Innovate Finance published their annual list of women in fintech and while progress has been made, more work is needed; Innovate Finance CEO Charlotte Crosswell said "We’ve still got work to be done. When you look at statistics of women in fintech — it’s not there yet.”; other leaders like Anne Boden of Starling Bank said we all need to try harder; studies also show that the more diverse a team the better they perform. Source.
Innovative Finance has published their annual Women in Fintech Powerlist; it includes 200 women who are leading the way in...
The UK fintech sector has shaken off the worries of Brexit to take in the second highest amount of capital from VC’s in 2017; they have overtaken China and only trail the US in terms of VC funding; according to data from Innovate Finance UK fintech investment was up 153 percent in 2017 from the year earlier; 24 per cent went into challenger banks, 21 percent into money transfer and foreign exchange, 17 percent into alternative lending and financing and 11 percent into personal finance/wealth management; VC investment globally reached $14.4bn across 1,824 deals, representing an 18 per cent decrease from 2016. Source.
The UK made its mark on Open Banking, but as global sights turn to the loftier prize of open finance, it's in danger of being left behind.
Two new working groups were created yesterday, Innovate Finance and City of London Corporation created Fintech Strategy Group and a consortium of fintech companies in Italy creating ItaliaFintech; the groups are meant to help fintech companies collaborate with traditional financial firms and work alongside regulators who want a better understanding of new business models; the working groups come after the European Commission laid out their Fintech Action Plan last week. Source.
The UK Peer to Peer Finance Association (P2PFA) was first established in 2011 (we covered it here). The trade body...
Innovate Finance has reported global investment in fintech trending higher; details reported to Crowdfund Insider cite an increase of 27% in 2016 with investment for the year at $15.2 billion with 839 deals; UK fintech investment has slowed while investment in China has been increasing; Innovate Finance says China has reported the top three fintech investment deals globally with funding for Alipay, Lufax and JD Finance; in the US, insurtech firm, Oscar, has led investment fundraising with funding of $400 million. Source
Innovate Finance has announced eight industry leaders for a new ambassador program; Innovate Finance is one of the UK's most active trade associations for fintech; it's led by CEO Lawrence Wintermeyer; some of the program's industry leading ambassadors include Anju Patwardhan from the CreditEase FinTech Fund and Mike Sigal from 500 Startups; the ambassadors will be actively involved in the organization's upcoming Global Summit on April 10 and 11 in London. Source
The UK has triggered Article 50 and the 27 European Union countries will now begin negotiating with the UK for new terms; Innovate Finance's Lawrence Wintermeyer provides comments on the effects on fintech; says Brexit will make it more challenging for the UK to attract global investment and talent; Wintermeyer also says Brexit could potentially create new opportunities for regtech which will become increasingly important in cross-border activities. Source
Implementation of blockchain operations for the finance industry is still ten years away according to UBS executive, Veronica Lange; speaking at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London, the UBS head of innovation says blockchain is still primarily in a research and development phase; there are a lot of positive reports about pilot programs and solutions and the finance industry is moving toward greater utilization of the technology but discussions at the Innovate Finance Global Summit report that new infrastructure will be required for full deployment and that will take time. Source