Mainstream finance has spent a long time coming in the direction of altfi. Now the traffic is definitely two-way. AltFi reports an innovation from a Manchester-based lawyer, who’s heading for the banking space: The founder of a Manchester-based law firm is gearing up for a rollout of a digital bank next year, after the law […]
We’re not sure whether the FinTech sector can be said to have big dogs. There are unicorns aplenty, with billion-dollar valuations formulated in the fertile imaginations of venture capitalists. Big dogs, however, are real businesses, operating in a real business environment. If there is a UK FinTech big dog, we’d say challenger bank Revolut was […]
The Covid-19 lockdown has thrust change upon all sectors of UK industry. The alternative finance sector, of which Money&Co. is a well-known player, is among the most agile in the current UK economy. Our friends at P2P Finance News look at changing working practices in the direct lending sector. Peer-to-peer lending platforms have followed the […]
One of our favourite media epithets is “tight-lipped”, a synonym for “no comment”. Our friends at AltFi showcase a fine example: UK fintechs are remaining tight-lipped on whether they will take up the government’s offer of thousands of pounds for returning furloughed workers to their jobs. The government’s job retention bonus scheme pays businesses £1,000 for […]
Here’s a tour of our horizon. Money&Co. CEO, Nicola Horlick, explains the future as she sees it to our friends at P2P Finance News: The coronavirus crunch has made it harder to find small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) loans that are “safe options” for peer-to-peer investors, Money&Co founder Nicola Horlick has said. Horlick, known as […]
Our long-standing interest in the crypto world has been further piques by a report from our friends at P2P Finance News. The gist is that the City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, the FCA, should have oversight of crypto operations in the UK. Our feeling is that this may well fall into the category of […]
The pandemic has certainly been an agent for change. The need to adapt strategy and business direction has become a matter of survival for both mainstream and alternative financial sectors. The inventiveness, mothered by necessity, may even see one of the oldest and best-established direct lending platforms morph into an altogether different type of financial […]
The dust thrown up by the Covid-19 virus hasn’t even begun to settle yet. Our friends at Crowdfundinsider report on a new platform set up to facilitate funding for companies that don’t qualify for the various government relief schemes. This is a separate issue from the scramble among altfi platforms to qualify for distributor status. […]
The integration of mainstream finance with the alternative finance sector continues to gather pace. Our friends at AltFi report on a relaunched premium service from Monzo with what the challenger bank claims is a host of new features. The move comes after several delays and difficulties. The flagship feature of Monzo Plus, priced at £5/month with a […]
Security of payment transactions is not the sexiest topic, even in the dry world of financial services. Nevertheless, transaction security is an absolute cornerstone of financial stability. We blogged recently on this very topic – will identity become the new currency? Meanwhile, our friends at FinExtra report developments in international payment systems: The emergence of […]