UK Fintech News Roundup: The Latest Stories 07/12

Every Wednesday we delve into the latest fintech updates from across the UK. This week brings updates from Noso, FCA, IBM, Mambu and Chetwood Financial.

Nosso launches gift service for children

Nosoa UK fintech offering investment accounts for children has launched a new gifting service aimed at making it easier to set up investment accounts for children.

The Junior ISA provider’s latest service enables extended family and friends to provide an investment account before it is set up. Fintech sought to respond to research, which found that 49 percent of parents and families said their child had not set up a savings or investment account.

Youssef Darwich, Nosso’s co-founder and CEO, spoke about the service. Darwich commented: “Despite parents, family and friends all agree that giving money is preferable to a physical gift for children, many still see it as awkward and lacking in personal touch.

“We want to change the perception that gifting ‘cash’ is less important. Our app enables families and friends to give investments and personalize these with images and messages. With our new gifting service, we allow any friend or family to take the initiative and start to invest.”

FCA alert reports fell during covid

A report released by a Berlin-based instant cash payment service for online stores, Funangawhich highlights alert reports sent to the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The report saw a significant drop in whistleblowing reports following the Covid outbreak, but they are rising again in 2022. Anonymous reports have also increased in 2022, as more workers return to the office. The research suggests that the FCA’s efforts to encourage whistleblowers have been unsuccessful, that reports are taking too long to be acted upon and that the regulator is overlooking money laundering.

Jens Bader, CEO of Funanga, explained the significance of the research. Bader said: “The last 36 months have been a petri dish of increased money laundering, financial fraud, fraud and other forms of non-compliance. Meanwhile, the FCA launched a new whistleblowing initiative in 2021 ‘In confidence, with confidence’ to encourage more reporting of wrongdoing by employees in the financial sector. All logical analysis would conclude that whistleblowing cases will increase, but the opposite is true. Whistleblowers fell silent in the wake of Covid, although the wrongdoing never went away.”

IBM addresses traditional banking failures to attract young customers

IBMthe multinational technology company, has released a report on ‘How banks can cater to Gen Z customers‘.

The report highlights that 55 percent of Gen Z have more trust in traditional banks to solve serious banking problems such as fraud, compared to only 11 percent who trust digital banks more. Despite this, 85 percent of bankers still feel disadvantaged by digital banks attracting and retaining this age group.

It also found that 91 percent of bankers believe Gen Z will have a significant impact on their bottom line over the next five years.

Ashman Bank goes live on Mambu

MambuThe SaaS cloud banking platform, has been chosen by Ashman Bank to help serve SMEs in the commercial real estate sector.

Ashman has gone live on Mambu’s cloud banking platform; uses it to manage its lending offering to provide a service for conscientious property businesses and entrepreneurs in the UK.

Simon Healy, Chief Operations Officer at UK fintech Ashman Bank, explains what Mambu can offer for their targets. He said: “Ashman will enable real estate entrepreneurs to move fast, win fast, be decisive and go after the opportunities they see. We will be fully digital, focused on delivering speed and a personalized service to our intermediary partners and clients. We sought a partner with the technical capacity and robust cloud infrastructure to meet the needs we have today.”

Cost of living research highlights a change in attitude towards banks

Chetwood Financial has revealed new research on the cost of living; highlights that 54 per cent of UK adults are struggling to save money due to inflationary pressures.

The survey of 2,000 UK adults found that 32 per cent are dissatisfied with the support received from their bank during the cost of living crisis. Only 44 percent of them said they had visited a physical bank branch in the past 12 months.

Andy Mielczarekchief executive and founder of Chetwood Financial, said: “With inflation still near 40-year highs and energy costs rising sharply in the UK, Britons are facing some of the most difficult economic circumstances for many years. In response to these challenges, many are embracing the digital revolution, and are seeking new methods to strengthen their financial management and spending power. The resulting change in consumer behavior has been palpable.”