June Insights

In our monthly Fintech & Open Finance Insights newsletter we highlight the key industry news that has got us talking, shine a light on our SHIFT Fintech Members, and share exciting Woodhurst updates.

• ?? Read our new whitepaper ‘Powering the Modern Mutual: The Technology Landscape’ which delves into the latest technology vendors currently in the market.
• ?? Applications for Ignite open: In partnership with our Open Finance Community, SHIFT, applications for our fintech incubator programme ‘Ignite’ is now open. The programme provides financial support, financial services expertise, and an extensive industry network for early stage fintech founders. Apply now here.
• ??Last few tickets remaining! Sign up to SHIFT Fintech Showcase on the 25th July, at Rise, created by Barclays London.
• ?Woodhurst hosts successful webinar on Consumer Duty Reporting: Ahead of the July deadline, Woodhurst hosted a webinar in partnership with docStribute?? to discuss the best ways to approach Consumer Duty Board Reports. Read more here.
• ???Woodhurst hosts successful EmpWoWer event: As part of our ongoing ‘Women of Woodhurst’ EmpWoWer Series, this month saw Sally Scott , a distinguished leader with extensive experience in senior roles such as CEO and Managing Director, share her career journey with our team. From leadership tips to navigating the highs and lows of the corporate world, Sally captivated us with her insightful stories and practical advice that empowered all.

Industry Download

• Doshi partners with TSB Bank : After their successful participation in the TSB Labs programme, Doshi will be launching their educational app to support TSB’s Money Confident Communities programme that benefits thousands of UK students who are sponsored by TSB. The programme, involves TSB colleagues volunteering at local schools to help young people as they take their first steps towards financial independence. Read more about Doshi here.
• Apple Launches Tap To Cash: In Apple’s latest iOS update, users can now transfer Apple Cash without having to go through long processes of sharing details. This update also brings the ability to redeem rewards and access instalments from eligible credit or debit cards with Apple Pay, however it will only be available in the US. However, Apple Intelligence, their new range of AI-powered features, is already facing delays in their entry to the European market, under regulatory concerns.
• Thought Machine partners with Mastercard as their core banking provider: Enabling the transition of legacy technology to advanced cloud-native technology, Thought Machine has become Mastercard’s first strategic end-to-end core banking partner. Bringing a wealth of benefits, this technology will enable both lower costs, and rapid turn around times for new and personalised features such as credit scoring.
• BNP Paribas partners with BPCE for payments partnership: The strategic partnership sees BNP Paribas and BCPE intending to acquire processing payments technology for cardholders and merchants to enhance the payments field, which is crucial especially as the digitalisation of payments systems has taken full force in the market.
• Phoebus becomes IMLA member: As the latest firm to join the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), this partnership will allow other IMLA members to benefit from Phoebus’ extensive knowledge on the lending space.
• Sainsbury’s sells core banking business to NatWest: Sainsbury’s has agreed to sell its core banking business, which includes personal loan, credit card and retail deposit portfolios, to NatWest Group. The Group will acquire over one million customer accounts.
• CFIT launches coalition to fight economic crime: Working to create robust solutions to combat economic crime, CFIT has formed an industry coalition that aims to protect SMEs and defend the millions susceptible to APP fraud. Participants will begin testing different forms of technology that seeks to detect suspicious businesses and potential fraud by approving the identity of these companies that interact with financial services.

SHIFT Member Spotlight

The Fintech revolution is turning the traditional world of banking on its head. New streamlined players are emerging, targeting new and underserved markets with innovative financial products.

• Trusek is first and foremost a Core Banking Platform, which allows fintechs and FIs to quickly launch new financial products or migrate existing ones, before providing the foundations to scale up effectively.
• Trusek's SaaS offering can either be integrated into an existing digital banking interface through API’s, or white-labelled for the financial institution.
• Trusek empowers FI employees and servicing teams with real-time, Account Management capabilities.
• Trusek’s flexibility means that third party services can be easily integrated to enable FI’s to build out their offering to support the needs of today’s customers.

As a team they have also designed and created programmes for clients, including:

• Peer to Peer Currency Exchange to eliminate the need for FX brokers
• A Card Switch and card programme for instant card to card, cross border/cross currency transfers to reduce the time and cost of remittances
• Last mile infrastructure for “banking the unbanked” initiatives in developing countries

The Trusek team go beyond the creation of technology and services, to implementing and managing them across a number of countries. This gives invaluable experience when collaborating on new projects with clients.

Disruptive technology for disruptive businesses

Trusek have helped their client 3S Money expand their offering to business customers from the ground up, going from start up in 2018 to operating across 7 countries and processing $5.9 billion in client payments.

Recent focus has been on implementing web hook notifications to push information out rather than waiting for an API request to poll for new data. The front-end web hooks have improved the UX of 3S Money’s mobile app giving end users more information in real time on the status of their account. The back-end notifications enable 3S Money’s data warehouse to be kept perfectly up to date giving much better reporting and reconciliation.

Through its experience and expertise along with Partner relationships can assist clients with 'building a banking product', including:

• EMI sponsorship
• BIN sponsorship
• Compliance and regulatory reporting
• Card issuing and acquiring
• FX
• Banking

If you need a platform on which to build your new products, or would like to be a part of the Trusek eco-system please get in touch at [email protected]

Woodhurst's latest insights

• Our next SHIFT casual social will be held on the 11th July. As an excellent opportunity to network, don't miss out on this chance to connect with industry leaders, discover cutting-edge solutions, and be inspired by the future of finance. The event link will be shared privately via our SHIFT slack; please contact Kyle for further information.
• Next month our SHIFT Open Finance Community will be hosting the Fintech Showcase on the 25th July. Join us for a breakfast from 8:30am at Barclays Rise London to witness several fintechs pitch their solutions to a panel of Dragons representing top financial institutions and investors. With limited tickets remaining, secure your spot now!
• SHIFT Open Finance Community & Woodhurst Launch Ignite to Support Fintech Founders: In partnership with our open finance community, SHIFT, applications for the ‘Ignite’ incubator programme is now open. Ignite offers personalised mentorship from Woodhurst’s team of consultants to help accelerate fintech founders. The dedicated support will be offered to one successful applicant at a time, and reap the benefits of an initial cash injection, access to co-working space and technology, to name a few. Apply here now.

• Our latest webinar with docStribute?? saw us discuss the best ways to approach Consumer Duty Board Reports ahead of the July deadline.

• Read our latest report, ‘Powering the Modern Mutual: The Technology Landscape’ which explores different technology vendors at length, and and provides insights into the perspectives from over 30 top vendors that are currently in the market. Recently updated, we have added in further information on additional vendors in the space.

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If you'd like to find out more about Woodhurst and how we can help you please get in touch at [email protected].