In July 2022, the FCA published its Consumer Duty. Regulated firms need to implement the new rules by the end of July 2023 for open products and July 2024 for closed books of business. Firms will need to review their products, communications and customer journey. It will impact most areas in those organisations such as governance, reporting, product design, pricing, distribution, servicing and staff training. In this podcast we will review the key principles, ask ourselves what the impact on both established firms and fintechs is as well as exploring innovative technologies that can help adher ..read more

When thinking about payroll generally most people would assume that it is something that works well. You work, you get paid. However, payroll is being disrupted like never before. According to software company Intuit, one in four workers say they have had paycheque errors. And cloud company Kronos found almost half of workers who have had two or more paycheque errors will look for a new job. Society is changing fast (even more so after COVID). In this podcast we’ll explore how those changes are impacting the way people work, get paid, pay taxes and how new fintech solutions are developing to m ..read more

The fintech sector is growing at pace with more and more entrepreneurs launching their own innovative firm. Whilst starting a new company can be difficult, scaling one to the next stage isn’t any easier and comes with its own challenges. What makes a start-up different is its size, allowing it to be more nimble, faster and more agile which in turns allows for faster innovation. As it grows, employs more people, develops new operating models and uses more technologies, the danger is slowing down, increasing costs to deliver and less innovation. In this podcast we learn amount those mistakes and ..read more

Fintech innovation is powered by data. New solutions appear every day, always consuming new data to develop new services to help people and organisations deal with money. Innovators are constantly in search for new data sources. The Scottish space sector has developed to be one of the largest in Europe. This industry, thanks to technology advances, can generate an incredible amount of data, from climate data to supply chain data, and much more., The fintech sector in Scotland is developing rapidly alongside an already very well-established financial sector. As new innovative solutions require ..read more

As we transition to a more sustainable future, data, technology and innovation will help to drive and accelerate the insights, products and services to enable the changes needed. Earth Observation Data can enable new innovations that can help to advance financial inclusion, incentivise better climate related behaviours, and support the net zero agenda. Scotland has built significant experience in Space Tech and Space Data. Combined with the strength in FinTech innovation, this offers a substantial opportunity for future FinTech innovation and research. We can accelerate change through greater ..read more

Financial Regulation Innovation (RegTech) was highlighted in the FinTech Scotland Research and Innovation roadmap published in March 2022 as an essential area of focus for the financial sector. Understanding and managing regulatory requirements costs financial institutions millions of pounds every year. As regulation evolves all the time to protect consumers, so do new tools and technologies. In recent years new solutions have emerged to help companies reduce cost, better understand requirements, and meet their reporting obligations. Open Banking, AI, Machine Learning and many more technologie ..read more

The NFT movement seems to have taken the world by storm. For most people it came out of nowhere and when most people are grappling with the idea of digital currencies, they now have to deal with non-Fungible-tokens. Digital currencies are changing everything and not just the way we deal with money. However, it’s not just about coins anymore. Today, in the episode we’re speaking about how it’s affecting one of the oldest disciplines in the world. Art. And just like appetite for cryptocurrencies is going up and down (down at the minute) so might NFTs. However, one thing is for sure is that they ..read more

According to the Office for National Statistics, 87% of adults in the UK reported an increase in their cost of living in April 2022. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects household incomes after tax and adjusted for inflation to start falling in Q2 2022 and not recover until Q3 2024.Since Russia invaded Ukraine, economic forecasters have raised their expectations for consumer price inflation, not just in the near term but that it will be higher for longer.On 5 May, the Bank of England forecasted inflation to peak “at slightly over 10% in 2022 Q4, which would be the highest rate since 19 ..read more

Whilst the fintech movement often makes headlines with those firms that are trying to replace traditional financial institutions, there are many more fintech firms out there trying to work, collaborate or sell to those incumbents to help them deliver better outcomes to their customers. In this podcast we discuss the opportunities for increased collaboration and some of the challenges? Has the pandemic changed the state of play and what are the solutions to accelerate fintech adoption by historical brands? This podcast will also be an opportunity to announce the launch of the fintech innovation ..read more

In March 2022, FinTech Scotland released its 10-year Fintech Research & Innovation Roadmap for the UK. In collaboration with leading universities, large financial institutions, fintech businesses, citizens, industry experts and senior officials this report explores the opportunities that will help the UK maintain its fintech leadership globally. In this episode we explore what this roadmap means for Scotland and what the next steps are to deliver on the roadmap recommendations ..read more