Gareth Narinesingh

🔄 ICYMI: Earlier this month, we launched seven key recommendations through the SME Finance Taskforce Report, “Smart Data: Improving SME Lending to Drive Economic Growth.” These strategic insights are designed to harness Smart Data and drive growth and innovation in the fintech and small business sectors.   Read the full article in The Paypers👇 https://lnkd.in/eeHEaurS)   📄 Follow the link below to read the Smart Data: Improving SME Lending to Drive Economic Growth report: https://lnkd.in/emPSaaCp #UKFintech #SmartData #SMEGrowth #SMEFinance #CFIT

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The latest CFIT report makes for interesting reading. The CFIT SME Finance Taskforce report continues to stress one critical point: the future of SME lending depends on access to robust, reliable real-time data. Both banks and non-bank lenders need better insights to support these vital businesses. But access to data alone is not enough - it needs to be transformed into consumable analysis and actionable insights. This is something we have been doing at 9Spokes for years, we're not just in the game - we're setting the pace. Our platform is designed to pull in vast quantities of accurate data, giving lenders and SME service providers a crystal-clear view of their customers. We don’t just show you where a business stands today; we provide the leading indicators that predict where it’s headed tomorrow. If you're in the business of financing SMEs, the choice is obvious: The future of serving SME's isn’t just about more data - it’s about better data-driven insights. And that’s exactly what we deliver at 9Spokes. Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) 9Spokes Ezechi Britton MBE #SMELending #Fintech #SmartData #9Spokes #FinancialHealth https://lnkd.in/eQ5SWucz

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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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We welcome today’s publication of CFIT’s SME Finance Taskforce’s report - Smart Data: improving SME lending to drive economic growth. The report sets out a 7-point action plan to harness smart data from both the public and private sectors to unlock borrowing for the UK’s 5.5 million small businesses. Thanks to all the #financialservices, #fintech and industry participants in the taskforce. Read the report here >> https://lnkd.in/ekvN9mpS #OpenFinance #OpenBanking #SmartData #Fintech #Innovation #DigitalInnovation #TechInnovation #Payments #SMEs iwoca Sage OakNorth Allica Bank Experian HSBC Lloyds Banking Group Mastercard Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Revolut Martin McTague OBE Louise Beaumont Neil Taylor Ghela Boskovich Gavin Starks Rob Haslingden Phillip Mind TrueLayer Simon Cureton Conrad Ford Nilixa Devlukia Stephen Wright City of London Corporation Charlotte Crosswell OBE Henk Van Hulle HM Treasury

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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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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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🚨 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵: Monzo Bank is planning to go big on business customers and eyes 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 after doubling the amount of business customers in a year. Monzo, which started rolling out business banking products in March 2020, has now hit 450,000 business customers, up roughly 100% since May 2023. Monzo is currently offering its business accounts only in the UK, but has plans to set them up in other regions soon, Jordan Shwide, general manager of Monzo’s business banking team, tells Financial News. More info: https://lnkd.in/edrFAScz Find this helpful? [ 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 ] Anything to add about this subject? [ 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 ] Nice story, Marcel. Next! [ 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 ] 

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🗣️Jonny Haseldine, Policy Manager: "We welcome these announcements, implementing important changes that will tackle the scourge of late payments. This unacceptable practice has a very real impact on businesses and the overall UK economy, acting as a barrier to growth for SMEs." Read our full response to today's plans from Government to crackdown on late payments 👇 https://lnkd.in/gS2_iwJu

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I find this really interesting, the Bank of England doesn't think commercial banks will innovate quickly enough especially in the retail payments space. So the central bank believes they need to be the driver of the innovation. It subtly suggest this is partly because of market dominance. We see the likes of Starling, revolut gaining traction in the retail space but payments is a whole different game and is currently imbedded with a small few who have no incentive to change the status quo. Paypal et al have broken in but aren't as imbedded and the scale the banks have dwarfs theirs. Like to see how BoE plans to push this and how far into innovation will they go (and potentially then share?). Does this include crypto, blockchain and the like? Commercial Banks won't like that as it takes the middle person out! Also the likes of Apple who are looking into this space, will we see an apple bank in the future? Lots to keep an eye on! #bankofengland #innovation #commercialbanks #crypto

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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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Monzo Bank Announces First Full Year of Profitability Amid Record Growth and Accelerates International Expansion Plans Monzo, the UK’s largest digital bank, today announced its first full year of profitability, achieving a pre-tax profit of £15.4m for the financial year ended 31 March 2024. This was driven by a 2.5x jump in gross revenues to £880m, across diversified income streams. This broad-based revenue growth has been driven by 9.7m customers who are trusting Monzo with more of their money, using it to spend, budget, save, invest and borrow. Monzo added 2.3m customers in the year, including 200,000 new business customers, and is already the UK’s seventh-largest bank. Customer deposits grew at a significant rate of 88% to £11.2bn, with deepening engagement across Monzo’s customer base, as the bank added more products and features to help customers manage more of their financial lives. The 2024 financial year saw Monzo scale and invest with discipline as it made strides on its ambition to become the one app customers turn to, to manage their entire financial lives. By bringing the best of banking and technology together, Monzo launched many game-changing products and features including Instant Access Savings, Monzo Investments, Cashback, and an industry-first in its fraud-preventing Call Status tool. Monzo’s Instant Access Savings Account launched at a time when it was needed most, attracting 1.3 million customers in just over a year. Monzo continued to invest in and grow its existing subscription offerings, with more than 500,000 customers subscribing to Monzo Plus and Monzo Premium to access key benefits. Its Investments product enjoyed exceptional uptake from first-time investors and a new Cashback rewards offering has seen £1.5m paid back to customers since its November launch. Throughout the year the company continued to help customers manage their money in the face of persistent economic challenges and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. It passed on the majority of base rate rises to customers, paying out more than £130m in interest. It has also continued to support customers with their borrowing needs across a wider range of services including overdrafts, personal loans and Monzo Flex. Gross lending increased 84% to £1.4bn as the business continued to safely grow its lending business. Monzo’s popular savvy budgeting tools and features were put to work, with automated round-ups saving customers more than £16m each month and the 1p savings challenge helping customers put away £16m in FY24. Source Fintech Finance News #digitalbanking #fintech #banking

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💬 The Payment Systems Regulator has published its response to a call for views on the expansion of variable recurring payments (VRPs) in the UK, citing key areas such as a multilateral agreement, mandated participation and pricing. Kate Fitzgerald, the PSR's head of policy, said: "Our call for views response aims to provide the transparency around what’s needed to make sure Open Banking keeps growing, delivering new financial opportunities and services that increase choice and flexibility for consumers." Read the full story at the 🔗 including comments from Henk Van Hulle of Open Banking and Tom Burton of GoCardless. #payments #openbanking #recurringpayments #regulation #financialservices #paymentinnovation Sam Uden Samantha Boyle https://lnkd.in/epJRz--v

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The ISO 20022 deadline for CHAPS has moved from Nov 24 to May 25... or has it?   It’s worth noting that Bank of England have made it very clear that they will not move the deadline beyond this point!  The Bank of England will expect banks, and their customers to work towards the deadline as if it was still the end of November. The May deadline is just a buffer for those businesses who aren’t ready. In the latest episode of our “Mastering ISO 20022” series, I discuss the updated deadline, and specifically the fact that even this extended timeline still requires banks and corporates to move quickly to prepare.  

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A new SME insights report by Dojo has revealed that an estimated 110,940 SMEs are at risk of going bust due to having no cash left to support business operations. Read more in this Credit Connect UK article here: https://lnkd.in/dVjPm3sc #CreditManagement #SME #Business #News

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What's happening in payments compliance: BNPL Firms Enthusiastic As UK Government Unveils Legislation 👉 Buy now, pay later (BNPL) firms and other stakeholders have applauded the UK’s new Labour government for introducing regulation that will bring firms into the scope of supervision from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) 👉 The new legislation brings an end to a string of consultations and commitments that extend back to 2021 👉 Stakeholders have until November 29 to respond to the government’s consultation on the new regulatory proposals 📖 Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/e8jywJUT #paymentsnews #paymentscompliance #bnpl

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💥 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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The Bank of England's Deputy Governor has said the UK is on the cusp of a technological revolution in finance. It's a trend we're seeing first-hand at The PHA Group, as we work with an expanding portfolio of payments clients around the globe. A recent blog here highlights the payment trends that will define 2024. In short, increased competition between big banks and challenger payment entities will trigger market consolidation. The goal for these challenger entities is ensuring they assume a sizeable market share and stand out from the competition. https://lnkd.in/eRZr92k6

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https://lnkd.in/eVUf_fxg Hot off the press 🔥 The UK’s payments regulator (PSR) has confirmed a U-turn on the maximum amount banks and Fintechs will have to reimburse fraud victims under the new regime. After announcing a two-week consultation on 4 September, the PSR said today that firms will now have to refund victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud up to a limit of £85,000 per claim from 7 October. This cap is down from £415,000, which triggered concerns from the industry and government that it could be unaffordable for smaller payment firms and encourage new types of scams. “This was a carefully balanced decision – which provides significant protection to fraud victims and strikes an appropriate balance having regard to the PSR’s innovation and competition objectives and making sure that payment systems work well for everyone,” the PSR said. #psr #regupdate #regaffairs #fintechs #banks #banking #payments #UK

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