FinTech Alliance Article
TechPassport
Connecting FinTechs with financial institutions while automating third-party data management to meet DORA requirements
We sat down with Layla White, CEO and Founder of TechPassport to discuss her experience, business, and much more...
TechPassport was born to simplify and speed up the onboarding process for suppliers and simultaneously find innovative tech for financial institutions.
Layla set up Tech Passport in response to her experiences in procurement at HSBC, particularly the frustrations of the business team she was supporting: “it led me to ask myself, how can we buy so much technology and things still be so archaic? And this was not particular to me at HSBC but was common all across the sector.”
Hoping to solve the problem, Layla started contacting colleagues at banks to work out what was needed to streamline this process.?
“For a start-up”, notes Layla, “what they really care about is getting that contract as quickly as possible to deliver that product so they can begin to generate revenue, grow, and add even more value.”
The problems, however, occur when a bank and a start-up want to work together. Layla recognises that it’s “traditionally been very linear, but it’s a two-way relationship - you need the information from both parties as far forward as possible! This is where it really started to take shape and we’ve ticked off a major box which is that banks and startups give that information up front, so they know exactly what they need to work together.”
Notably, by having a taxonomy on the platform, banks are able to see what type of contract the supplier has had previously without giving away confidential information. Layla is keen to note that “it’s not only about this taxonomy, but also about building communities and creating a movement – for example we have developed a thumbs up feature to allow institutions to give endorsements back to suppliers. It’s really all about trust and such features give banks the ability to trust suppliers and give suppliers the ability to trust banks.”
“There’s still a lot more we can do” admits Layla, “ultimately, we want to educate both parties and work with them to ask: how do we continue to improve these processes and avoid 12-month sales cycles that kill startups and kill innovation? Let’s get this down to 6 months!”
With such an exciting target in mind, it is important to consider how founders’ priorities change over time. Layla is no stranger to this, recognising the development in your motivation as you grow.?“When I first started, I was motivated by fixing the problem. Then I got some investment, and I was motivated by paying back my angel investor. But as time has gone on, what motivates me more than anything else is the team. l want to make sure that they’re happy every day, they've got interesting work, and they are in an environment that they love.” For Layla, however, it goes further than this: “I also want to make sure that they're protected. And that protection is in lots of different forms, but particularly from a financial perspective.”
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Interestingly, what motivates Layla to help her workforce as best as possible is also evident in the purpose of TechPassport. Layla recognises that “the recession is going to bite really hard for a lot of startups, so I think that if we can play a part in any way making it easier, that's ultimately what we want to get to. We'd also like to be able to educate the banks on this so they begin to understand that they’re not just in a fight with a large organisation that has loads of money and can afford to wait two years.?These people have bills to pay and families and it's not just the founder, it’s also everybody else involved. And I believe that’s why we need to encourage everyone to be just a bit more human and a bit more appreciative of each other!”
It’s this fundamental understanding between banks and start-ups that is so central to the challenge Layla is tackling. So is there anything, from the FinTech's point of view, that that you wish they understood better about banks that could really help them?
“Massively!” replies Layla. “I was in a meeting a few months ago, explaining the process, and those from the bank in the meeting looked at me like I had two heads. I thought everyone just understood the process!”?
Layla explains that the people who work in banks on other sides to procurement such as technology don’t always understand these processes and FinTechs need to recognise this. “Working with banks, especially Tier 1s, they're huge organisations and procurement is the point of contact. They sit in the middle of this machine - they face off to legal, they face off to compliance. The only thing you ever see as a supplier is procurement, but the governance behind it is huge! So, it's really the educational piece for startups that is key. If you're a small company you’re lean, you're agile, and it's great that you can move quickly; but you are working with a big bank and they can't move as quickly so it's important to build in that timescale, just to know that you've got that padding behind you. Because the truth is, if you're selling into a large institution, they are your priority, but you're not theirs.”
Layla also suggests that start-ups find an internal champion to sponsor you, push through the deal, and really develop the relationship. “Unfortunately,” Layla notes, “if you haven't got a champion at the outset you're going to really, really struggle. But once you've found your champion that's how you own it!”
It’s not all a struggle, however, as finding a champion isn’t as difficult as you might think. Layla believes there are comparable approaches within start-ups and incumbents, noting that “a lot of the stakeholders we're working with are in the innovation teams and they like to innovate just like startups!”
“If you work in a start-up, or you found a start-up, you probably like pushing the boundaries, doing something a little bit different and proving you can do something faster and better. And you want to push that as much as possible all the time. So similarly, if you're in innovation, you're probably there because you get really excited about pushing things along. It's the same kind of psyche as the people that work in a start-up, so I think the reality is that they want to see these new technologies work and improve processes. And it's not just about the banks doing better, it's their personal drive as well. Yes, they want it to be better for their organisation, for their sector, but they also want to be part of that change.”
Ultimately, TechPassport is about streamlining the partnerships that lead to greater financial access and financial inclusion by encouraging collaboration with FinTechs who provide the technology to transform financial wellbeing. Layla is adamant in her belief that, “if we can streamline this process for FinTechs, the effect their technologies can have on society is considerable. The kinds of technologies we're trying to put forward, even down to digital identification and anti-fraud software, is making many people’s lives better. I think that's where financial technology is so exciting!”
“The way TechPassport will feed into it is being able to help plug in this technology that would have taken the banks months and months to build. It’s not, however, just about getting what the banks want, it’s also about getting what the suppliers want and that’s where our Supplier Advisory Board comes in. We made a point of choosing some really strong personalities – we want to know what we are doing wrong and how we can improve because that’s the only way we can be successful and make sure we continue to make real impact. They’re more than just a Supplier Advisory Board, they are the advocates for FinTech, for the whole sector, they are speaking on behalf of all of you and driving this streamlined process!”
Article by Louis Williams , Community Manager at FinTech Alliance