Against the backdrop of the challenges global economies are facing, Collision’s theme of ‘Commerce’ posed the question: ‘Will we fall back on the institutions we trust, or continue to look for new ways to access the services we need?’ In the UK’s fintech sector, the latter is certainly already ringing true and at an unprecedented pace. The current pandemic has accelerated consumer needs; the demand for instant access to financial services and products from a mobile phone seems inexhaustible. The UK, therefore, is in a unique position to continue to unleash financial technology opportunities, thanks to a progressive regulatory landscape and a thriving history of entrepreneurship. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the freshest fintechs that are disrupting some already disrupted areas of innovation.
One such business is pirkx. It’s prospering post-Covid-19 – and helping the hard-hit self-employed to try and do the same. Its packages extend conventional employee benefits to gig workers. By allowing organisations to offer incentives to them, such as wellbeing, health and financial perks – businesses in turn, can attract and retain the best talent – regardless of whether they’re full-time or not.
“We were business owners who couldn’t find what we were looking for in the marketplace for our business at an affordable price - even though it had already been disrupted,” says Stella Smith, pirkx’s CEO and Founder. She adds, “We were included in the Department for International Trade’s Fintech Bridge {bilateral cooperation agreements between certain jurisdictions} which has enabled us to plan our launch of pirkx Australia shortly. I truly believe that the UK is leading the way in fintech innovation and we have an exceptional ecosystem of innovative companies that can continue to work together to improve the lives of people across the country not just now but for many years to come. It is extremely important that UK fintechs continue to create and develop solutions that not only support, but actually enhance the lives of people in the UK as we enter a post COVID-19 world.”
Current socio-economic conditions are also spurring on technologies that plug gaps in the market for the underbanked, who lack access to financial products and services. This is creating an exciting space for investors and innovators – with UK start-ups increasingly challenging the dominance of high-interest lenders. When it comes to international payments, pioneering companies such as TransferWise are providing lower remittance costs for immigrants and expatriates wanting to send money to family back home. With significantly lower rates, including FX, it also offers huge savings for businesses. This, despite the World Bank is predicting the sharpest decline of remittances in recent history. If anything, the pandemic has brought new customers to its door.
Then there’s Ebury – another UK fintech that’s buoyed by the new landscape and fuelling optimism in the market. It supports SMEs with cross-border payments in 20 different countries. While other businesses in other sectors may be collectively holding their breath, there’s no hanging around for Ebury. It’s just rolled out a new feature called ‘Ebury Instant’ – enabling clients to make and receive payments in real time, irrespective of the currency and cut-off time. It’s innovation like this that’s helping accelerate business operations during the pandemic.
It would be remiss to discuss the accelerated change in and adoption of UK fintech innovation without mentioning Artificial Intelligence and its unwavering growth. Take AMPLYFI, a brand that is helping businesses turn increasingly large, complex and unstructured datasets into actionable insight. While human-based analysis is still common in business intelligence, AMPLYFI’s AI and machine learning helps C-suites make faster, smarter strategic decisions, devoid of human error or prejudice. AMPLYFI’s Head of Fintech believes this is needed more than ever.
“As global economies enter deep recessions, lenders are increasingly looking to new sources of intelligence and insight to make better credit decisions about new and existing customers. AMPLYFI’s ability to unlock the internet and analyse unstructured data using artificial intelligence and machine learning, significantly enhances their existing lending processes with the real-time insight needed to navigate the dynamic sector risks and opportunities that COVID-19 has created,” says Ant Murphy.
Within the UK fintech sphere, certain sectors are benefitting unexpectedly and thriving amid the pandemic. The payments, compliance, AI and benefits spaces are some that appear to be going from strength to strength. This is because of their ability to pivot their offerings at meteoric speed, with regulatory support from the government. Without doubt, it’s an exciting time to enter the UK’s fintech ecosystem – whether as an entrepreneur or investor – and join the disruptors in an already dynamic, disrupted marketplace.
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