Lloyd Wahed

Monzo Bank's strategic masterclass in a changing economic landscape In a time when many FinTechs are tightening belts, #Monzo is taking bold steps forward. Their latest valuation increase to $5.9 billion via a secondary sale shows more than just strong investor confidence—it’s a showcase of strategic foresight. Key Highlights: 🔸 Enhancing Liquidity: By opting for a secondary sale, Monzo is bolstering its financial flexibility without diluting its valuation. This sets the stage for expansion, product innovation, and entering new markets (Europe and the US) with confidence. 🔸 IPO Preparation: These moves mirror public market transactions, allowing Monzo to both test investor appetite and educate the market about its unique growth potential ahead of any IPO ambitions. 🔸 Market Timing: Monzo’s valuation boost in favorable market conditions reflects financial prudence, setting a strong baseline for future rounds. As FinTech continues to face economic volatility, Monzo's strategic positioning proves that with the right moves, opportunities abound. Read the full blog: https://lnkd.in/dgdNHRBN #CInnovation #FintechInsights #FintechInnovation #FinanceInsights #BankingRevolution #DigitalTransformation #BankingInnovation #FinancialGrowth #Finance #Banking #NeoBanking #FinancialServices #Fintech #BankingNews #TechInFinance #FinancialNews

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BIG NEWS: Upvest is now authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority! 🇬🇧💂‍♀️ This milestone opens new doors for us, enabling us to support fintech and enterprise partners in the UK market. What does this mean for you? 🔓 UK-based fintechs, banks, and wealth managers: launch or migrate your investment offering quickly and seamlessly using Upvest's investment infrastructure. 📈 Access to a diverse instrument universe: offer fractional stocks and ETFs in multiple currencies through our Investment API. You can count on a steady stream of new and more instruments to be added soon. 🛠️ Flexible operating models: whether you prefer to leverage our licences or bring your own, we've got you covered. Ready to take your investment offerings to the next level with Upvest? Connect with one of our experts today to learn how we can help you unlock the future of investments in the UK. P.S. With a new office in London and a growing team, we’re expanding our presence in the UK. Interested in joining the Upvest team? Let’s talk!

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👀 How do we enable more FinTech firms to successfully scale up in the UK? Whitecap Consulting, Innovate Finance and Streets Consulting have joined forces, utilising their collective expertise deeply embedded in the UK's FinTech ecosystem to answer this question and more, as part of their freshly published 'Scaling UK Regional FinTech' research report. Launched at #IFGS last week, the new, unique study, born provides valuable insights into accelerating the growth of regional scale-ups based outside of London and the South East. The report is an analysis of 250 FinTech start-ups, all with their primary base outside of London. The research was also supplemented by insights from interviews with entrepreneurs behind 10 of these firms, drawn from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Did you know? ⭐️ Firms with female founders achieved over 30% more turnover growth than those with male only founders? Yet only 16% of firms had a female founder! ⭐️ The more founders a business has, the higher their revenue growth rate. ⭐️ 9 out of 10 firms that attended an accelerator went on to raise funding. ⭐️ Raising investment correlates to higher employee and revenue growth, but revenue grows at a proportionally lower rate. ⭐️ 87% of FinTechs analysed have a B2B element to their go to market strategy, compared to 30% B2C (16% have both). The Scaling UK Regional FinTech Report also provides informed recommendations that could help create more FinTech scale-ups across the UK. To read the report in full, click the link below: https://lnkd.in/eyQKte_t #FinTechNorth #FinTech #ScalingFinTech #WhitecapConsulting #InnovateFinance #StreetsConsulting Joe Roche Ryan Walsh Rachel England Julian Wells Peter Cunnane Roberto Napolitano, MBA Julia Streets Kevin Telford Kevin Mountford Richard Carter Chelsea Boothroyd Daniel Rajkumar Josh Dracup Chloe Thompson Richard Coates Maria Harris Stefan Haase Lal Tawney Purnarka Dutta Queralt Smith Vila

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New Norfolk FinTech Cluster Revealed as One of UK’s Most Significant InsurTech Centres, Outside of London Julian Wells, Director and FinTech Lead at Whitecap Consulting, said: “Throughout this project we have experienced the collective desire of a wide range of stakeholders across the region to work together to develop the FinTech sector. Norfolk is the 10th region of the UK that Whitecap has analysed in this way over recent years, and what we have found in this region is an emerging and distinctive FinTech ecosystem. “Whilst the region is smaller than others we have reviewed, the strength in InsurTech comes through very strongly in our findings, and for the first time in any of our reports this is found to be the most prominent FinTech sub-sector. It is also the first time that payments have not been the leading sub-sector in a region. The proportion of female FinTech founders is the highest we have observed to date, giving Norfolk a crown that every region would crave. There is strong potential for economic growth through the FinTech sector in the region, and collaboration on a regional and national level can help drive this.” https://lnkd.in/gkGxXVFQ Aviva Ben Luckett #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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Marion King, OBL Trustee, commented: "Last month, we published Open Banking Standard v4.0, the first major release for several years, which has been developed collaboratively with the entire ecosystem.   The Standard has laid the foundations for a thriving open banking ecosystem which benefits 9.79 million active users and is worth more than £4 billion to the UK economy. OBL will continue to maintain and update the Standard to ensure it is robust and able to support the future development of open banking.” Find out more > https://lnkd.in/ec_2yJTm #OpenBanking #OpenBankingStandard #TechInnovation #Fintech #Innovation #FAPI #ISO20022 #OpenBankingEcosystem

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Discover why top #FinTech companies like Starling Bank are thriving in Wales 💡 With a rich pool of tech talent, supportive infrastructure, and a vibrant innovation ecosystem, #Wales is the perfect place for fintech startups and established firms alike 🌟 Dive into #StarlingBank's success story and see why Wales is leading the way in fintech excellence 🔗https://lnkd.in/eWnnKXet #WalesInvested #Wales #Starling #StarlingBank #FinTech #FinTechWales #WelshTech

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Daily research from FinTech Global Aggregate UK insurance app downloads increase 41% in 2023 YoY Combined UK insurance app downloads totalled at 21.7m as of Jan 1st 2024, a 41% increase from the start of 2023. Combined downloads in 2023 reached 6.3m. Marshmallow Insurance had the most growth in 2023 at 91% from the previous year with downloads during the year reaching 197k pushing their total downloads to 413k. This was followed by Veygo in second with 90% growth and 167k over the same period with a total reaching 351k downloads. Third was Dayinsure with 73% growth in 2023 and 173k downloads increasing their total to 406k. Hastings Direct is the most downloaded insurance app in the UK as of 1st Jan 2024 with a total of 3.5m downloads. Hastings direct saw a 38% growth in app downloads during 2023 compared to the previous year. Hastings Direct’s app offers easy access to your policies, payments and documents with options to change or update a car policy in a few simple steps. You can also start or track a car claim without the need to call. InsurTechs outpaced their incumbent counterparts in 2023 with total combined InsurTech downloads reaching 3.3m in 2023 compared to just 3m downloads for incumbents. InsurTechs also saw higher average growth in 2023 YoY at 53% compared to 35% from incumbents. Incumbents still remain the most downloaded providers overall with combined downloads at 11.4m compared 10.4m for InsurTechs. Vitality Aviva Cuvva Post Office Ltd Admiral Group Plc Hastings Direct Dayinsure Zego Rooster Insurance

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ColCap UK and Molo Complete £300 Million Securitisation ColCap UK’s Treasurer, Paolo Tanca, commented, “This deal represents a significant milestone for us, showcasing our ability to structure and execute successful RMBS transactions in the UK market. We are excited about the opportunities for future growth and expansion.” Esther Morley Matthew Kimber https://lnkd.in/eyBXKnyR #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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💡 What lies ahead for UK financial advisers? intelliflo's CEO Nick Eatock discusses the current important changes in technology, and how they will impact the way advisers operate and engage with their clients. #FinTech #FinancialAdvisers

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Our new Behavioural Engagement Technology whitepaper is now available to download for free. Read FinTech Magazine's coverage around how we're improving engagement across banks, wealth managers, and financial institutions - https://lnkd.in/eHhZc9_p #BehaviouralFinance #BeFi #FinancialPlanning #FinancialAdvice #WealthManagement

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What’s the key to becoming even more confident in your SME lending decisions? Getting granular 🔎 By digging into the details of income and expenditure, then categorising that data appropriately, you can better assess the commercial affordability of the companies you work with. To learn more and see how our categorisation engine could help, our Market Engagement Director, John Griffiths explains all: https://lnkd.in/eDhT8C94 #SMEAffordability #CommercialAffordability #CreditRiskEngine

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Savers’ Interests Must Be at the Heart of Pension Market Changes, PensionBee UK States in DWP Pension Investment Review Response Rebecca O'Connor FRSA, Director (VP) Public Affairs at PensionBee, commented: “It is crucial that any changes prioritise savers’ best interests. While consolidation offers potential benefits like reduced costs and regulatory simplicity, it is not a silver bullet for stronger returns, but it can facilitate the expertise needed to drive an expansion into more complex asset classes. “We urge the Government to focus on fostering a diverse investment landscape that balances innovation with protection, ensuring savers’ rights are upheld at every step. A unified regulatory approach, the offering of incentives like tax relief and the development of innovative solutions to solve the problem of asset class illiquidity, could unlock new investment in UK productive assets, while safeguarding long-term growth and security for savers.” https://lnkd.in/eTNm_HsV Steven Kennedy Laura Dunn-Sims Ffion White Rachael Oku Brooke Day Romina Savova Neill Vandenberg #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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Digital Pension Dashboards and why we need them Read the new Finextra article on #regulation by Niamh Curran 👉 https://lnkd.in/eFX6UXtn #fintech #thelongread #finance #economy #money #technology #innovation #future #trends #banks #banking #financialservices #financialinstitutions #savings #pensions #government #legislation #law #regulation #compliance #risk #NAO #PDP #PensionsDashboard #data #DWP #MaPS #digitalpension

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Broken Business Savings Market Is Costing British SMEs £9 Billion a Year in Missing Interest Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank, said:  “There’s no question the SME savings market is broken. “The fact the SME savings penalty has got larger since we first did our research last year – while the Bank rate has reduced slightly – is a travesty many SMEs will find hard to understand. “It’s very unfair SMEs don’t get similar rates to large companies, and our research suggests big banks won’t be improving their rates for SMEs any time soon. “It’s time for something to be done to make that change, get SMEs a better deal and release billions of pounds into the real economy.” https://lnkd.in/eqAmuVCf Chloe Fenton (née Vaidya) Georgie Burks Joe Jones James Heath Ravneet Shah Conrad Ford Mitch (Munish) Trehan Nick Baker #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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Monzo has made a profit for the first time, having seen its revenue increase dramatically over the past year. This contrasts with reports, also out today, lamenting that FinTechs or "Neobanks" have failed to dislodge the big banks because their main revenue streams come from payments. Today, Neobanks offer credit cards, loans and savings products so profitability may become increasingly achievable. Despite a wider service offering, most people will continue to use Neobanks alongside a primary account for the short term. They remain important though. FinTech has changed how banking is done and has improved the customer experience. It has opened up a new range of role types and career paths in the new organisations and also in longer established banks. Healy Hunt provides specialist recruitment services for FinTech professionals across Financial Services. https://lnkd.in/ezx2CNr4 #fintech #neobank #executivesearch #recruitment #startup #scaleup

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