. What about the impact our businesses are having on our employees, our customers, our local communities, and the planet? Gaining B Corp certification in 2022 has been an extremely powerful tool for our business, helping us to acknowledge a higher purpose – from becoming an employer of choice, championing diversity, and being mindful of our planet.

Z Share some of your recent successes

Our latest Company Accounts have recently been published for the year ended 30 June 2022, which shows record performance – overall turnover of £41.5million reflected year-on-year growth of +49 per cent. What we’re most proud of is how we’ve balanced people, planet and profit. Our financial success

is underpinned by a focus on people and a wider purpose, exemplified by becoming a B Corp and verifying that the business meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

At Zuto, we are passionate about doing the right thing, for both our customers and the ecosystem in which we operate. We prioritise the wellbeing of our employees, who we call Zutonites, the development of the customer experience and nurturing close and long-standing relationships with partners and lenders. It’s also worth noting that Zuto has achieved Best Companies accreditation three times so far and won Best Workplace in the 2022 Prolific North Tech Awards.

Z

What makes Zuto a great place to work?

At Zuto, we see success as building something that we are all proud of, with a progressive culture that is inclusive, fuels creativity, and where all employees share in the upside. We strongly believe successful employee engagement is underpinned by impactful and relatable group values which include: customerfirst, there’s always a better way, get it done and enjoy the journey.

We strive to make sure our values flow through everything we do, from the small day to day decisions to wider strategic considerations. The way we communicate our values reflects this – be that through regular employee communications across a variety of media, or through more formal office-wide events.

Recognising the additional challenge people are facing with the high cost-of-living, the business has committed to paying the UK Living Wage as a minimum, and has introduced other ways to support Zutonites financially including:

■ Financial rewards: aligning pay and reward strategy - cost of living and benchmarking projects

■ Financial wellbeing: making sure Zutonites have not only a fair salary, but also a robust support package, for example free access to expert financial advice

■ Equality: significant family friendly policy changes, prayer/mindful room, gender neutral facilities available

Z What measures has Zuto implemented to foster a culture of equality and sustainability?

Prioritising the wellbeing of our people is the core theme of our People strategy at Zuto. One of our strategic business objectives is centred around nurturing an inclusive, progressive culture that we can all be proud of, and this principle is embedded across our approach.

This has really helped us through B Corp certification which demands significant resources and commitment and couldn’t have happened without the involvement and support of all the Zutonites. It’s crucial to make sure everyone is on board with a process like this so that it is meaningful and, when achieved, everyone is proud of it.

The process of gaining certification has been instrumental to shaping our

thinking, putting every aspect of our work around wellbeing through stringent assessments to ensure we reach the highest standards of social responsibility. To complement this, we have a number of established Impact groups, made up of passionate Zutonites wanting to make a difference, and work to inform the ongoing enhancements to our wellbeing, benefits and reward programmes.

Aligning the B Corp lens on our work, whilst amplifying our collective ‘Voice of Zuto’ ensures that every level of our decision-making is focused on fostering a culture that includes and celebrates all of our people, regardless of their background or identity.

Z What's next for Zuto and future plans?

As a purpose-led group we continue to strive for more. We believe that putting our communities, our planet, diversity and inclusion, and wellbeing at the forefront of our purpose is essential as we continue to redefine what success looks like for businesses.

We’re pleased with overall engagement with our Impact groups so far and this is a continued area of focus for us. We aim to grow these groups further and are encouraged by the input from people outside of the groups willing to share their lived experiences to raise awareness on topics they feel passionately about.

Overall, we believe our efforts to open the conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion at Zuto have had an overwhelming positive effect on our entire employee value proposition, aiding talent acquisition, engagement and retention.

Last financial year marked the opening of our ‘Make a Difference’ fund, and we have scaled up our donations to the fund in 2023 as we continue to support a number of grass-roots causes throughout Greater Manchester.

“Money makes the world go round. It’s

preference. Just

Dr Leda Glyptis dubbed a “true believer that fintech is changing the world for the better” in the foreword by Brett King, is truly a force in the fintech world. One of the most recognisable voices in the industry, she is a selfproclaimed ‘recovering banker’ obsessed with the plumbing pipes – as she puts it, that make fintech happen.

Here she has put pen to paper to create her first book – Bankers Like Us: Dispatches from an Industry in Transition. Celebrating the world of bankers and recounting the journey the industry has taken, this book gives Leda’s personal and relatable view on an industry so hell-bent on making change as hard as possible. And more importantly, how the next stage of this digital journey can start.

A BANKER LIKE THEM?

Not being a ‘banker like them’, you may not feel this book is for you. And on one hand, you would be right. This book has an audience, and that audience is people who work for banks (though stretching comfortably to people that work for companies that sell to banks.)

I’m sure the majority of people who may be interested in this book probably fall somewhere in those two categories, however I do think there is some wiggle room for those on different paths.

If you’re not a part of the ‘us’ you may not feel a rousing need to start making changes in your workplace, nor be able to recount the shared experiences and relate to Leda’s many anecdotes (though some do leave you unbelievably frustrated or even incredulous). But you will get to understand the industry and the journey it has taken so far, and the journey it’s yet to embark on. There’s plenty for you to learn here, banker or not. And who knows, maybe any non-bankers will start dusting off their CVs, it’s hard not to feel the call to action, especially when the book quite literally ends with a to-do list.

#LEDAWRITES

Broken down into easily digestible sections with

5BOOKS TO GET AHEAD IN FINTECH

By Polly Jean Harrisson

handy footnotes to explain anything that may be unfamiliar to those not in the know, her book reads much like a collection of her #Ledawrites columns. In fact, anyone who has heard Leda give a talk or speak on a panel, or even had the pleasure of chatting with her one on one, you will hear her in this book. Her voice is

trapped between the pages, making you want to be part of the elusive ‘us’ even if you’ve never worked for a bank before.

THE HUMAN ELEMENT

Over 290 pages, the book generally boils down to one core argument. That humans are what’s holding back transformation in banking. But also, that humans are the key to driving it forward. This paradoxical statement comes around many times in the chapters. Leda documents the human element of the history and looks at the situation at hand through that lens. But it is the human element within banking where the problems start. Which kind of makes sense when you think we’re talking about a digital transition. To err is human after all. But when humans get things right, that’s when the magic starts to happen, and this industry would be nothing without human ‘plumbers’ as Leda affectionately calls them, leading the way.

Digital For Good: Stand for Something… or You Will Fall by Chris Skinner Available: Hardback

Embedded Finance: When Payments Become An Experience by Scarlett Sieber and Sophie Guibaud Available: Hardback, and Kindle

BANKERS LIKE US: DISPATCHES FROM AN INDUSTRY IN TRANSITION by Leda Glyptis Available: Kindle and Hardback

As she writes so eloquently, “the industry has evolved”, and anyone who is even remotely involved with it can see that. But this evolution isn’t automatic, some transformation is needed. No longer can banks get away with cries of ‘but that’s how we’ve always done it’. It’s this attitude that has created the situation. Now it’s time for the thinkers, the innovators and the Ledas of the world to step up to the challenge and start something new.

TAKING ON THE CHALLENGE

By all accounts being a banker sounds frustrating. At least in some parts as Leda recounts it. But there’s also the potential, and that potential is what’s always so exciting about this industry. Banker or bank adjacent, read this book, join Leda’s tribe, and get ready to start the revolution.

Bankers Like Us: Dispatches from an Industry in Transition is available now.

Beyond Good: How Technology is Leading a Purpose-driven Business Revolution by Theodora Lau & Bradley Leimer Available: Kindle, Hardback and Paperback

Re-Architecting

Trust: The Curse of History and the Crypto Cure for Money, Markets, and Platforms by Omid Malekan

Available: Kindle, Hardback and Paperback

The Great Transition: The Personalization of Finance is Here by Emmanuel Daniel Available: Kindle, Hardback and Paperback

, features editor at The Fintech Times

not a statement of

a statement of fact”