Viali Munteanu

Digital bank Monzo has swung to profit for the first time, writes Frances Coppola. But its new-found profitability could prove short-lived as the end may be nigh for “narrow banks”. Full-year results just released show pre-tax profits of £15.4mn, generated largely from higher net-interest margins. Monzo, like most banks, has benefited from the Bank of England’s high interest rates. But like many of the challenger banks that grew from the ashes of the 2008 financial crisis, Monzo should be classed as a “narrow bank”. Its business model is focused largely on depository services and payments, and what little lending it does is also payments-related (credit cards and “buy-now-pay-later”). Its balance sheet is more like that of a payments processor than a traditional bank: against some £11bn of deposits, it holds £7bn of cash reserves at the BoE and £3bn of government and supranational debt. Loans make up only 15 per cent of its balance sheet. This business model amounts to an unhedged bet on BoE interest rate policy, Frances writes. Read more here https://lnkd.in/e79pQGWH #Monzo #bankingindustry #narrowbanks

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New Report Indicates UK SMEs Are Optimistic About the Future Corin Camenisch, Product Marketing Lead at SumUp commented on the survey: “As champions for small merchants, we conducted this survey to discover the confidence levels of small business owners and decision makers in the UK to better understand the challenges they face, gauge their optimism about their future, and identify areas where support for SMEs might be needed. “Overall, confidence levels of small business owners and decision makers across the UK are high. This positive outlook suggests that small merchants are prepared to navigate potential uncertainties and continue to thrive. “We have provided tips off the back of our findings for those just starting out in business, or who are looking to deal with unexpected market fluctuations on our full campaign page.” https://lnkd.in/e975UtrF #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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📣 Funds secured—what’s next for your PR and comms strategy?   You've closed a funding round, but how do you keep the momentum going? In the third instalment of our #FoundersPlaybook series, we explore how to leverage new capital and investor support to elevate your communications strategy. From amplifying your brand narrative to showcasing growth, discover how strategic insights from investors can drive your story forward.   Special thanks to Scott Law from Quadri Ventures, Tom Cullen at Zoplo, Naomi Timperley FRSA of Tech North Advocates, Tessa Clarke from Olio • Share More, Waste Less, Edward Reid at PwC, and Kam Punia of Pixion Games, for sharing their valuable perspectives.    Don’t miss these insights—read the full blog here: https://lnkd.in/eQp_6mw5. #BusinessGrowth #FoundersPlaybook #GrowthStrategy #StartupCommunications

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Find out how we helped Great Southern Bank detect AUD$500,000 in fraudulent credit applications in just three months with GBG Trust: Alert 👉 https://lnkd.in/eKWT-vuy The bank needed a robust solution to scale up fraud prevention and protect customer funds. By integrating GBG Trust: Alert, it has strengthened its defences against financial fraud and, in particular, money mules. #FraudPrevention #FightingMoneyMules #GBGTrustAlert #FinancialFraud

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Money Marketing Magazine’s latest cover feature by Momodou Musa Touray examines the Platforms Association. Can this new trade body provide the platform sector with the unified voice it’s been missing? Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/e7Arvcqp #MoneyMarketing #PlatformSector #TradeBody

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📌 The UK Government has granted #banks the ability to delay #transactions for up to four days. 🔐 This enables financial institutions to have more time to investigate fraudulent #payments. Read more on The Paypers: https://buff.ly/3U1BvEC #thepaypers #fraudprevention #fraud #paymentsecurity

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The future of news is here, and it's online. For the first time, more people in the UK are getting their news from online platforms than from TV, says Ofcom’s latest report. This change marks a big shift. Digital platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok are becoming top sources for #news. ✅ The pros? More viewpoints. More voices. ❌ The cons? More misinformation and deepfakes.📊 Key takeaways: ➡️ Online news now reaches 71% of UK adults, overtaking TV at 70%. ➡️ Younger generations are driving this change, with TikTok becoming a key news source. ➡️ Trust in traditional outlets like the BBC is strong, but concerns about fake news and deepfakes are growing. So what’s next? How do we balance diverse news with accurate reporting? 👉 Question: Where do you get your news, and how do you ensure it's trustworthy? Let’s discuss! __________ Follow L3NS for updates on digital innovation and ethical AI practices! #DigitalTransformation #MediaTrends #L3ns #DigitalMarketing

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Starling Bank’s Screening Failures — A Lesson in Compliance In an era where financial institutions face mounting pressure from regulators, Starling Bank’s recent enforcement action by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) serves as a poignant reminder: a robust compliance framework isn’t just a regulatory checkbox; it’s essential for the integrity of the financial system. As regulatory penalties become all too common, any lapse in compliance can have dire consequences.  https://lnkd.in/eEYwzJhu ThetaRay Cedric Iggiotti #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

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We’re excited to announce the second phase of our industry-wide coalition based on our ‘proofs of concept’ recommendations in our Open Finance Blueprint Report earlier this year. These will unite leading retail banks, credit agencies, fintech firms, and Citizens Advice to revolutionise access to finance in the UK.   This second phase will focus on enhancing financial access for vulnerable consumers and SMEs, addressing a critical £22bn funding gap, including: 🔹 Vulnerable Consumer Support: In collaboration with Citizens Advice, Experian and AperiData, we've expanded our pilots to locations like Stoke and North Tyneside, enabling better, faster financial advice for those in need.   🔹 SME Financing: Together with key SME lenders, including Barclays, and building on the successful pilot analysis with HSBC and other CFIT partners, including IBM and CRIF, we're advancing Open Finance solutions to streamline SME credit processes, helping businesses thrive with quicker, more efficient funding.   These initiatives are steps towards widespread adoption of Open Finance in the UK, aiming to establish global leadership in financial services innovation.   Swipe to learn more 👇   #OpenFinance

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The National Payments Vision for FinTech ⭐ We have submitted our input to HM Treasury as part of its work on developing a National Payments Vision (NPV), which is due to be published by the summer. We outline why the NPV needs to set out an ambitious agenda to help deliver the next generation of payment experiences for merchants and consumers, building on the successful innovation and competition that FinTech has helped bring about. The UK should be the world leader in digital wallet payments, with a digital payments ecosystem that supports and enables a diversity of payment methods and providers, underpinned by competition where the consumer has choice and control and can easily use different payment systems, methods and providers with ease and with confidence in an equivalent level of consumer protection. This trusted, competitive, digital, interoperable ecosystem can enable: - Improved productivity for UK merchants and businesses - Better outcomes for customers and citizens  - Increased  growth and inward investment for the UK payments industry  - Greater strategic autonomy and resilience for the UK economy and society   Our paper examines FinTech’s role in the payments landscape, how the government can implement, deliver and review the NPV’s progress, and key aims that the NPV should include to support the FinTech sector, such as: ⚙️ Account to Account payment method: The NPV should prioritise the development of a new major payment method to compete with card payments, powered by Open Banking.  📜 Regulatory support for innovation and competition: Deliver a regulatory framework that allows different digital payment methods to compete on a level playing field. 🏗️ National Payments Architecture (NPA): A recommitment to deliver NPA and its strategic objectives, with a clear roadmap and timeline for implementation, and an ambition that is cloud-native. 🌍 Interoperability: The NPV should set out a roadmap for working towards interoperable payment systems, domestically and globally. See link to the report 👉 https://lnkd.in/eAinjhYg #FinTech #InnovateFinance #DigitalPayments #FutureofPaymentsReview #NationalPaymentsVision #Paymentstrategy #UKFinTech #Payments Paul Worthington | Adam Jackson | Jago Corry

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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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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced the completion of its Open Banking Roadmap unlocking a new era of financial innovation. Ben Beecroft, Head of Monitoring at OBL comments Read more here >> https://lnkd.in/eZSAKjvJ #OpenBanking #SmartData #OpenFinance #Innovation #DigitalInnovation #TechInnovation #Payments #VRPs Financial Conduct Authority | HM Treasury | Payment Systems Regulator

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Today the Bank of England published a Discussion Paper on its approach to innovation in money and payments. The Discussion Paper asks for responses on the next step in a wide-ranging conversation on how to deliver an ambitious agenda for the UK payments landscape and sets out how rapid innovations in payments can impact on the Bank’s monetary and financial stability objectives.   Our Managing Director, Payments, Innovation & Resilience, Jana Mackintosh, comments:   “This is an important discussion paper from the Bank of England, and we strongly welcome the Bank’s leadership in delivering an ambitious agenda for UK payments. There is a huge amount of innovation taking place within money and payments. This paper highlights a number of key issues that need to be addressed to support further innovation and help bring new capabilities like tokenisation to life.    We look forward to working with the Bank, other regulators and the government to collectively enhance the UK payments landscape for the benefit of consumers and businesses.”   💻 To read the paper in full: https://lnkd.in/eGQ-Em9C    #UKFinance #Payments #Banking #BankofEngland #Innovation 

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