Each week we take a look at some of the latest UK fintech news. This week, Nucleus Commercial Finance celebrates 10 years of supporting British SMEs and Klarna launches the Money Talks card game.
FinecoBank continues rapid UK growth
FinecoBank has continued to set the pace of revenue growth in Q3 2021 – following strong results reported in H1, exceeding last year’s record-breaking growth.
In the first nine months of the year, Fineco opened more current accounts in the UK than in the whole 2020, while improving the penetration of active clients on brokerage, representing more than 70% on new current accounts.
Paolo Di Grazia, vice general manager of FinecoBank commented: “Financial needs are changing. The first nine months of this year have confirmed that a one-stop approach to connect banking, investing and trading all in one platform is the future for UK customers.”
Research reveals a third of businesses believe they can spot a forged ID
Almost a third (28%) of regulated firms in the UK claim that analysing hard copies of documents is the most reliable method for identifying fraud – according to new research by SmartSearch. The research also found 28% of respondents were not aware of digital verification methods.
John Dobson, CEO of SmartSearch commented: “It’s imperative that regulated businesses use all the technology available to them to fight against the growing wave of fraud.
“It takes an expert to even know the signs to look for in a fraudulent document, and those that are involved in money laundering are using state-of-the-art technology to create incredibly realistic forgeries. Unfortunately, those we surveyed that believe they can spot a fake, are sadly mistaken.
“Switching to electronic verification is the smart thing to do. When it comes to preventing money laundering, it is the only real defence.”
Manchester is the UK’s Tech Start-Up Capital
A new study has revealed Manchester as the UK’S Tech Start-Up capital outside of London. The research by software development experts KLOC analysed data from Crunchbase for tech businesses created outside the capital since January 2020.
The study measured the number of start-ups per area, the total funding they have received, the average software engineer salary and how the area’s top university ranks for its computer science courses, with a score out of 10 for each of the four factors.
Manchester achieved the highest overall score of 27.38, thanks to the joint number of tech start-ups in the country in total, with ten. It received a score of eight for its average annual salary for software engineers, standing at ÂŁ38,066. The University of Manchester has the third best-rated computer science course of the universities included on the list, giving the city a further 8.8 points.
A spokesperson from KLOC commented: “The study highlights that there are plenty of vibrant tech start-up scenes outside London. This is very encouraging for entrepreneurs as it demonstrates that there are plenty of options beyond the capital which can offer lower operational costs and still provide a talented workforce.”
Nucleus Commercial Finance celebrates 10 years of supporting British SMEs
Nucleus Commercial Finance celebrates its 10 year anniversary, following a year in which the lender paid out over ÂŁ450 million to businesses.
Over the last decade, Nucleus Commercial Finance has supported 8,000 businesses across the UK and lent more than ÂŁ2bn to support SMEs in achieving their ambitions.
Chirag Shah, CEO, Nucleus Commercial Finance, said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating ten years of supporting UK businesses. I founded Nucleus to solve the challenges that SMEs faced in accessing finance, providing them with flexible funding solutions that fit their needs and I’m proud that the team we have built is doing exactly this today.
“Through Open Banking, machine learning and AI, we have transformed the ways SMEs can access finance, demonstrating the vital role fintech lenders play in providing support for businesses to survive and thrive in the current environment. We’re excited for the next stage of our journey and continuing to deliver what the industry wants and needs, with the ultimate goal of delivering funds to SMEs within seconds.”
Fintech adoption helps break money taboo
From boosting confidence when it comes to managing finances, to breaking the taboo of talking about money, nine in ten UK consumers (88%) report that fintech apps and services have helped them, according to recent research from Plaid.
The Fintech Effect, Plaid’s 2021 annual report, found that fintech apps and services have played a key role during the pandemic as a force for good, enabling UK users to save time (56%) and money (42%), and understand their finances better (36%). This has led to greater confidence with finance among 77% of fintech users.
It has also helped make people’s finances more social, breaking the long-held taboo of discussing money. 69% of UK respondents reported that digital tools have helped to make money more social, with 65% more comfortable discussing finances as a result of technology. Indeed, for 44%, financial tools and apps have even become a subject of dinner table discussion in the last six months.
Klarna launches the Money Talks card game
Klarna has launched the Money Talks card game to spark genuine and meaningful conversations around spending, saving and shopping to help break the stigma around money.
Klarna’s Money Talks card game will facilitate open and honest discussions between players in a positive and fun way. The game comprises of three levels and a wildcard round, with each level touching on a different theme including relationships, personal habits, mindsets and financial basics.
Emily Thomas, UK Consumer PR Lead at Klarna said, “Sparking honest conversations about money is the first step in reducing the stigma and anxiety surrounding this taboo topic. At Klarna, we are dedicated to educating our users about responsible spending and encouraging financial wellness. The Money Talks card game will do just that, by having fun but also opening up honest discussions around spending, shopping and wellbeing.”
UK finance leaders reveal their 2022 technology wish-list
Almost half (41%) of UK finance leaders say they are focusing on cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service in 2022, as many are still working towards supporting remote teams, a new survey commissioned by Yooz has found.
Cybersecurity (31%) was second on the tech wish-list, followed by Big Data analytics (22%) and Artificial Intelligence (13%).
Francois Lacas, Deputy Chief of Operations at Purchase to Pay software provider, Yooz,says, “The accounts payable function was already in desperate need for automation in 2021, now it’s become the stand-out candidate for flexible working. Although businesses have focused their efforts on keeping operations going and staff working over the past year, the benefits of automated solutions simply cannot be ignored any longer.”
“With manual processes proving to be too time-consuming and high risk, any opportunity to improve quality and efficiency should be top priority. Businesses that haven’t embraced automation risk being left behind by those that have,” Lacas concludes.
