Nadia Edwards-Dashti

Collective X in the News: R50 Million Co-Funded Digital Skills Initiative We’re excited to see Techfinancials News covering the launch of our R50 million co-funded digital skills initiative, which opens for applications this Thursday, 19 September 2024. This initiative offers a unique opportunity for employers to help shape South Africa’s future digital workforce by addressing the critical digital skills shortage. With our co-funded model, employers can develop entry-level digital talent aligned with their business needs, while benefitting from Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA) to ensure young South Africans are work-ready from day one. Mteto Nyati, Chairman of Collective X’s Board, says: “Collective X’s co-funded digital skills initiative is a game-changer for both businesses and youth in South Africa. By collaborating with employers, we can ensure the right digital skills training, for the right price, to impact their future in the right way. Our mission is simple: to expand South Africa’s pool of skilled digital workers, and create meaningful jobs.” Learn more about the initiative and how you can get involved in this transformative project by reading the full article: https://lnkd.in/e9t79q-d #CollectiveX #DigitalSkills #EmployerLed #TechForGood #YouthEmployment #FutureOfWork

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A few months ago we decided to switch bank from Barclays UK for ethical reasons. We searched high and low and decided on The Co-operative Bank plc given they were top (or close to) on most of the ethical banking rankings, and they had (on paper) the facilities we needed. Since we have switched, however, it has been one problem after another. Maddening things, like: 🤬 When adding a payee, you have to wait 2 HOURS before you can pay them 🤬 When paying employees and contractors they've been almost always flagged as fraudulent and witheld, despite having previously confirmed they are legit 🤬 Witheld payment notifications not being recieved until the following day 🤬 An awful banking app and online experience 🤬 Payments taking up to 48 hours to clear after finally getting through to someone on the phone to push them through 🤬 The lack of a dedicated relationship manager, despite paying for business banking 🤬 Being told we will get a call back, and then never hearing anything 🤬 Their systems going down when we are on the phone trying to resolve the above issues, and being told we need to call back later. Now, we never had these problems with Barclays. Of course, they have more resources at their disposal to offer a slicker service, but surely being an ethical bank and delivering a competent service can't be mutally exclusive? Unfortunately we are now seriously considering switching again, so any helpful suggestions for ethical banks which aren't going to be a pain in the backside will be most welcome!

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CapitalRise Secures New £30 Million Funding Line for Bridging Loans Uma Rajah, CEO and Co-Founder of CapitalRise, commented: “Securing this additional £30 million funding line for bridging loans further supports the diversification of our capital sources, ensuring a robust funding model. We are thrilled to secure this new funding line as part of our continued commitment to serving our clients with bespoke financial solutions.” https://lnkd.in/e5YAkGyB Pip Lashko-Sayers #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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Here's a little ray of positivity for the UK SME Market ⬇️ "Businesses have maintained a strong streak in new orders for 10 months running and employment has been a strong point for SMEs all year." This is from the NatWest UK SME Growth Tracker which was released 18 October 2024 The comment was from their Chief Economist, Sebastian Burnside. The report also reported "Business activity differed widely by sector in September, with the drop in overall SME output largely driven by the service economy. Construction SMEs bucked the trend, with output growth accelerating to its fastest rate since January. " Construction, like recruitment is often the first to be hit, and one of the first to bounce back. It was noted that a number of survey respondents commented on business uncertainty ahead of the Autumn Budget, but.... I think the SME market is a robust sector of the economy, it is under pressure but is also agile and can pivot. #ukeconomy #manufacturing #engineering #construction

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Have you checked out the Banking with confidence for Immigrants in the UK blog? 👀 Click the link below to read the latest instalment of the Kurira blog and learn how to navigate the UK banking system 🏦 https://lnkd.in/egSe46Rd #KuriraMigrationSeries #Migration #Journey #African #Diaspora #UK #Banking #Save #Money #GBP

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🚀 Exciting news for freelancers in fintech! The demand for freelance talent in London has surged by a whopping 61.2% year-on-year. This boom is driven by increased tech investments and digital transformations in financial services. 📈 Top skills in demand include AI, machine learning, and data analytics. Interestingly, risk and compliance roles have skyrocketed by 86.5%. 🌟 It seems like now is the perfect time for tech-savvy freelancers to dive into the fintech sector. 🌐

💥 NEWCASTLE CONFERENCE 24: 2 FOR 1 OFFER IS LIVE NOW! Our Newcastle Conference 2024, hosted in partnership with strategic partners Mastercard, Invest North East England and the North East's very own Atom bank, is now just under 2 weeks away! We're delighted to announce the agenda for our Newcastle Conference 2024, which features North-East FinTech stars, regional innovators and globally recognisable brands. Here's what we've got lined up: ⭐️ How a successful challenger can level up banking and the North, delivered by Edward Twiddy, Co-Founder, Atom bank 🌎 Developing the North-East's world class FinTech cluster, learnings from across the UK, with Stephen Ingledew OBE, CEO of FinTech Scotland 🔥 UK FinTech Sector Update with Peter Cunnane, Director of National and International Initiatives, Innovate Finance 🔑 Keynotes from the Financial Conduct Authority, Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) and FDATA Global 📈 From Start-up to Scale-up: North East FinTech Success Goes Global, keynote delivered by Roger Binks, CCO, Kani ⚡️ How are we making the Northeast a world renowned FinTech cluster? - A panel discussion, featuring Aidan L., Teacher of Business and Economics, Gateshead College, Lucy Mounter, Director of Business Development and Strategy UK, Intercash, Sarat Pediredla 🦔, CEO of hedgehog lab and more tba. 💪 Building FinTech Services for Critical National Infrastructure, keynote delivered by Jessica McEvoy, Product Leader and Giles Buist, Delivery Principal, Scott Logic 🚀 Scaling Up FinTechs: A Fireside chat with Karen Zhang, FinTech Lead & VC Partnerships, Google Cloud and Oliver Cronk, Technical Director, Scott Logic 👀 Use of Payments Data in the interest of the nation: A Fireside chat with Mark Greenberg, Director of Data Science, Vocalink, a Mastercard company and Keith Lai, Assistant Deputy Director, Financial Transactions Data Research, Data Science Campus, Office for National Statistics 💥 FinPact Impact: One Year On - A Fireside Chat with Stephen Kevan, Co-Founder and CEO, FinPact and Manila McLean, NED, docStribute®️ 💰 Funding for FinTechs, with Charlotte Scott, Senior Investor Relations Manager, Innovation SuperNetwork 💡 Newcastle FinTech Showcase; featuring Keepl, Transact Trail, SPARK EPOS, Percy Crow Davis & Co, gunnercooke, Adopter (✅ B Corp), mmob, Kind Currency and more to be announced. - ⬇️  GET TWO TICKETS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE RIGHT NOW! OFFER ENDS 10TH JULY.  ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/ePNaRT3F #FinTechNorth #FTN #FTNNEW24

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We’re celebrating our mid-year milestones! Here’s a snapshot of our performance for the first half of 2024: 💎 Loyal customers = Higher spend: Our top 10% of customers are spending more and shopping more often. The average annual transactions per customer have jumped to 11.6 (up from 8.6), and the average spend has increased to R15.8k from R11.1k.    📈 2.6X GMV growth: We hit a whopping R1.5 billion in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in H1 2024, a 2.6X increase compared to last year. 🛍️40X higher users since 2021: We’re continuously growing our customer base. View our interim results here: https://lnkd.in/d22ruKiZ #Fintech #Results #BNPL

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Last year, we released a report on the barriers to finance faced by Ethnic Minority-Led Businesses (EMBs), identifying issues in the lending landscape which can discourage ethnic minority entrepreneurs from seeking finance. In the The Fintech Times our Chief Executive, Emma Lovell, spotlights how the LSB’s new, first-of-its-kind inclusive Code aims to create a more equitable financial services sector for EMBs. Contributing an estimated £25 billion to the UK economy annually, EMBs are crucial to driving sustainable and innovative economic growth.    Read more here: https://bit.ly/3XLhmn8 #InclusiveFinance #Equitability #NationialInclusionWeek

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Norfolk fintech sector could be worth £100m – but funding remains ‘limited'. ❗️ The East of England county is home to 24 fintech companies that have collectively raised £49m in investment, a report commissioned by advocacy group Tech East has found. It found that Norwich, the largest city in Norfolk, is the main driver of economic and fintech growth in the county. Between 2010 and 2021, Norwich recorded the highest growth in real output per hour of all UK cities at 2.3%. ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dbvBd5FH 🔗 #techhubs #funding #fintech #investment #report #growth #UKtech

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From Tony Blair to Monzo Bank, key players demand UK fintech reform. 💡 Fintech has returned to being the UK’s most-funded tech sector but the country is at risk of losing its crown, according to a handful of new policy recommendations from the likes of Monzo, Revolut and The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Two major fintech policy reports have been published this week as data revealed the sector raised $1.4bn in the first quarter, more than any other in the UK. ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eYBTmbSd 🔗 #fintech #banking #policy #report #tonyblair #funding #UKtech

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Countless press articles over the past few days covering Monzo Bank posting its first annual profit of £15.4m since launching in 2015 (including this latest one from the Financial Times below) The business is now valued at $5.2b. Lot's of questions (mostly dodged!) about the potential of a London listing or the prospect of a US listing with a growing US focus. Also confirmation that it’s in the early stages of expanding into the broader European market via a new base in Ireland which is exciting. The company said that it expects to grow its customer count to 11 million in the coming year under the leadership of TS Anil. The UK neobank scene appears to be thriving which is great. We currently manage more than 40,000 retail investor positions in Monzo from when they invested in the company between 2016 and 2018. Investors who participated in the 2016 round came in at a pre money valuation of £23.6m 😎 https://lnkd.in/eHcsex_u

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New BPFI report looks at how lending capacity of the banking sector can be fully leveraged to meet the State’s significant funding challenge to deliver increased housing output. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eS-_yYVQ

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Well, it’s interesting. Googling “what are Labour’s plans for fintech?” finds the answer of Labour’s plans for financial services, not fintech. Here’s their plan in summary https://lnkd.in/eQxhiDDq #fintech #inclusivegrowth #financialservices

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Interesting article about how the Fintech industry can better serve the UK’s largest minority. More than 1 in 5 people live with a disability in the UK. The Project Nemo is a 12 month initiative, aiming to make a change in disability inclusion across the Fintech industry. It is focused on long-term systemic change in three ways: education, empowering and showcasing people with disabilities. https://lnkd.in/ed62ReDN

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Monzo Bank, a digital bank in the UK, is driving financial education forward with free bank accounts for children aged 6-15 📚 Half of parents surveyed want their children to understand how to save pocket money and 42% saying they wanted their children to understand how to create a budget. Managing money is an important skill for young people to learn, so what else can be done to ensure that children are prepared for the future? Read more The Fintech Times 👉 https://buff.ly/3YpCVf2 #FinancialLiteracy #FinancialInclusion #Banking

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Monzo Bank has introduced a new feature called Monzo Pension, aimed at simplifying pension consolidation. Here's the lowdown: What it does: Monzo Pension allows users to merge old pensions into a single fund managed by BlackRock, directly within the Monzo app. Guidance included: The product offers easy-to-understand advice to help users navigate their retirement planning. Investment strategy: Funds adjust risk based on the user’s planned retirement age. Fees: There's a 0.45% platform fee, with lower rates for Monzo Perks and Max subscribers. Research shows that 77% of UK adults feel anxious about their pensions, and 30% find consolidation too complex. Monzo's latest product aims to address these concerns by integrating pension management into daily financial planning. Read more here: https://buff.ly/3WERrOR #FinancialNews #PensionConsolidation #Fintech #Monzo #FintechNews #RetirementPlanning

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There's a lot the investment industry can learn from Monzo Bank, when it comes to social media. They excel at engaging authentically with their customers, responding to queries, acknowledging feedback, and creating a community vibe. By building a platform online, that reflects your culture and tone of voice, you build trust, a vital component to the investment industry. Monzo practises transparency about anything from product updates, issues, and company decisions to foster customer loyalty. Investment firms can similarly benefit from being open about their processes, performance, and changes. We are entering into a period of heightened transparency and by showing early willing to embrace openness, your brand can quickly become synonymous with honesty, which will once again add towards building trust. Monzo's vibrant and consistent visual identity makes it easily recognisable. Investment firms can take inspiration from their approach and, by ensuring their branding, values and tone of voice are all cohesive across all platforms, can strengthen their brand recall. Additionally, Monzo often shares financial tips and educational content. Investment firms can position themselves as thought leaders by providing valuable insights. Monzo's approach to social media is a good motivation for how investment firms can start to build a stronger, more engaging brand. Whilst maybe this more traditional industry might choose to take a more sedate approach in comparison, the foundations are the same. My thoughts, start with a few posts and see where it takes you! #InvestmentBranding #Monzo #BrandingTips

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