UK Fintech News Roundup: The Latest Stories 29/03

Every Wednesday we delve into the latest fintech updates from across the UK. This week brings updates from Coadec, The Smart Group, Inpay, Unbiased and Proxymity.

Open banking is booming in the UK

The political voice of fintech and technology startups and scaleups in the UK, Codec, revealed that the open banking ecosystem is worth over £4.1 billion in the UK in its latest report. Open banking firms also raised over £886 million in 2022 alone.

The report describes how regulation has driven the sector forward, with 92 per cent of all money collected by the open banking companies in the sample, since 2018 when regulation was put into operation for the first time. The sector has also created over 4,800 qualified jobs.

Luke Koskyfintech policy lead at Coadec, said: “The growth of open banking has been a UK-led marvel. However, we are now facing a critical ‘sink-or-swim’ moment for the industry. We have seen this industry grow to over £ 4 billion within 5 years, and with proactive support and regulation, the possibilities for open banking are endless.”

Smart Group is enjoying success

West London-based fintech and proptech business The smart group is celebrating back-to-back record years with a combined growth of 125 percent of its business since 2020.

The firm also achieved its first quarter turnover of £5m, and boasts a record 11,000 trade customers. The company was also named Financial company of the year on West London Business Awards for the fourth consecutive year.

Trevor CharnleyCEO of Smart Currency Exchange commented: “The 2021/2022 financial year was a significant advance for The Smart Group’s retail division – not only against pandemic levels, but also against pre-pandemic levels. It resulted in a record year for the division, achieving 42 percent growth from year to year.”

Inpay reveals a successful 2022

Danish owned fintech Deposit revealed that revenue has grown by almost £35m since 2018 Annual report for 2022.

As the fintech saw 2m more international payments go through Inpay in 2022 than the previous year, it posted revenue of £42.7m, up 26 per cent year-on-year from £34m. It also made a net profit of £5m, up from £1.2m in 2020.

Thomas Jul, CEO of Inpay, commented: “We are very pleased with the results for 2022, which have provided a strong foundation for future growth and value creation for our customers, society and other stakeholders. With the structural changes and exceptional senior talent we have brought with us in 2022, we are poised to sustainably accelerate our growth and expand further in the coming years, with the continued goal of democratizing payments worldwide.”

Objective launches in the US

UK platform for personal finance Prejudiced has expanded to the US with the launch of Unbiased.com.

The new site offers the ability to match clients with individual financial advisors who have the expertise to meet their specific needs. Unbiased also offers a comprehensive range of financial information and resources that empower people to make financial plans and decisions, from buying a home to planning for retirement.

“We are thrilled to bring our vision of making financial advice accessible to everyone to the United States,” said Karen Barrett, founder and CEO of Unbiased. “Finances can be overwhelming and confusing. Our goal is to give consumers the information and resources they need to make informed decisions and help them cut through the clutter to get the help they need.”

State Street and Proxymity launch proxy voting service

Digital investor communication platform Proximity operates a new digital proxy voting service Vote Connect Total. The service is distributed by State Street, provider of financial services to institutional investors. The proxy voting service is due to launch in the UK and Ireland in time for the 2023 proxy season.

Vote Connect Total enables issuers to publish “golden source” meeting announcements and agendas directly to investors. Investors receive ballots in near real-time along with improved deadlines and instant delivery of votes, giving investors more time to communicate with issuers,

Dean Littleco-founder and CEO of Proxymity, said: “We are thrilled to expand our partnership with State Street, as a highly valued and integral member of our investor consortium. As we grow our fruitful collaboration to connect more markets to Vote Connect platform, we continue to extend the benefits of truly digital real-time communication throughout the ecosystem.”