The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Developing fintech’s future
Fintech Scotland’s CEO Stephen Ingledew hopes to support firms as they revolutionise the financial services sector
Q What is the role of Fintech Scotland?
A Fintech Scotland is a partnership between the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise, Edinburgh University and the financial services sector through Scottish Financial Enterprise.
We aim to make sure the various players – small enterprises, larger enterprises, the public sector, academia and the technology suppliers – are connected and working collaboratively to generate innovation opportunities.
The analogy I use is that I’m like a football coach on the side of the pitch.
If I can get everyone playing together as a team they can perform better for Scotland as a whole.
We also want to amplify fintech within Scotland and globally so it becomes a thriving sector that encourages more enterprises to come here.
Q Why is Scotland well placed for fintech and how do you sell Scotland as a destination?
A We have all the ingredients. We’ve got established financial services, not just banks but asset management, pensions and insurance.
We’ve got a thriving entrepreneurial community through tech.
We’ve got big tech players and the academic base. We also have a very supportive public sector. When you pull those altogether it’s a unique position.
Q How vibrant do you feel the fintech scene is in Scotland?
A There’s always been some very good activity – you could argue that fintech started in the late 1970s in Fife around the area of payments and money transactions, which is still thriving in that area. Technology is allowing the reinvention of financial services to drive growth and also improve social outcomes in terms of financial inclusion and a more diverse workforce.
Start-ups have been fuelled by people coming out of financial services starting businesses to do things better.
Q You’ve stated that Scotland should aim to be a top five global fintech hub. How can that be achieved?
A It is a good ambition to show we are serious about fintech.
It is about how do we help fintech enterprises to start and grow and access funding?
How do we make sure that they work and there’s collaboration with businesses like banks, asset managers and insurers like Aviva in Perth?
There’s a good flow of talent coming through the universities and we are helping to develop the retraining of people around digital and data skills.
Q What projects are on the horizon for Fintech Scotland?
A We see an opportunity to develop a global centre of excellence around open banking to allow data to be used in a more innovative way to help people engage with their money effectively.
It is something we are looking to be linked in with the universities.
We are also working on a digital platform to connect all of Scotland. Bringing entrepreneurs together drives a new level of creativity.
You can’t always do that physically. We hope a virtual platform will help to do that.
Q Will fintech be a major part of the Scottish economy in the future?
A Financial services are already a major economy for Scotland.
Fintech is just the next evolution. Every organisation is using the new technologies to deliver for customers.
As more and more is done with technology there is a greater emphasis on the wider human skills and knowledge which brings in areas around psychology, financial behaviour and anthropology.
Those skill sets are needed alongside the technical skill sets of data science, artificial intelligence and mathematics.
It is the blend and diversity of skills that will allow Scotland to stand out.
What’s really interesting about a lot of the fintechs in Scotland is that they are all using data to drive innovation but a lot also have an overarching social purpose. They are reinventing financial services to be more inclusive for more people than it has been in the past.
I think that social purpose gives a stronger mission behind what we are trying to achieve.