Every Wednesday, we delve into the latest fintech updates from across the UK. This week brings updates from Revolut, Economic Intelligence Wales, TransferGo, GPS, Featurespace and Plaid.
Exports Minister visits Revolut HQ
Minister for Exports, Marcus Fysh met with the senior bosses at Revolut to discuss the company’s plans for expansion among other topics concerning fintech in the UK.
The visit to Revolut’s headquarters in Canary Wharf came as part of a government initiative to support fintech firms in the country, with Fysh citing the fintech industry as “hugely important to the economy“.
Fysh, on fintech success in the UK, said: “The UK is a services superpower and a global leader in the fintech sector. Businesses like Revolut highlight the passion, innovation and technical ingenuity at the heart of our fintech industry. It was great to see this work in person and it is crucial [that the] government continues to back this important sector.
“We continue to work hard to cut market access barriers and back our great tech unicorns to export their brilliant services around the world, supporting investment, jobs and growth across the UK.”
Economic Intelligence Wales welcomes new partners
Bangor Business School and the Enterprise Research Centre have joined the Economic Intelligence Wales in a partnership that produces reports to develop insight into the issues affecting the Welsh economy.
Development Bank of Wales launched Economic Intelligence Wales in 2018 to collate and analyse data. The aim of the partnership is to help improve the economy in Wales.
Giles Thorley, chief executive of the Development Bank of Wales, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Bangor Business School and the Enterprise Research Centre to our unique partnership, so we can continue to build on our work in providing independent, strong and reliable insights to businesses, researchers and policymakers on the Welsh economy, at a time when our understanding of changes in the economy is of critical importance.
“They will each bring years of valuable insight and expertise to our output, allowing us to expand the range of data and expert analysis we provide to interested parties on Wales’ economy, and how it might be improved.”
TransferGo announces continual growth
Payment service provider TransferGo has reached five million customers since its inception. The company has seen significant growth in the last 12 months; having gained around two million new customers.
In the last nine years, the company amassed three million customers, highlighting the successful recent growth. This news comes one year after a $50million Series C funding round.
Daumantas Dvilinksas, co-founder and CEO of TransferGo, said: “Our year-on-year growth coincides with TransferGo’s 10-year anniversary, and we would simply not be able to mark this milestone without our fantastic employees putting customer needs first. I can’t wait for us to build on this momentum and change the nature of remittances – bringing new innovative products to new markets and further supporting our five million strong, and growing, customer base.”
GPS and Featurespace partner to offer new product
Payments technology platform Global Processing Services (GPS) is collaborating with Featurespace, the fraud detection and risk management platform, to create a new fraud mitigation solution.
The partnership between the two is to create ‘GPS Fraud Advantage’, powered by Featurespace. The offering enables customers to monitor, action and manage fraud alerts.
Martina King, CEO at Featurespace, said: “Our technology and the results our customers achieve are recognised as industry-leading by those committed to fighting fraud and financial crime.
“Through this partnership, GPS will be able to provide an enhanced level of customer experience and increased security assurances, enabling their clients to focus on continued innovation and growth.”
Plaid report highlights the extent of people turning to fintech
Plaid, an open banking network, has revealed that 84 per cent of consumers from the UK are now using fintech to manage their money.
Furthermore, 41 per cent of consumers surveyed displayed little to no confidence in the current economy. These findings come from ‘The Fintech Effect‘ report by Plaid, conducted online among 4,010 adults in both the UK and the US.
Kat Cloud, UK policy lead at Plaid, commented: “Given all of the economic uncertainty and the stress that results from that, fintech tools will provide critical lifelines. However, to keep up this momentum, we urgently need to transition from open banking to open finance, enhancing people’s access to a wider range of their financial data.
“Open finance will give the fintech industry the ability to deliver new digital financial use cases that better meet people’s needs, from pension management to better debt management tools.”
