Facilitated and written by: Cris Beswick, The Future Shapers and Rod Bryson, Capgemini Consulting
Expert: Paul Massey, Crowdcube
Headline finding 1:
‘Fintech’ is a huge subject particularly when it comes to per-to-peer, crowdfunding, listed investment trusts, bitcoin, blockchain and so on.
A big focus for one participant is technology and they are currently pushing it unlike the majority of Financial Services who are reluctant adopters of technology even though it must be used for efficiency.
Another participant from a retail background commented that they are also excited about the use of technology to drive interaction with clients along the purchasing journey.
Headline finding 2:
But, the big players and the banks are encumbered with legacy systems so it is taking them a long time to ‘wake-up’ and adopt technology.
The overview from the expert’s perspective was that investment has stopped in POS for example; as VCs know it will be swallowed up by one of the big ‘whales’. Fintech is rapidly becoming part of the ‘ecosystem’ and therefore is becoming a fundamental part of the way institutional money will start to filter in through routes like Crowdcube for example.
Another perspective is that it would be great if ‘blockchain’ became the next big thing.
Headline finding 3:
On the subject of embedding ‘fintech’ into the culture of the larger more established ‘beasts’ the feeling was that culture is a massive issue not just in relation to tech but as a general barrier. The ‘we’ve done ok up to now by doing things this way’ attitude still prevails whereas the ‘fintech’ companies are striving forward because of the fresh ‘startup’ new unencumbered cultures they have.
Headline finding 4:
‘Robo advisor’ was seen almost unanimously as a way to capture ‘acorn’ clients and ‘capturing clients through technology’ is something that everyone is excited about. But there is still uncertainty about where to focus efforts next i.e. bitcoin, blockchain, robo etc.
Headline finding 5:
The suggestion that there is a sandbox on the horizon to allow everyone to play around in order to innovate is something that is long overdue and warmly welcomed. The overall feeling is that culture is the key to the majority of what hold the industry back and that culture combined with the desire to innovate will be where the leaders emerge.
Headline finding 6:
Regulation isn’t the barrier everyone uses it to be. How you operate your business is more of a barrier than regulation and the feeling that a solution to allow companies to continue doing what they do in order that they don’t rock the boat whilst simultaneously being able to experiment and innovate is the answer. “We need to keep the beast running whilst also running a separate innovation agenda.”
