Fintech News Issue #190 November 1st, 2018

Our hosts, David M. Brear and Simon Taylor are joined by two great guests: James Hurley, Enterprise Editor, The Times and Kirsty Grant, Investment Director, Seedrs.

If you create a service that can be put in an app or on a website then it should be an API.

There are very few people who could honestly claim that they are in complete control of their finances. While the majority of us have used budgeting programs or applications, we often discover that getting insights from the data is not as simple as we are led to believe.

“Legacy” tends to be a positive word in most environments. It denotes successful and mostly uninterrupted history. It connects present endeavours to past and future. It is considered an asset. Something to be proud of.

Almost every financial institution says it's looking for young, creative and innovative minds to help develop the ‘next big thing’. But how do banking providers overcome the biggest obstacle when trying to attract talented innovators — namely that they are a bank?

To move forward at the speed of change will require a doubling down on providing a culture of innova­tion throughout organizations, combined with a will­ingness to embrace change, take appropriate risks and disrupt what has been the norm in the past. This requires getting out of our comfort zone and finding a way to serve the consumer in the way they are being served by big tech alternatives.

One of the major adjustments required to assure success in banking's next chapter is the change needed within yourself. With the world changing faster than ever, are you changing with it … or will you be left behind? Four steps will help you chart your course.

The Innovation in Retail Banking 2018 report provides a look back over the past decade with a view toward the future of innovation in financial services. While the commitment to innovation has increased, there are still many investment gaps, such as with advanced data analytics.

An enterprise’s revenue model is, of course, vital to success. But for fintech entrepreneurs, it’s especially crucial.

It all started with the white paper. When Nakamoto published the paper, many of the underlying concepts of Bitcoin already existed, including the idea of issuing digital money to people who devoted computing resources to a problem.

The financial services industry is undergoing a massive transformation. Financial technology companies (fintechs) are challenging traditional enterprises, while players from other sectors such as retail and technology are entering their turf.

For a long time, the micro, small and medium enterprises have been having a tough time getting microloans from traditional banks, especially if the small business is new with no long credit history.

The term "institutional crypto" sounds like an oxymoron. There's something quite ironic about financial institutions adopting a renegade technology that was designed to do away with them. Yet a string of developments this past month suggests that – to put it bluntly – the institutions are coming for your crypto.

New research quantifies consumers' use of multiple channels, that a potential 'sleeper' banking technology may be on the horizon, and that the competitive threat from non-bank competitors has ramped-up on several fronts. Has legacy banking lost its edge?