Fintech - July 2023

July 2023

fintechmagazine.com

VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS

F&M BANK: DRIVING DIGITAL WHILST STAYING

PERSONAL THE FUTURE OF ATMS: ADAPTING TO THE DIGITAL AGE

SUSTAINABILITY: SOLVING CRYPTO’S ISSUES THANKS TO PROOF-OF-STAKE

ORACLE CLOUD: INFRASTRUCTURE LEADERS

Oracle’s Jürgen Kress explains how being named a cloud infrastructure leader will propel the business and those it works with

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DIVERSITY IS BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT

If, like me, you’re only beginning to recover from last month’s epic Money20/20 Europe, then we’ve got some excellent content to ease you back into the spirit of things

FinTech Magazine was out in full force in Amsterdam, interviewing some amazing speakers and showing off our special Money20/20 edition. Amsterdam is a vibrant and diverse city – and this month’s issue of the magazine is big on diversity. June was Pride Month, and, with many pride events in the Northern Hemisphere continuing until the end of August, we’ve decided to take a look at how banks can meet the needs of their diverse customers. What needs do LGBTQ people have, and how are banks adapting?

We also look at the sustainability of crypto. Traditionally, crypto mining has been highly energyintensive – but will the advent of proof-of-stake, rather than proof-of-work, lead to a cleaner and greener crypto industry? So take a weight off those weary feet and enjoy the articles in this month’s issue.

ALEX CLERE

“LGBTQ+ CUSTOMERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO ENCOUNTER FINANCIAL STRESS – SO THEY NEED BANKING PRODUCTS THAT WORK FOR THEM”

CONTENTS

UP FRONT

14

16

20

BIG PICTURE EU Parliament passes crypto regulatory framework, MiCA

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Anne Boden, founder of Starling Bank

FIVE MINS WITH André Symes, Group CEO, and Craig Olivier, Group CTO of Genasys Technologies

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CONTENTS

92 LGBTQ+ BANKING

How can financial inclusion of LGBTQ+ community be improved?

100 TOP 10 Top 10 venture capital firms investing in fintech

BIG PICTURE

EU Parliament passes crypto regulatory framework, MiCA Brussels, Belgium, EU Parliament

European Union (EU) Parliament, Brussels – the scene where EU member states authorised final approval to introduce the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) bill, the world’s first comprehensive set of cryptocurrency regulations, on 16 May 2023.

As the final stage of MiCA’s approval process, the vote marked the end of approval for a regulatory framework first proposed in September 2020. MiCA will come into effect in stages, with initial regulations being implemented from the start of 2024. Regulations covered in the bill extend to a variety of cryptoassets, from stablecoins to crypto-asset service providers, and utility tokens to exchange service suppliers.

ANNE

BODEN

THE FIRST WOMAN TO FOUND A BRITISH BANK

Anne Boden is the highly regarded and vastly experienced CEO of the UK’s Starling Bank. She founded the challenger in 2014 after a 30-year career at some of the world’s best known financial institutions –including Allied Irish Banks, Royal Bank of Scotland, and ABN AMRO.

In a shock decision, she stepped back from the top role at Starling Bank at the end of June, replaced on an interim basis by the bank’s former COO, John Mountain. Although she remains on the board, it brings a close to an impressive tenure that saw Starling grow from a fledgling disruptor to a mainstream fintech bank in full flight.

The move was designed to protect the bank from accusations of a conflict of interest, given Boden’s role as both CEO and a major shareholder. “It is clear the roles and priorities of a CEO and a large shareholder ultimately differ and require distinct approaches,” she said in clarification of the decision, further underlying how far the bank has come since its early days nearly a decade ago.

Reflecting on her reason to launch Starling Bank before she stepped down

as CEO, Boden said: “I wanted to offer people a fairer, smarter and more human alternative to the banks of the past. We have achieved this by giving our customers world-class technology in the palm of their hand and 24/7 customer service, allowing them to feel supported wherever they are and whatever their financial needs.”

An entrepreneurial spirit from a young age

A proud Welshwoman, Anne Boden was born in Swansea in 1960. Her father was a steelworker – a common occupation for the area at that time – while her mother applied her hand to several business ventures, including a car hire company and a builders’ merchant. Clearly, the entrepreneurial spirit was passed on through the generations.

While still at school, Boden got her first taste of finance, entrusted with keeping the records of her school bank, which was set up to teach her classmates the value of money. Students would pay in a small amount of money on a regular basis and receive a lump sum at the end of the year, which they could spend on things that were important to them.

Anne Boden’s decision to step back from her role as ex-CEO of Starling Bank will be keenly felt in banking circles, given the impact her leadership has had

“I wanted to offer people a fairer, smarter and more human alternative to the banks of the past”

Boden went on to study Computer Science & Chemistry at Swansea University, graduating in 1981, before obtaining an MBA from Middlesex University in 1990. By that point, she had already held senior roles at Lloyds and Standard Chartered. Over the course of the next two-and-a-half decades, she built up an impressive résumé –first as Vice President of Corporate and Institutional Banking at Swiss bank UBS, then as Chief Information Officer at Aon. Later came executive roles at ABN AMRO, RBS and Allied Irish Banks – where she spent 18 months as COO – before Boden left to found Starling at the beginning of 2014. Today, the digital-only fintech has three million account holders,

thousands of employees and annual revenues at the last count in excess of £450m.

What will Starling Bank’s Anne Boden do next?

As of yet, there is no official word about what Anne Boden will do next, now that she has left Starling Bank. The role of CEO is an all-consuming one – delivering on the objectives of the business, navigating the expectations of company directors and securing investment from outside backers. So it is possible Biden will seek some respite before accepting her next opportunity. She has already furnished

Founded in

2014

3mn account holders

£450mn revenue last year

us with a few hints about her next pursuit, previously saying that she would like to be involved with “something entrepreneurial in the application of machine learning to fabric and fashion design”.

We know that she will continue to be involved as a board director at Starling Bank. She also sits on the board of UK Finance; is chair of the government’s womenled, high-growth enterprise taskforce; and regularly speaks at high-profile fintech events including Money20/20. Boden was recognised for her service to the industry with an MBE for services to fintech in the 2018 birthday honours list.

“It is clear the roles and priorities of a CEO and a large shareholder ultimately differ and require distinct approaches”

GROUP

CEO GROUP

CEO

GROUP CTO

FIVE

MINUTES WITH... How does a 20-year friendship help the leadership duo behind Genasys Technologies, which provides a SaaS platform for the insurance industry?

Q. CAN YOU TELL US WHEN YOU FIRST MET AND WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES WERE?

» Craig Olivier (CO): It would have been around 1998 or 1999 – back when I wore my Kurt Cobain sunglasses everywhere, as André loves to remind me. I was already working for Genasys, so we had Steve (Genasys’ founder and André’s father) as a common connection, but we actually met at a bar where I was DJing. We were friends long before we worked together, which has been key to our working relationship and the success of our business. We’ve always made it fun.

Q YOU’RE FRIENDS AS WELL AS BUSINESS PARTNERS. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT’S BEEN IMPORTANT TO YOU IN BUSINESS?

»André Symes (AS): Craig and I have been friends for 20 years, and we’ve been business partners for over 10 years, so we’ve always found that we’re greater than the sum of our parts.

We’ve always been aligned in how we want to scale Genasys in a sustainable way. Though we have different skill sets, they’re incredibly complementary. We both focus on the areas where we can effect base change and, together, that becomes a strong, positive outcome for Genasys.

What’s great is that the nature of our relationship enables us to challenge each other’s concepts and ideas. Even though

our titles have recently changed from co-CEOs to Group CEO and Group CTO, we’re still the dual leaders of the business.

When Craig and I convinced our shareholders to dip the Genasys toe into UK markets, we set off to knock on many doors, sometimes getting lost along the way. But that was a real bonding experience for us because, when you’re doing something as difficult as breaking into new markets on a bootstrap budget, having your bestie with you on that journey certainly makes it a lot easier and a lot of fun.

Q. WHAT DID YOU WANT TO DO AS A JOB WHEN YOU WERE CHILDREN?

» CO: My ambition was to be a professional surfer – that’s what I spent most of my time doing while I was at school and college. I love the ocean. Since moving back to Cape Town to head up our Product and Innovation Campus, I’ve bought a new wetsuit and new surfboard, and you can find me catching a wave whenever I can. I’m loving being back in the water.

AS: From about the age of six or seven, I was really into architectural drawing. I loved designing houses and buildings and when I happened to find a 3D drawing programme on my parents’ PC, I was in my element. I really wanted to become an architect.

Q. WHO WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD HERO AND WHY?

» CO: Do you remember the original series of MacGyver from the 1980s? Well, I wanted to be Angus ‘Mac’ MacGyver. I used to absolutely love it. What I liked was his troubleshooting approach, taking ordinary objects when solving real-world problems. And, at the end of every show, there was always something that I’d seen

him do that I wanted to try at home, which often involved me dismantling some form of electronics, like the Hi-Fi, much to the dismay of my family.

AS: When I was younger, I was obsessed with motorcycle racers including Valentino Rossi. To be honest, Rossi wasn’t just my childhood hero, as he ended up having a career that spanned more than two decades and retired only two years ago. He was supremely successful in his field. And he always did it with a smile on his face and having a good time. And there’s a lot of parallels that I draw on, as Rossi worked really hard but always with empathy and fun along the way, and he never took himself too seriously.

Q. INSURANCE GETS A BIT OF A BAD RAP. WHAT PROBLEMS DOES THE SECTOR STRUGGLE WITH?

» AS: Insurance definitely has a bad rap and, in my view, it’s because many people aren’t aware of its value, so it’s perceived as a grudge purchase. Add to this that insurance is sometimes mandated and the resentment levels increase.

As consumers, far too often we’re forced into buying insurance that we view as expensive and inflexible – coupled with the fact that the process of buying insurance or talking to our provider when we want to, using our preferred channel, can be a frustrating experience.

At Genasys, we’ve always been about changing the way insurance is done, which means putting the end-customer first. Our approach is simple: we cut through the hype by simplifying technology and by making it clear that you don’t need a complex, costly and time-consuming digital

‘transformation’ journey. As a result of our approach, our clients are able to evolve their technology as we provide them with the ability to deliver fast while succeeding fast on the customer experience.

Q. CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR POINT OF DIFFERENCE IN 15 WORDS?

» CO: At Genasys, we make insurance more accessible for everyone through simple, innovative, and open technology. The longer answer is that we’re on a mission to make insurance easier and more rewarding for insurers, MGAs, brokers, and their end-customers.

Q. WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES YOU IN INSURTECH/SAAS TODAY?

» CO: Companies who want to use technology for the right reason – to effect positive change within society. But just as inspiring are the companies that are willing and ready to change because they know they can be, and want to be, better for their end-customers.

AS: For me, there’s a group of people that are absolutely determined to change insurance to make it accessible to all and to be of real value to policyholders. Their drive and resilience is inspiring. We’ve been through a massively noisy season of insurtech where anybody and everybody was launching a product. Cash was cheap and there was a plethora of people joining the sector. Now, many of these entrants have moved on or funding has dried up – they haven’t found the path to profitability. So, for me, the maturity of the insurtech market is inspiring as we’ve now gone through the trough of disillusionment and we’re now getting to this plateau of productivity.

Q. WHAT’S ONE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY THAT YOU COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT?

» CO: I grew up in a musical family and music has always been important to me, so my JBL speaker is one thing that I always want to keep charged. AS: Absolutely my smart watch! And if I didn’t have Strava in my life then I would be lost – I use it all the time when I’m cycling or running.

Q. WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED?

» AS: One of my early mentors shared this with me: consistency trumps momentary brilliance. It’s stuck with me ever since. If I’d perhaps realised that at an earlier age, then school, college and life might have been easier!

Q. WHAT WAS THE LAST GOOD BOOK YOU READ?

» CO: The last book that really changed my perspective was Who: The A Method for Hiring by Randy Street and Geoff Smart. It’s all about getting the best talent into your team and picking ‘A’ players. It transformed the way I approached decisions involved in building my team.

Q. WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?

» AS: We currently have some big implementations in play as well as helping a number of startups launch greenfield products into new territories. Since starting a digital partnership with our first large UK customer, we’ve gone on to partner with several other large-scale UK insurance businesses that are now going into the discovery phase,

developing their digital evolution programmes.

We’re serious about investing in our product development, and, most importantly, in our people, who have always been what sets Genasys apart. Through our product and our talented team, we now support clients across Africa, North America, Oceania and the UK to manage a gross written premium of over £1bn (US$1.24bn). As we take on more customers across more territories in a highly-competitive market, there’s never been a more crucial time for us to invest in our product development and focus on staying ahead of the market.

CO: The opening of our new headquarters in Cape Town – the Genasys Product and Innovation Campus – is an exciting milestone. We’ve created a work

space that will support our people to drive our technology expansion and attract new insurtech talent as well as outstanding university graduates.

We have a very clear path for the evolution of the Genasys product. This hasn’t been us crystal-balling but spending time with people in the insurance industry to understand where the pain points are. We made a conscious decision some time ago to focus on insurance management, creating ecosystems where customers have the flexibility to plug in new technologies. Hype and technology are interconnected and, while one of our mantras is to ‘avoid tech for the sake of tech’, we’re always alert, exploring how innovation can be used to support the insurance industry’s aspirations and translate this into real-world application for businesses.

Build a Digital Future and Lasting Customer Success

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Tech ‘about evolution, not revolution’ - Coforge

Gautam Samanta, Coforge EVP and Global Head of Banking and Financial Services, stresses that digital transformation is all about delivering value.

Coforge is a global digital services and solutions provider, and helps its clients embrace emerging and new technologies to achieve real-world business impact.

The company’s proprietary platforms power critical business processes across a select number of sectors, and it has a presence in 21 countries, with 25 delivery centres across nine nations.

One of the sectors in which Coforge is a key player is banking and financial services (BFS), where it is helping its BFS clients on the digital transformation journey by making the road as straight and smooth as possible.

“Digital transformation is an evolutionary process, not a revolutionary one,” says Samanta. “So we do not see it as disruptive.”

He adds that having a clear vision of what digital transformation is - and isn’t - is what shapes the solutions that help Coforge’s clients achieve their goals.

“For us, digital transformation is not just a marketing phrase to wrap around software services. It is not about the technology.

It is about delivering business value for stakeholders, including shareholders, customers and employees.”

Samanta adds that Coforge’s approach is effective because its solutions also “absorb the realities of our customers’ enterprises” - the reality being that “the old and the new often coexist in business processes that can sometimes be decades old”.

“One of the things that differentiates us is that we are pragmatic in our approach to helping clients,” Samanta adds. “Yes, we transform with the new, but not at the expense of the old, which often has value.”

It helps, too, that Coforge has a deep understanding of what value looks like in BFS, because the company has chosen to focus its attention on this sector, as well as a small number of other verticals.

“We focus on very select industries, and have a deep understanding of the underlying processes of those industries, which provide us with a distinct perspective,” says Samanta.

ORACLE CLOUD and the power of community in driving digital evolution

PRODUCED BY: LEWIS VAUGHAN

WRITTEN BY: MAYA DERRICK

Oracle’s Jürgen Kress

In conversation with Mobile Magazine, Director of Product Management Integration and Digital Assistant at Oracle Jürgen Kress shared insights into how Oracle Cloud leverages community to propel digital evolution. As a multinational computer technology corporation and the third-largest software company worldwide, Oracle is renowned for its comprehensive range of software products and services. The company offers Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), with a comprehensive set of services from infrastructure to platform and SaaS. This ranges from compute and storage, PaaS services like integration, BI, content, identity management, or a chatbot to services like ERP, HCM, CX, NetSuite, or industry solutions like the OPERA Hospitality Platform. With a mission to help people view data in new ways, discover insights, and unlock endless possibilities, Oracle remains at the top of its game. Named a Leader and Positioned Highest for Ability to Execute in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integration Platform as a Service Worldwide 2023, Oracle continues to shape the future of digital transformation.

The transformation journey

Kress, who has been with Oracle for over two decades, highlights the remarkable transformation in the IT industry. Oracle’s

explains how being named a leader in two Gartner Magic Quadrant reports will further propel the business and those it works with

Technically Inspiring

We use our specialist technical expertise, powerful technology, customised client solutions and global reach to deliver better results for the world of insurance.

Why Oracle Cloud has the ability to provide PaaS services

Vikas Sharma, Global Head of INSIS CoE at Charles Taylor, explains how the company harnesses Oracle’s OCI to enhance their internal operations and output

With a history spanning almost 140 years, Charles Taylor provides insurance solutions with a unique breadth, offering technical expertise and global reach alongside award-winning solutions. Their constant strive for excellence is propelled forward through using an array of Oracle Cloud systems that have been in place for the last 10 years – as Vikas Sharma, Global Head of INSIS CoE, explains.

‘A natural choice’

“It was a natural choice for us to try Oracle Cloud products, so we moved into OCI. One of the main benefits of OCI was providing PaaS services.” Comparing OCI Autonomous Database to a self-driving car, Sharma praised its ability to do its own patching –whether that be security patching, security detection, or identifying vulnerabilities. And there’s a financial benefit, as well.

Fast delivery

“I always use this phrase: time is money,” says Sharma.

“The first and foremost benefit that we get is that it helps us to deliver our solution in fast time-to-market.

“The time for server building and infrastructure building – which used to take many days, sometimes many months – has reduced a lot. And that eventually reduces a lot of our cost, benefitting our customers.”

Security and safeguarding data

With data protection and security paramount, Sharma adds that Oracle’s services, when used together, completely safeguard information at any and all levels. “We use Oracle Cloud Guard, which is one of the products that comes from OCI, to secure at the tenant-level. Then we utilise other services from OCI, like DataSafe, specifically, to find out any kind of vulnerabilities at the database level.

“All our servers are in a private subnet so they are completely secured. And we utilise some of the services security list type of services, rules services from OCI, to secure our applications.”

integration capabilities serve as an onramp to the broader IaaS platform.

According to Kress: “OCI is a second-generation cloud representing a fundamental re-architecture of the conventional public cloud. While first-generation clouds were built on decade-old technology, Oracle’s Cloud is specifically architected for the enterprise. It was built in a microservice architecture, which gives us a competitive advantage. We use that difference to shift all workloads for our customers to the cloud – existing workloads, new cloud-native workloads – and we are continually releasing new capabilities such as integration and AI

“Oracle now boasts the fastest core network of global data centres, with 42 regions currently available and nine more in the pipeline”

JÜRGEN KRESS DIRECTOR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION AND DIGITAL ASSISTANT, ORACLE CLOUD

services including Digital Assistant, our secure, enterprise chatbot.”

By utilising OCI Application Integration (OIC), customers gain access to a wide array of services, ranging from compute and storage, to identity management, content management, modern data platform, and application development. The seamless integration of various applications, both Oracle and third-party, enables customers to enhance their operational efficiency and unlock the full potential of Oracle’s infrastructure. Prebuilt adapters and integrations accelerate delivery and minimise upgrade risks. Unified observability simplifies hybrid and multi-cloud operations.

JÜRGEN KRESS

TITLE: DIRECTOR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION AND DIGITAL ASSISTANT

COMPANY: ORACLE CLOUD

EXECUTIVE BIO

An expert in the Oracle Cloud Platform Jürgen Kress is part of product management team and responsible for Oracle’s Integration & Digital Assistant partner business & the customer success program. He is the founder of the Oracle Integration & Developer Partner Communities and the global Oracle Partner Advisory Councils. These PaaS Partner Communities are home to over 10,000 members internationally as Oracle’s most active and successful communities. Which Jürgen manages with monthly newsletters, webcasts, online trainings and conferences. He hosts the Partner Community Forums, Summer Camps and Bootcamps where hundreds of attendees receive product updates, roadmap insights, and hands-on training. He graduated from Berufsakademie Stuttgart and holds a master’s degree from University of Brasilia. As an author he published several books and is an active social contributor via Twitter, LinkedIn, discussion forums, online communities, slack and blogs.

Oracle and KNEX Empower Clients with Fusion Applications for Real-World Impact

KNEX is a seasoned team of elite Oracle experts curated by founder Basheer Khan, a globally recognised Oracle authority.

Since 2013, we’ve delivered proven solutions built on broad industry understanding.

Beyond integrating systems, we elevate success, leveraging Fusion extensions to coordinate harmony within the organisations.

KNEX: Unlock the full potential of your Fusion Applications

KNEX Technology is revolutionising Fusion Applications implementations with innovative extensions that expand functionality across industries

Being a member of the Fusion Inner circle, and an early adopter, Basheer Khan gained deep expertise in Fusion Applications. Recognising this, Oracle engaged Khan in 2010 to install Fusion Applications for early adopter companies. This experience led Khan to envision a consulting firm that not only implemented Fusion Applications but also helped clients optimise their investments. With this idea in mind, Khan founded KNEX Technology in 2013 with the goal of implementing cloud applications, integrating them with other systems, and extending their functionality to bridge gaps.

In 2005, Oracle recognised Khan as an Oracle ACE Director, part of their ACE Program that recognises individuals who are experts in their respective fields. In 2012, KNEX’s CTO, Gustavo Gonzalez was awarded the same recognition. This milestone achievement makes KNEX the only organisation with two of the three ACE Directors in the world who specialise in Fusion Applications.

Providing positive change – together Oracle and KNEX have collaborated on many amazing projects. One of the most poignant is implementing Fusion Applications across 14 countries, in just 16 weeks. “I think this is a record,” Khan shares. “We don’t know of any other implementation for such a broad region in such a short time.

“We’ve also done some impactful projects when it comes to improving the productivity of our clients. One of our clients in the financial services sector had their team spending a considerable amount of time capturing data from different banks. We were able to automate that using Oracle Integration Cloud.”

To breathe life into the concept of positive change, our favourite collaboration is with non-profit organisations. KNEX works hand-inhand to help non-profits afford and successfully uptake Oracle Fusion Applications, simplifying their dayto-day operations and enabling them to focus on their missions to provide positive change to the world.

Khan concludes: “At KNEX, we simplify the complex.”

Speaking about OIC’s industry recognition, Kress explained: “Congratulations to all the customers, partners, and the whole community. It was a big team effort including product management, development, sales, and marketing. Oracle is a SaaS market leader with solutions spanning ERP, CM, CX, and industry solutions. Customers need to connect their applications, including Oracle SaaS, with their applications, data, and messaging services in the cloud, between different clouds, and on-premises.”

The power of community

A significant aspect of Oracle’s success lies in the vibrant and active community it has cultivated. With more than 10,000 community members comprising

customers, partners, and employees, Oracle collaborates, engages, supports, and trains this community. The community model extends to both partners and customers, offering sales and marketing enablement information, newsletters, webcasts, and success stories.

Comms channels ‘vital’

The constant communication channels, such as newsletters, webcasts, blogs, instant messaging, and social media, enable the sharing of product information, success stories, and valuable feedback to continually improve the OCI Application Integration service.

Oracle recognises the crucial role played by partners in implementing successful

“We are thankful for an excellent team, including leadership with an in-depth understanding, and a track record of success in the integration market”

JÜRGEN KRESS DIRECTOR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION AND DIGITAL ASSISTANT, ORACLE CLOUD

FlexDeploy DevOps Platform for Oracle Cloud Applications

and Infrastructure

Streamline and accelerate delivery of your Oracle Cloud services like ERP, HCM, Integration, and Analytics by automating manual tasks, reducing the risk of failure, and providing traceability and auditability of changes.

Learn how to achieve significant benefits by streamlining the entire deployment process

FlexDeploy DevOps Platform for Oracle Cloud

Flexagon’s DevOps platform, FlexDeploy, helps customers automate their processes when software development and delivery are generally complex. “We bring software to the table in FlexDeploy to embed automation and governance into their processes and make sure there’s visibility to change,” Flexagon’s CEO and Co-Founder Dan Goerdt says.

Removing complexity

Through its partnership with Oracle and its Oracle Cloud systems, FlexDeploy optimizes services for ease of customer use. As an Oracle partner, Flexagon leverages the likes of development environments and demo environments, accessing resources within Oracle’s product management and marketing to optimise FlexDeploy’s support for Oracle Cloud Integration and Applications.

Partnership in action

Heathrow Airport had a huge transformation and is adopting Oracle Cloud, Oracle Cloud Applications, Oracle Integration and APEX. Capgemini, as an Oracle partner and a

Flexagon partner, was able to deliver this transformation successfully. “The impact of the partnership has been tremendous,” Goerdt remarks. “Customers around the globe get the value of FlexDeploy’s expansive out-of-the-box capability for Oracle Cloud. Pairing the FlexDeploy DevOps platform with the Oracle partnership has helped a lot of customers move faster with quality while managing cost and risk. Everybody wins. It’s a neat dynamic to help solve these joint customer challenges in different ways.”

A bright future

Although proud of what Flexagon has achieved since its inception and how partnering with Oracle has enabled the company to reach a wider customer base, Goerdt has his sights set on a bright future in partnership with Oracle. “Oracle continues to crank out new services and extend their existing services. We’re tightly aligned with them so we can continue to enhance FlexDeploy to support the evolution of Oracle Cloud.”

LEARN MORE

projects. The integration partner ecosystem consists of various types of partners, including system integrators, global system integrators, local partners, and independent software vendors (ISVs). To support partners, Oracle provides comprehensive programs that encompass sales, marketing, and enablement information, joint campaigns, free training, and certification. Notable partnerships include innovative regional system integrators, global system integrators undertaking large international projects,

33 hands-on trainings with 2465 attendees in fiscal year 2022

33 webcasts with 7969 attendees in fiscal year 2022

Oracle Cloud and the power of community in driving digital evolution

WATCH NOW

and ISVs leveraging pre-built integrations to connect their solutions to the Oracle SaaS ecosystem.

“Partners are absolutely key to us,” Kress says “Of the top 10 customer projects, eight of them have been successfully implemented by partners. We’re thankful for our excellent global partnerships. The integration partner ecosystem includes different types of partners from system integrators, global system integrators, and local partners, to independent software vendors.

“For partners, we offer a whole program including sales, marketing, and enablement information such as sales kits with customer presentations, sales positioning, joint campaigns to generate leads, and opportunities for free training and certification. All of that is put together in a community model to communicate regularly via newsletters and webcasts.”

To highlight some of the success factors, trained and certified partners deliver and replicate successful customer projects. Every year, Oracle offers 20 free training

sessions to its partners. In these three-day workshops, up to 200 people learn about the product in live virtual classes, which has resulted in more than 6,000 certified Oracle Application Integration experts since 2020.

Kress explains, “We have small and innovative partners like KNEX, which are among the first movers to connect and extend Oracle SaaS with OIC. They customised Oracle SaaS to run a winery, replicated this customer success, and now offer an industry solution. We work with all Global System Integrators (GSI’s) who deploy international projects. For example, Capgemini and the Heathrow Airport project, Infosys, who presented one of their projects at our last customer success webcast, or Accenture with more than 500 experts. Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) such as Charles Taylor, which offers insurance solutions, leverage OIC to connect with Oracle SaaS. With OIC, Charles Taylor gets access to the Oracle SaaS installed base and customers benefit from tailored industry solutions.”

“Partners such as Flexagon, which offers a DevOps solution, FlexDeploy, for Oracle Cloud infrastructure services. FlexDeploy is a DevOps and automation platform that enables fast and efficient packaging, testing, and development of code and configurations. It’s a complimentary tool that was initially developed on Oracle SOA Suite and now supports the latest OCI architecture. Available through the Oracle Marketplace, FlexDeploy is available to any OCI customer.” Asked about OIC’s global partner model, Kress shared, “To summarise our partner strategy, the secret is that we train and certify partners to deliver successful projects and replicate their

JÜRGEN KRESS DIRECTOR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION AND DIGITAL ASSISTANT, ORACLE CLOUD

“We are continually releasing new capabilities”

best practices. The community model is a consistent, executable, and scalable model.”

He adds: “For customers and prospects, we established a similar program that includes a quarterly newsletter, quarterly product webcast, customer summits, and success stories. The product webcast provides customers with the latest release details with demonstrations of new features and roadmap details. Prospects learn from successful customer implementations in regional success webcasts. A great example is the London Heathrow Airport reference implemented by Capgemini.

“Overall, we are thankful for an excellent team, including leadership with an in-depth understanding, and a track record of success in the integration market. It’s always a team effort, and we would like to thank and congratulate our customers, employees, partners, and the ACE community that made it possible.”

Driving future development

Oracle aims to expand its customer base and further develop its cloud offerings. “OCI is a complete cloud infrastructure platform suitable for every workload, offering all the necessary services to migrate, build, and run both existing and new enterprise workloads including cloud-native applications and modern data platforms,” Kress details.

“Oracle now boasts the fastest core network of global data centres, with more than 42 regions currently available and nine more in the pipeline. Oracle also provides 20 free tier services, with no time limitations, including compute and storage, autonomous databases, and APEX for lowcode development.”

The company recognises that continued

growth and development depend on customers utilising its products and actively contributing to Oracle’s service offerings. Ongoing communication with customers and partners helps prioritise bi-monthly releases and drive longer-term strategy.

AI and the future of cloud services

Kress highlights the immense potential of AI as the next major revolution in the IT industry. AI services rely heavily on data models and the ability to expose trusted enterprise data to AI systems. By connecting transactional application data with AI

“Partners are absolutely key to us”

JÜRGEN KRESS DIRECTOR PRODUCT MANAGEMENT INTEGRATION AND DIGITAL ASSISTANT, ORACLE CLOUD

capabilities, organisations can optimise automated processes and empower knowledge workers to make timely, datadriven decisions that drive growth. Cloud services are becoming smarter, more autonomous, and interconnected, leveraging the power of connected data and AI to deliver superior predictions and insights.

Through a combination of robust infrastructure, integration capabilities, and a thriving community, Oracle Cloud is driving digital evolution in the industry. Recognised as a leader in iPaaS, Oracle’s commitment to empowering customers, fostering

partnerships, and embracing emerging technologies positions it at the forefront of innovation.

Overall, Oracle’s community-driven approach, coupled with its commitment to partner success and technological innovation, positions the company at the forefront of digital transformation and enables it to provide comprehensive cloud solutions to its customers.

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SMART BANKING:

STAYING AHEAD OF THE CURVE

What defines smart banking in 2023 and how can legacy banks keep up? We look at the characteristics of smart banks to see how they stay one step ahead

WRITTEN BY: LOUIS THOMPSETT

Without a singular source of origin, the term ‘smart banking’ isn’t so easily defined.

Broadly used to signal the implementation of technological processes in modern banking practices, both at the front and back end of operations, smart banking is inherently dependent on innovation to keep it a generation ahead of established systems. Indeed, Giovanni Caselli’s pantelegraph – introduced to French banks in 1865 – would have been considered smart in the 19th century, bringing about the authentication of signatures for cashing cheques. In this sense, then, it could be argued that smart banking has been ever-present since Barcelona’s Taula de la Ciutat, the first recorded banking establishment, opened in 1401. The first bank was an innovation, or ‘smart’, in and of itself.

Fast-forward to the 2020s, and what defines smart banking is intrinsically linked to the digital footprint of new-wave financial institutions, and how they integrate technologies to shift banking from an in-person to an online experience. A surge in fintechs has supported smart banks and challenged legacy institutions, offering a more streamlined user experience and packaged financial services. So, in 2023, we ask what makes banking smart today, what must legacy banks do to keep up, and what does smart banking’s future look like?

Putting the ‘smart’ in smart banking

For Monstarlab’s Engagement Director of Banking, Insurance and Financial Services, David Titterton, while there are “too many individual processes” to truly pinpoint a definition of intelligent banking today, “smart banks do share a set of similar characteristics”.

PayEX offers customizable AR/AP Automation software for B2B businesses looking to optimize their working capital and unearth hidden revenue otherwise written off due to manual processes and slow communication

“These could broadly be described as high levels of automation, personalisation, and product and service useability,” he continues.

And, in what Titterton calls “truly smart banks”, sophisticated characteristics are “as evident in the back office as they are in the front office”.

“For example, it’s not just a customer trying to take out a loan via their mobile app, it is also a product manager trying to make and execute product pricing decisions, or a compliance lead analysing complaint data. The smart processes that drive these characteristics are very well-designed, wellbuilt and predominantly data-driven.”

So, what are the characteristics shared by smart banks? Natasa Kyprianidou, Senior Director of Financial Services at Publicis Sapient, offers several services and

technological innovations that differentiate smart banks from the rest. This includes mobile banking, digital onboarding processes and mobile super wallets, where customers can originate loans while managing payments and virtual cards in one connected ecosystem. But for Kyprianidou, true smart banking goes further than this, creating hyper-personalised interactions using data and analytics to offer bespoke financial products and services tailored to the customer’s needs and preferences.

“A ‘smart banking’ approach to retail banking is incredibly necessary in the face of stiff competition from challenger banks continuously raising the bar”

STEVE MORGAN GLOBAL BANKING INDUSTRY MARKET LEAD, PEGASYSTEMS

Smart bank growth rate in EMEA and LATAM

In its most recent Mobile Apps Trend Report, mobile analytics platform Adjust tracked the uptake rate of smart bank mobile downloads from across the globe in 2022.

The report detailed the highest yearly smart bank download rise in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Latin America (LATAM), where download rates grew 10% and 8% respectively.

In fact, of all fintech applications installed worldwide, smart banking apps accounted for 40% of all downloads across the fintech industry, with payment app downloads accounting for 52% of all fintech app downloads, crypto apps 6% and stock trading apps 3%. Global sessions for fintech apps also grew 19% year-on-year in 2022, with worldwide installs increasing by 2% from 2021.

Adjust’s mobile app report has also tracked growth heading into January 2023, where it found that fintech app downloads were up 6% from January 2021, and up 13% on the 2022 monthly average. With these figures in mind, it’s clear that the uptake of fintech technology and smart banking is still in a stage of growth.

This is in addition to faster loan and funds decisions, “smart journeys that deliver world-class digital originations and provide an automated fulfilment by leveraging intelligent underwriting and AI/ ML for eligible customers to expedite loan approvals”. AI is, in itself, another defining element, particularly conversational AI, which Kyprianidou says “renders banking services to users through natural conversations across any channel by leveraging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger”.

Real-time transaction processing and biometric authentication are but two more features that make up a smart banking offering according to Kyprianidou. At the same time, the implementation of blockchain technology can “improve security and reduce fraud by creating a transparent ledger of transactions, as well as streamline cross-border payments”. What’s more, an embedded financial ecosystem allows smart banks to “rethink the value chain as a modular capability stack, [where] within this stack, a bank can take on various roles of ownership to determine a new business model”.

In essence, smart banks stitch these multitudinous characteristics into the fabric of their offering, creating a positive digital experience for customers and a streamlined back office. But, where does this leave legacy banking institutions, which Kyprianidou says “face a significant challenge in keeping up with the rapid pace of fintech and smart bank innovation”?

What must they do to stay relevant amid the rise of challenger banks?

Keeping your legacy alive

As far as Pegasystems’ Global Banking Industry Market Lead, Steve Morgan, is concerned, the one thing “traditional banks cannot afford to do is wait” before implementing smarter banking practices. “A ‘smart banking’ approach to retail banking is incredibly necessary in the face of stiff competition from challenger banks continuously raising the bar.”

He notes that “while core systems of record remain difficult to replace and can be viewed as a limiter” for legacy banks, they can also close the gap with challenger banks “by placing smart processes and intelligent automation at the centre of a business architecture to progressively hollow out” old systems.

“By using gamification in banking apps, a bank can target customers according to their specific needs”

PAVLO KHROPATYY VICE PRESIDENT OF DELIVERY AND HEAD OF FINANCIAL SERVICES & INSURANCE, INTELLIAS

“This can remove the constraints of logic being built into the back end, making it easier to change and adapt processes as well as more easily access data when needed. The use of low-code tools can empower business domain owners in areas like customer service or product sales to spin up their own apps to streamline or speed up processes and deliver better outcomes. And it is possible to do this in a way that is well-governed and controlled.”

Furthermore, Morgan feels that, should legacy institutions adopt generative AI tools, this would “accelerate” a smart evolution, “providing an outline of business processes or data structures at speed” while giving retail banks a “design head start”.

He adds: “There’s never been a more important time to ensure the right interaction is happening at the right time,

and getting the mix right of what should be automated compared to where in-person help is needed. To truly deliver on the promise of smart banking, getting this balance right is key.”

Gamification: making ‘smart’ banking smarter

While retail banks play catch up to smart banks, it inevitably falls on the shoulders of challenger institutions to stay one step ahead. Given the abundance of technological capabilities used at smart banks, the conundrum is working out the next phase of innovation using existing technologies.

The Vice President of Delivery and Head of Financial Services & Insurance at Intellias, Pavlo Khropatyy, feels the gamification of smart financial services will become a

“powerful mechanism to propel smart banking services and drive customer engagement”.

He says: “By using gamification in banking apps, a bank can target customers according to their specific needs. Games appeal to people’s desire for fun, entertainment, simplicity, social interactions, rewards and competition. It’s an especially good option considering the proliferation of smart devices, the mass popularity of gaming, and the hobbies of tech-savvy millennials and Gen Zs. The millennial generation is highly motivated in getting rewards for purchases, and engaging with brands using immersive and interactive technology.”

There are examples of gamification already entering the smart banking market, too, with Spanish smart bank BBVA launching a web app where customers earn points by

completing tasks. These points can be redeemed to download music, stream films or participate in giveaways and sweepstakes. While other future innovations are sure to take banking further – such as banking in the metaverse – for now, Khropatyy feels gamification is a tool smart banking can tap into en masse.

So, just as legacy banks strive to keep up with the innovations of smart institutions, so too must smart banks remain as such. Smart banking is only ‘smart’ so long as it sits at the apex of technological innovation in the industry. As smart banking technologies are onboarded at legacy institutions, smart banks and fintechs must ensure their innovations stay one step ahead of what is contemporarily considered established banking practices.

“Smart banks do share a set of similar characteristics. These could broadly be described as high levels of automation, personalisation, and product and service usability”

DAVID TITTERTON ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR OF BANKING, INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, MONSTARLAB

Adam Elman Head of Sustainability EMEA Google

Musidora Jorgensen Chief Sustainability Officer Microsoft

Andrew New Chief Executive Officer NHS Supply Chain

Susan Spence VP, Sourcing Procurement & Accounts FedEx VP,

Geraint John VP, Interos Resilience Lab Interos

Kate Rosenshine Director - Global Azure Technology Sales Microsoft

Aravind Narayan Global Director - Sales Strategy & Execution Refinitiv (LSEG)

Sam Clarke Chief Vehicle Officer Gridserve

Driving digital while staying personal

WRITTEN BY: LOUIS THOMPSETT

PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY

F&M Bank’s Chief Experience Officer, Charles Driest, talks about striking

digital

and a personal customer approach

Along and strange route – these are the words used by Charles Driest, Chief Experience Officer at Virginia-based Farmers & Merchants (F&M) Bank, when describing his career path in the banking industry. Driest cuts a picture of assuredness and poise, having been promoted from Director of Digital Banking to F&M Bank’s Chief Experience Officer in March 2023.

In this newfound position, Driest’s responsibilities have grown substantially. Although he still helps to oversee digital enhancements at the bank – driving its online capabilities as he did when first joining F&M over a year ago – his remit now extends to deposit operations and marketing, helping to streamline the bank’s processes as it looks to integrate both on and off-line services and create an omnichannel customer experience.

A “long and strange” road

He began his career at the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) – now Consumer Brands Association – a big food lobbyist in which Driest “worked on the government side of operations”. The beginning of his “long and strange route” into banking, Driest joined the GMA after graduating in Government and Politics from George Mason University.

the right balance between

innovation

Despite being at an organisation that represents “around 95% of the produce found in US grocery stores”, Driest couldn’t shake his will for change, bouncing around the Washington DC ecosystem after a stint in GMA’s Industry Affairs operations. Landing his feet at Brookings Institution, it was here he recounts: “My boss there, a lady called Roberta Cohen, told me that I needed to go back for my masters degree or she would fire me!

“I think she saw some talent in me that I hadn’t yet realised, and what I was really interested in were marketing and finance.

“The future is technology and people, that’s what is going to win the day – not one or the other”

CHARLES DRIEST CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER, F&M BANK

Ultimately, I went to St. John’s University, Peter J. Tobin College of Business in New York, focused on finance, and joined the banking world in the summer of 2007.”

Though 2007 may not have been an ideal time to join the banking industry, with the housing market crash of 2008 just around the corner, it was at this time Driest returned to his native Virginia to start his banking career at what was then a small community bank – Union Bank and Trust – but has since turned into the much larger Atlantic Union. Here, after completing several mergers and acquisitions at Union, Driest got “the

CHARLES DRIEST

TITLE: CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER

COMPANY: F&M BANK

INDUSTRY: BANKING

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Charles C. Driest serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Experience Officer working with Deposit Operations, IT, and Marketing departments. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President, Director of Digital Banking at the Bank. He has experience in operations, strategy, analytics, and digital banking. Charles holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) – Finance from St. John’s University (NY).

opportunity to take on more experienced roles, bouncing around a couple of community banks for the past five or six years, before getting the opportunity to work at F&M Bank”.

The right role

With his experiences in the produce industry and time at community banks in mind, Driest’s introduction to F&M Bank – which serves the agricultural industry in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley – represented the perfect fit. Initially serving businesses in the small town of Timberville, north of Harrisonburg, F&M has expanded its reach in the region, servicing local non-profits, SMEs – and even the broad student community at James Madison University in Harrisonburg.

CHARLES DRIEST CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER, F&M BANK

“Community banks have a huge advantage, particularly when we are so close to these communities. We provide the human element that AI misses”

The chance to serve the local agriculture industry alongside F&M’s desire to grow the bank sold Driest “on the path forward and the future of where the bank wants to go”. Committed to F&M’s mission statement, which has been operating for 115 years and is building for the next 115 years, Driest relishes the responsibility and variety that working with a community bank entails.

“I had picked up the knowledge around the backend systems that F&M Bank was using from a previous bank I worked at. This gave me comfort and familiarity in knowing what is possible, and I am interested in the analytical side of the business and the creative side.

“When you’re at a smaller organisation, people wear a lot of different hats and you get to roll up your sleeves and contribute in

a lot of different ways. One day I might work with marketing, and the next tackling an IT problem or operational procedure. This really appeals to my curiosity about how banks operate.

“Then there’s the community aspect: talking with businesses, hearing the problems they’re trying to solve, and helping them make connections. The duality of growing the bank and community side-byside very much appeals to me.

“I don’t like to pretend that I think people at larger institutions are pigeonholed into a particular area, but, as a business grows, that need for specialisation really drives in. So at larger banks, you don’t get to touch on all the different parts of an organisation that you do at a community bank.”

A place for community banking in the digital age

The human touch of a community bank is not just constrained to its back office either. As Driest notes, creating a digital yet human experience is of prime importance to F&M’s growth. He says: “Digital outreach becomes important as a bank grows. We’ve added in some sophistication and new capabilities for our customers that have helped strengthen our community relationship.

“We have a good view here that the future is technology and people — that’s what is going to win the day, not one or the other. I was recently speaking to a customer who got so frustrated when trying to contact a large bank because it was all chatbots and AI, there was no way for them to contact customer service to troubleshoot their issue. At a community bank like F&M, you get to speak to an actual human, and I think customers appreciate it if there is someone there to talk to when there are issues.

CHARLES DRIEST CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER, F&M BANK

With this in mind, Driest believes that as digital banking proliferates and expands, there will be a place for a community bank in a consumer’s portfolio of bank accounts, which possess human qualities that current AI models and digital algorithms cannot yet mimic.

“This is where community banks have a huge advantage, particularly when we are so close to these communities. We provide the human element that AI misses. AI cannot, or has not yet at least, been taught human empathy.”

Hands Down, Best In Class

He notes: “The digital solution at a community bank might not be as good as the super mega national bank down the road, but it’ll get you 80% of the way there, and make up that last 20% with a personal service that you’re not going to find anywhere else. That’s how smaller banks compete.”

“The duality of growing the bank and community side-byside very much appeals to me”

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Fintech-ing the community

Although maintaining community values is key at local banks, some form of digitisation is crucial to stay relevant. The conundrum for community banks, therefore, is finding the right fintech partnerships and digital solutions that help the digitisation of both back and front-office systems, while simultaneously maintaining the in-person traits and human customer service qualities that they offer.

“I think fintech is ultimately in a period where there’s a host of exploration and experimentation out there. It’s about addressing a niche solution, but then before you know it there are four other competitors trying to do the same thing,” says Driest.

Finding the right fintech products that best suits F&M is therefore vitally important, and, as Driest puts it: “Who you choose to partner with is far more important than the API you use.”

He adds: “API infrastructure and architecture is going to all get standardised

very, very quickly. I think things are moving in that direction. Our core fintech vendor, Jack Henry & Associates, is the right fit for us, with their go-to-market approach in building an open platform.”

Partnering with fintechs is not just about upgrading digitally either, with one of F&M’s vendors teaching Driest and the bank “about lines of business [they] didn’t fully understand”. In the same way, F&M taught the fintech “about the needs and necessary capabilities that the bank can deliver”. It is in this way Driest feels both fintech and bank “institutions can level up their knowledge”.

For F&M Bank, the next stage of evolution sits very much in finding a fintech partnership to deliver deeper market insights, correlating the data points provided by its existing vendors.

“One of the common things that community banks run into can be something as simple as tracking a customer from the website through online account opening, and then fundamentally back into the core,

CHARLES DRIEST CHIEF EXPERIENCE OFFICER, F&M BANK

your online account openings, and layering that in the front-end of your website –that’s a big win.”

The future of fintech in banking

While integrating the right fintech solutions is important for the ‘now’ at F&M Bank, this hasn’t stopped Driest from looking to the future of how community banks can adapt and enhance a customer-centric approach to financial services.

because we’re utilising multiple vendors,” notes Driest.

“Banks possess the mechanism that allows you to see that customer journey through those three very different pieces of onboarding and transaction, which, in the past, left banks with a lot of manual report comparison work. So finding a partner that can solve that type of problem by doing the legwork for you – connecting your core and

One financing option that interests Driest is “buy now pay later (BNPL) financing”. He continues: “It’s the extension to the customer of flexibility. When I think about the things that we need to focus on, it’s ultimately the value we can deliver to customers to make their lives easier, giving them the ability to manage their day-to-day finances and provide flexibility.

“BNPL is a tool that can deliver this. When you look at some of the big players in the space currently out there, because they’re not fully integrated into a bank per se, although they attract a certain level of customer, I think there are a lot of consumers who will wait until there’s a bank-approved option.

“Buy now pay later financing is an extension to the customer of flexibility”

“When I see BNPL, it reminds me of the beginnings of remote deposit capture or mobile deposit capture. That went from the cusp of early technology, before suddenly becoming ubiquitous. I think that BNPL will end up that way.”

1908

With this prediction for the mass proliferation of BNPL financing options, Driest feels F&M Bank needs to pay close attention to the “velocity of its adoption rate” and prepare for it. “With BNPL, you’re fundamentally extending credit to customers. So there’s a lot of baseline research and understanding that needs to go into it before you can launch a service or onboard a solution that enables you to do that.”

The future of Driest

While the integration of BNPL financing may be a consideration for F&M Bank in the future, Driest’s immediate concern remains firmly in the organisation of day-to-day operations at F&M Bank. After all, at the time of speaking with FinTech Magazine, he had only been in the job for 45 days!

For Driest, the important thing now is “understanding what [F&M Bank] spends money on” and why. He adds: “For the next 18 months it’s going to be a lot about developing my team, understanding their skillset, explaining how I manage things so that we can work in partnership, understanding personalities, and then looking forward quickly to the future.

AWARDS

The Global FinTech Awards 2024 will be celebrating the very best in Fintech with the following categories:

Digital Banking Award

–PayTech Award

–

Digital Currency Award

–

FinTech Award

–InsurTech Award

–

Sustainable FinTech

–

FinTech Technology Award

–

FinTech Consultancy Award

–

Future Leader Award

–

Executive of the Year Award

–

Project of the Year Award

–

Lifetime Achievement Award

THE FUTURE OF ATMS: ADAPTING TO THE DIGITAL AGE

As digital banking takes financial services by storm, are ATMs at risk of obsoletion – or is there a place for them in the digital age?

WRITTEN BY: LOUIS THOMPSETT

Inspired by chocolate vending machines, John Sheppard-Baron invented the first automated teller machine (ATM) for use at a North London Barclays bank branch in 1967, revolutionising financial services by granting account holders 24/7 access to cash. Success in Europe swiftly piqued the interest of a booming US financial market, and the ATM was brought to New York in 1969 by Donald Wetzel.

Now an infrastructural symbol of legacy banking, ATMs are a common sight on high streets and main streets, at petrol stations and in shopping centres worldwide. But, enter the 2020s, and you’ll find that digital banking and contactless payments are shifting the ancient, perennial means of paying for goods and services (cash) into obsoletion.

Indeed, the ATMs of today offer more than just cash dispensing, be it balance inquiries, mini statements or cash deposits. However, digital banking can do the same and then some (aside from dispensing cash), leaving

brick-and-mortar bank branches and their ATMs in the dust when it comes to offering a quick and seamless customer experience. So, what does the future of ATMs look like, and can they still serve a purpose in today’s digital age?

The fall of the bank branch

For Martin Heraghty, Paymentology’s Regional Director for Europe, the survival of ATMs alongside their associate branches is dependent on customer preference, stating: “As more people adopt digital banking, the demand for brick-and-mortar bank branches and ATMs is decreasing.”

Paymentology’s data backs this claim, with the number of ATMs in Europe falling by over 10% since 2016. Meanwhile, analysis from global consultancy partnership Kearney predicted that 25% of European bank branches would close across Europe from 2020 to 2023, as consumers’ digital banking habits became more permanent.

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As such, legacy institutions are foregoing ATM innovation in favour of customerbacked digital banking growth. As Heraghty puts it: “Banks are adjusting their strategies, partnering with innovative fintechs to reduce their physical presence while investing in digital banking, improving their customer’s experience.”

The decline of legacy banking infrastructures is not merely a European

constraint either, with Euromonitor International noting a fall in the total number of ATMs in the US from a high of 470,000 in 2019 to an estimated 456,000 in 2021. This is further compounded by a rise in ATM servicing costs caused by reduced demand for cash globally, something which has prompted banks to reconsider their ATM footprints.

Where ATMs endure

However, though contactless payments and digital banking continue to gain traction amid the rising stock of fintech companies, Martin Hartley, CCO of emagine Consulting Group and Bank of England decisionmaker, believes there are many people “for whom ATMs still have their place”. Though he admits that “the demand for ATMs has

DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO STAY UP TO DATE WITH TECHNOLOGY”

MARTIN HARTLEY GROUP CCO EMAGINE CONSULTING

COVID-19’S IMPACT ON THE DIGITAL BANKING SURGE

Digital banking was always on the up, but throw in a global pandemic – where consumers are constrained to the four walls of their homes – and you’ll see the adoption process take an upward surge.

A 2021 Red Book Statistics report from the BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) highlighted an unprecedented rise in non-paperbased or digital credit transfers in 2020 throughout advanced economies, emerging markets and developing economies. Per the report: “Growth in total credit transfer usage was so strong that the share of non-cash payments in total GDP sharply increased across the globe.”

This was coupled with a strong decline in cash usage, and with that, a decline in ATM withdrawal rates. CPMI’s report notes that in 2020, consumers only made between 10 and 25 cash withdrawals for the entire year. What’s more, the total number of cash withdrawals for 2020 declined by 23%, exceeding the 10% decline in withdrawal value, pointing to a trend of larger cash withdrawal amounts made by consumers worldwide.

Fast-tracking a trajectory towards greater uptake of digital banking en masse, the effects of COVID-19 cannot be understated as legacy banks continue to digitise their financial services and cut back on the inhabitancy rates of ATMs and bank branches in developed markets.

certainly reduced since technology in the banking industry has surged over recent years”, he feels “cash is still important” and doesn’t “see that changing anytime soon”.

This is especially true in developing markets and low-income regions, where ATMs continue to play an important role in reaching the underbanked, providing an accessible link from cash to checking accounts. BPC Banking Technologies’ Director of Business Development, Michalis Michaelides, notes that “cash remains an important tool for consumers” in these underserved areas.

A 2022 report from Merchant Machine found that 78% of Romania’s population still uses cash, while Peru has the highest ratio of ATMs per 100,000 adults at 127. Where cash and ATMs do and do not thrive isn’t merely a geographical quandary, but a demographic one, too. A report by Which? claims that the 48% (4,735) of scheduled UK bank closures since 2015 have created fund-access risk for vulnerable customers and those who have not adopted digital banking, including the elderly. This, therefore, suggests ATMs still play a significant role for some in developed markets.

“IT IS CRUCIAL THAT BANKS CONTINUE TO ENHANCE THE SERVICES OFFERED BY ATMS IN CONJUNCTION WITH FINTECH PARTNERS”

MICHALIS MICHAELIDES DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, BPC BANKING TECHNOLOGIES

Hartley adds: “While there is significant dependence on digital wallets in technically advanced countries, cash is still very much the only means of payment in countries that fall behind. A cashless world seems unrealistic right now, as so many parts of the world do not have the ability to stay up to date with technology.”

Is there a place for ATMs?

While there is, arguably, still an important place for ATMs in financial services, Michaelides feels banking institutions should be innovating their in-person offerings, just as they are their digital banking services. He says: “Traditional institutions must stay ahead of the curve by adapting their payments solutions. It is crucial that banks continue to enhance the services offered by ATMs in conjunction with fintech partners, levelling up their technical infrastructure and better serving their customers.”

For Hartley, innovations in the user experience will help ATMs stay relevant, even amid an industry focus on digital banking transformations and fintech partnerships. “The implementation of advanced technology [will help ATMs] to stay ahead of the times. Think biometric authentication and facial recognition to access your funds; the process will become more efficient and seamless in the future.”

User experience is valuable to customers, but biometric authentications at ATMs can also play a significant role in fraud prevention and anti-money laundering (AML), making cash transactions safer. This could instil greater confidence in the safety standards of cash as a means of payment, particularly after the Annual Fraud Report from UK Finance reported £1.2bn (US$1.5bn) was lost to fraud throughout 2022 in the UK alone.

MARTIN HERAGHTY REGIONAL DIRECTOR, EUROPE, PAYMENTOLOGY

However, as claimed by Hartley, such reports may only push governments and regulatory figures to back a cashless world. “I am sure the UK government would be in favour of a cashless world as digital payments are trackable, meaning fraud and tax evasion cases would be much easier to identify, potentially reducing the amount of banking crime. Physically carrying cash also comes with the risk of losing it too.”

ATMs in the future of banking

For now, it’s clear ATM innovations are not being commissioned to market en masse, as legacy banks look to acquire and partner with fintechs revolutionising the digital banking space, and regulators back digital payments with an eye on greater fraud prevention.

It could well be, therefore, that ATMs become a relic of the past, much like the payphone, potentially disappearing altogether should innovations in financial infrastructure services fail to keep pace with the booming digital banking industry.

Today, though, ATMs remain a critical part of banking infrastructure – despite their dwindling numbers and the neglect they receive from legacy banks striving to keep up with digital financial services.

“BANKS ARE ADJUSTING THEIR STRATEGIES, PARTNERING WITH INNOVATIVE FINTECHS TO REDUCE THEIR PHYSICAL PRESENCE”

SOLVING CRYPTO’S SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES WITH PROOF

STAKE

WRITTEN BY: ALEX CLERE

CRYPTO’S SUSTAINABILITY STAKE

The energy-intensive nature of crypto mining continues to be a thorn in the side of the crypto sector – which has suffered a turbulent 12 months, characterised by high volatility in the price of many cryptocurrencies and compounded by the collapse of crypto exchange FTX towards the end of last year.

But despite the large footprint of crypto mining, a recent evolution beckons the prospect of far less impactful cryptocurrencies in future. In September, Ethereum announced it had managed to make the switch from a ‘proof-of-work’ protocol to a ‘proof-of-stake’ protocol, which it claimed could cut out 99.9% of the energy consumption used in the origination of its cryptocurrency.

What’s the difference between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake?

“The original cryptocurrency creation mechanism – proof-of-work – achieves verification of transactions by having miners solve complex mathematical puzzles using computational power,” explains Yaroslav Musii, Delivery Director for Financial Services and Insurance at technology company Intellias.

“Proof-of-work miners need to continuously expand computational power to solve complex mathematical puzzles, create new blocks and validate transactions.

The crypto industry needs to clean up its act, and, fortunately, a recent evolution offers a glimmer of hope for less impactful crypto mining

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This requires specialised mining hardware that consumes a significant amount of energy. The energy consumption of proofof-work mining is directly proportional to the amount of computational power being used, and this can lead to significant energy consumption and environmental impact.

“Proof-of-stake, on the other hand, uses a different method where transactions are validated by those who hold cryptocurrency and ‘stake’ in the network, based on the amount staked. Those ‘validators’ put up a portion of their own cryptocurrency as collateral to verify transactions, and they receive rewards for their participation. Virtually no energy is consumed using this method,” Musii says.

“One of the main benefits is lower energy consumption thanks to reduced computational work and energy use,” elaborates Daniele Servadei, CEO and Founder of ecommerce solution Sellix. “What’s more, it reduces e-waste, with less specialised hardware and fewer device replacements required. There are also benefits around scalability, with proof-ofstake improving network efficiency and supporting greener growth.”

YAROSLAV MUSII DELIVERY DIRECTOR FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND INSURANCE, INTELLIAS

Does proof-of-stake make proof-of-work redundant?

Ethereum’s switch to a proof-of-stake model – known as The Merge – has been described as one of the largest open-source software events in the history of cryptocurrencies. It’s no wonder that crypto staking is offering hope to an industry that has long been plagued by its poor environmental track record. The need for change is drastic; according to a 2021 report by Katten, a single

“THE MERGE HAS UNDOUBTEDLY BEEN A POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT FOR THE CRYPTO INDUSTRY”

transaction of bitcoin has the same carbon footprint as 680,000 Visa transactions or 51,210 hours of watching YouTube.

“The growing focus on preventing climate change has brought intense scrutiny to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ energy usage,” states Neil Robson, Partner at Katten UK.

So, will crypto staking – and the vast environmental improvements that it creates – lead to the end of crypto mining altogether?

“It’s unlikely that proof-of-work will be entirely replaced by proof-of-stake or other consensus mechanisms in the near future,” notes Daniele Servadei, although he acknowledges that “the growing emphasis on sustainability and environmental impact

“IT’S UNLIKELY THAT PROOF-OF-WORK WILL BE ENTIRELY REPLACED BY PROOF-OFSTAKE OR OTHER CONSENSUS MECHANISMS IN THE NEAR FUTURE”

DANIELE SERVADEI CEO AND FOUNDER OF ECOMMERCE, SOLUTION SELLIX

may encourage a shift towards more efficient alternatives”.

Servadei also believes that we will witness a greater emphasis on sustainability within the crypto space generally. “We’ll see increased public awareness and demand for sustainable practices,” he predicts. “There’ll also be regulatory pressure driving greener solutions, while market dynamics will increasingly favour environmentally-friendly projects. Technological advancements promoting sustainability (like proof-ofstake) and collaborative industry initiatives addressing environmental concerns will also increase.”

To realise wholesale environmental improvement, Bitcoin will need to join Ethereum in adopting the proof-of-stake

mechanism. But that’s not likely, according to Teunis Brosens, ING’s Head Economist for Digital Finance and Regulation: “[The Merge] could put Bitcoin on the defensive in terms of prospective adoption by traditional finance. But the Bitcoin community is conservative, and we don’t see Bitcoin transitioning from proof-ofwork to proof-of-stake anytime soon.”

Yaroslav Musii is perhaps a little bolder. He believes proof-of-stake does have the potential to make proof-of-work crypto mining redundant – but he believes there is a broader, more existential dilemma that emerges from this debate. “Some argue that proof-of-stake makes crypto more centralised and therefore goes against one of the founding principles,” he explains.

Is

crypto progressing

towards renewables?

Even before The Merge, crypto mining operations were making some progress towards adopting renewable energy, and in the process cleaning up their act. But the extent of this was limited, with The Merge being a definite catalyst, Musii says.

“Up until The Merge, most of the crypto mining has been powered by fossil fuels, particularly coal as one of the cheapest and most widespread sources of energy,” he says. “The Merge has undoubtedly been a positive development for the crypto industry, but more work is needed to promote the adoption of renewable energy sources in mining and other crypto-related activities.”

This will be particularly true of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are hesitant in adopting the proof-of-stake mechanism, as has been predicted. According to Katten’s report, Bitcoin accounted for about 68.4% of the total power usage of the top 20 mineable cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation in 2020. Other wellknown coins like Ethereum, LiteCoin and Monero accounted for 11.5%, 2.6% and 3.4%, respectively, at the time – although the company points out that this data was before the explosion of DogeCoin, which is likely to affect more recent versions of the same dataset.

“Efforts continue to be made by some mining operations to use renewable energy and improve energy efficiency,” Servadei says. He claims that adoption of greener practices within crypto are being driven by a combination of market pressure and public scrutiny. “Despite these efforts, the overall environmental impact of proof-ofwork cryptocurrencies is still high and not comparable to proof-of-stake,” he says.

And what of the future of crypto mining and staking?

“There’ll be incremental changes,” Servadei believes. He expects to see a “gradual adoption of energy-efficient consensus mechanisms like proof-ofstake across various projects”, alongside “continued efforts to use renewable energy sources for mining operations” and “improved mining hardware efficiency to reduce energy consumption”.

These changes could be accompanied by more drastic shifts, such as increased uptake of proof-of-stake; regulatory intervention that forces the issue; or new technologies that change the way coins are minted, such as layer-2 solutions, sharding, or other scalability improvements.

“THE GROWING FOCUS ON PREVENTING CLIMATE CHANGE HAS BROUGHT INTENSE SCRUTINY TO BITCOIN AND OTHER CRYPTOCURRENCIES”

NEIL ROBSON PARTNER, KATTEN UK

HOW CAN BANKS IMPROVE FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR LGBTQ+ PEOPLE?

The LGBTQ+ community is more likely to feel stress or anxiety about money, research says, so how can banks tailor their products to this demographic?

WRITTEN BY: ALEX CLERE

The cost-of-living crisis is providing a unique situation for many families, with rising grocery prices and high inflation in many countries adding pressure to purse strings. For LGBTQ+ families – whose rights ‘seem’ under greater pressure now than at any other point in the last 15-20 years – the problem appears particularly stark.

Members of the LGBTQ+ people are more likely to have negative feelings about their personal finances, according to research published earlier this year by the Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR) and the Movement Advancement Project (MAP). Roughly twice as many LGBTQ+ respondents as nonLGBTQ+ respondents reported feeling anxious, overwhelmed and depressed about their finances, the survey continues.

Andrew Arwas, Director of Transformation at Chetwood Financial, says: “The state of the economy means consumers are seeing their spending power diminished and finances stretched, with a third of UK households living payday to payday. For

people in the LGBTQ+ community – many of whom already face financial hurdles because of their gender identity or sexual orientation – these problems are magnified.” Arwas therefore believes it’s “high-time” for banks to step up and deliver more inclusive financial services.

What banking needs do LGBTQ+ people have?

As Billie Simmons, Co-Founder and COO of LGBTQ+ banking app Daylight, said in an interview last year, “the large traditional banks don’t even think about us outside Pride month”. Even though, on the surface, it might appear as though LGBTQ+ customers have the same banking needs as non-LGBTQ+ people, there are actually some very specific requirements that banks can help meet.

Those surveyed by CLEAR and MAP were more likely to have a federal student loan covering the cost of their education; and, in 40% and 82% of cases respectively, incurred some out-of-pocket expenses related to the formation of their family or the cost of gender-affirming care.

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And that’s just when it comes to the products and services offered by banks. LGBTQ+ customers face administrative hurdles not usually faced by their nonLGBTQ+ counterparts – particularly in the trans community, where a person’s sense of identity (including their gender and name) might be different to that shown on official documents.

What’s more, one in 10 LGBTQI+ people (11%) say they have experienced discrimination in banking or financial services, according to the same report.

THE NEEDS OF LGBTQ+ CUSTOMERS

Family and friends

Some LGBTQ+ customers report losing the ability to rely on their family and friends after they come out. 73% say they could rely on their family financially before telling them about their sexual orientation, compared with only 62% afterwards. This disparity is greater for transgender people.

Student debt

Over half of LGBTQ+ people surveyed have taken out a federal student loan to finance their education, compared to 31% of non-LGBTQ+ respondents. LGBTQ+ respondents were also less likely to have paid off their student loans.

Forming a family

Over 40% of LGBTQ+ parents report spending in excess of US$1,000 on outof-pocket healthcare costs related to the formation of their family (such as adopting or surrogacy). In addition, 32% of LGBTQ+ parents say they have spent more than US$5,000.

Gender-affirming care

Most people (82%) who received genderaffirming care spent more than US$5,000 on their own out-of-pocket expenses, while one-third (33%) of those surveyed had spent at least US$10,000.

SOURCE: Survey by CLEAR and MAP, 2023

“CLEARLY, FINANCIAL PRODUCTS THAT OFFER BLANKET SOLUTIONS TO THESE PROBLEMS WILL NO LONGER SUFFICE”

ANDREW ARWAS DIRECTOR OF TRANSFORMATION, CHETWOOD FINANCIAL

Creating an equitable financial services landscape

The financial difficulties reported by LGBTQ+ customers are compounded by broader problems that often put them at a disadvantage – for example, the LGBTQ+ community endures a higher rate of unemployment in the US, census data shows, and experienced a greater frequency of job losses during the pandemic, according to analysis from Rutgers University. They are also underpaid compared to their non-LGBTQ+ colleagues, earning just $0.90 in the dollar, according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

“CREATING A FINANCIAL SERVICES MARKET WHERE ALL PEOPLE FEEL SEEN AND REPRESENTED MEANS UNDERSTANDING THE UNIQUE CHALLENGES THAT PEOPLE IN THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY FACE”

ANDREW ARWAS DIRECTOR OF TRANSFORMATION, CHETWOOD FINANCIAL

Against the backdrop of these challenges, it is therefore imperative that banks and financial service providers double-down on their efforts to be inclusive for LGBTQ+ consumers. This is particularly true for trans folks, who face greater challenges accessing the financial system; are more likely to experience discrimination in everyday life; and have a high need for affordable credit to cover their outof-pocket health expenses, as the CLEAR and MAP research shows.

As well as championing diversity, banks should be creating products from scratch that meet the unique needs of LGBTQ+ consumers, if they are really serious about diversity and inclusion.

“Creating a financial services market where all people feel seen and represented means understanding the unique challenges that people in the LGBTQ+ community face when it comes to managing their money and financial accounts,” says Arwas. “Plenty of surveys have already thrown light on systemic issues like the LGBTQ+ pay gap and underemployment, while other research has underscored practical issues with their bank’s processes, such as the difficulties involved in changing the pronoun, name or gender on their account.

“Ultimately, this means that people may find it difficult to save for the future, boost

their creditworthiness, or achieve financial flexibility during an already tough economic period. Research from Experian shows that more than two-fifths of LGBTQ+ respondents struggle to maintain adequate savings, compared to 38% of the general population, while 18% overall had no credit cards in their names.”

Logan Casey, Senior Policy Researcher and Advisor at MAP, says its research “underscores the urgent need for strong and decisive efforts to counteract this financial toll and other harms” associated with being an LGBTQ+ person. “Given the escalating political attacks on LGBTQ+ and especially transgender people, federal protections against discrimination are essential,” Casey continues.

Arwas concludes: “Clearly, financial products that offer blanket solutions to these problems will no longer suffice. Banks and financial services companies have a duty to catch up to the societal issues that hold LGBTQ+ people back from living financially-secure lives. This means creating products that serve their particular financial needs and developing ongoing servicing processes that make it easier for members of the LGBTQ+ community to complete the simplest of changes that are already standard practice for cisgender heterosexual citizens.”

“GIVEN THE ESCALATING POLITICAL ATTACKS ON LGBTQ+ AND ESPECIALLY TRANSGENDER PEOPLE, FEDERAL PROTECTIONS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION ARE ESSENTIAL”

LOGAN CASEY SENIOR POLICY RESEARCHER AND ADVISOR, MAP

VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS INVESTING IN FINTECH

With fintechs needing access to capital, we take a look at the top 10 VC firms that are investing money into the sector right now

WRITTEN BY: ALEX CLERE

For startups, getting access to capital is one of the most challenging and demanding aspects of the founder experience. That’s where venture capital firms come in. These titans of business bring knowledge, experience and resources to the party. Typically, they invest in high-growth, early-stage businesses with a view to much higher returns further down the line.

Who are the biggest VC firms investing in fintech today? We ranked some of the top 10 based on their total number of investments, according to industry database Crunchbase – bear in mind that this is different from the number of portfolio companies they currently have.

Global Founders Capital

Total investments: 930

Berlin-based Global Founders Capital is a rare anomaly in this predominantly Californian list, reflecting the continued dominance that Silicon Valley exerts over the world of venture capital. GFC describes itself as a “stage-agnostic” VC firm attracted to “gifted entrepreneurs”. The firm clearly has good judgement; portfolio companies have included Revolut, SumUp, Moss, Spenmo, Tabby and Brex. Partners Roel Janssen and Matthias Müller previously worked for Rocket Internet, while GFC’s Don Stalter is a former VP International for Groupon and Investment Banker at Credit Suisse.

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Total investments: 1,252

Lightspeed Venture Partners is the California-based investment firm looking to take its investments ‘to infinity and beyond’. Its hands-on mission is characterised by its mantra that “the future isn’t built by dreamers, it’s built by doers”. Among the ‘doers’ in Lightspeed’s portfolio are private markets innovator Carta, social media platform Snap, food delivery site Grubhub, and cybersecurity company Rubrik. One of the company’s values is to put people first; it has 250 of them managing assets worth US$18bn.

Bessemer Venture Partners

Total investments: 1,334

San Francisco-based Bessemer Venture Partners tries to support founders in laying strong foundations and building them up into high-growth companies – and it’s working: Bessemer has overseen more than 135 IPOs and currently has 200 portfolio companies in the enterprise, consumer and healthcare spaces. High-profile investments have included Shopify, LinkedIn, Fiverr, Wix and Toast; while Zopa and nCino number among its fintech portfolio. It has US$20bn in assets under management with teams of investors and partners in seven regions from Boston to Bangalore.

Total investments: 1,393

Andreessen Horowitz often shortens itself to a16z – 16 representing the number of oftmisspelt characters in between the first and last letters of its lengthy name! With US$35bn in assets under management, the California-headquartered investment firm has an A-to-Z of fintech investments, too – from buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) provider Affirm through to automated lead generation outfit Zuma, via the likes of CoinSwitch, Greenlight, OpenInvest, Payrails, Stripe and Wise. To this day, Andreessen Horowitz is led by the general partners who lend it their names.

Andreessen Horowitz

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Intel Capital

Total investments: 1,547

It’s no wonder that Intel Capital has technology at its core; it is, after all, the venture capital arm of the California-based multinational Intel, which makes semiconductor chips and microprocessors. Indeed, Intel Capital boasts that its investment team is “backed with deep domain knowledge” and access to “the resources of Intel to assist companies in their paths to success”.

It invests heavily in companies that align with Intel; from a fintech perspective, this means cloud-native infrastructure and data platforms, as well as mobile technology, applications, robotics and automation.

Bossanova Investimentos

Total investments: 1,685

Based in São Paulo, Bossanova Investimentos is a Brazilian venture capital firm focused on seed-stage technology companies, particularly B2B companies with a SaaS or mobile leaning. It is named after Bossa Nova, an enormously popular genre of music similar to a mellow version of samba. Bossanova’s team comprises entrepreneurs who have already scaled or exited technology companies before, giving them greater insight into the founder experience; perhaps that’s why they’ve been able to invest in almost 1,700 startups to date.

Sequoia Capital

Total investments: 1,807

Sequoia Capital is one of the most familiar names in venture capital, named after the towering specimen of tree that is iconic to the forests of California. The investment firm is based in Menlo Park – the same corner of Silicon Valley occupied by Facebook, which has acquired platforms moneyed by Sequoia including Whatsapp and Instagram. Other investments include Nubank, Stripe, Green Dot, Klarna and Block. Sequoia says it’s constantly on the lookout for “daring” entrepreneurs – and it has found over 1,800 of them since the firm was launched in the early-1970s.

Accel

Total investments: 1,921

Accel is an American venture capital firm that has been investing in companies for over 40 years. Big-name portfolio companies include Facebook, Spotify, Slack, Dropbox and Etsy. The investment firm has a pedigree in the fintech sector, too, investing in the likes of Flywire, Funding Circle, Genesis, Monzo and Venmo. Its investments span the full lifecycle of emerging businesses from seed stage to Series B and even Series C – almost 2,000 of them in total, culminating in over 350 successful exits.

New Enterprise Associates

Total investments: 2,118

New Enterprise Associates is a venture capital firm on a mission to make the world better by investing in founders who improve the way society lives, works and plays. As such, its two core verticals for investment are healthcare and technology. It is just as likely to get involved with a seed or earlystage startup as with an established market leader. Its highest-profile investments include Databricks, Robinhood, Instabase, Plaid and Cloudflare.

“NEA stands out from other venture firms in two ways,” says Matthew Prince, Co-Founder and CEO of Cloudflare. “The first is the breadth of experience brought by the entire team and their willingness to collaborate. The second is NEA’s willingness to take on big challenges and help entrepreneurs achieve audacious goals.”

SOSV

Total investments: 2,558

SOSV focuses on investments in transformational tech – including climate technology, digital health startups, femalefounded businesses, and blockchain and AI. In total, it has invested in more than 2,500 businesses – including payments company ClearingPoint, DeFi data platform Credmark, and Bitcoin options exchange BitMEX.

The team is headed up by Managing General Partner Sean O’Sullivan, whose eclectic CV has seen him release two studio albums, co-found a humanitarian aid organisation, be a freelance photojournalist and cameraman, and hold senior roles in a couple of different technology businesses. This variety extends to O’Sullivan’s academic accolades: he holds a degree in electrical engineering, a master’s in film production, and an MBA from the University of Cambridge. At SOSV, he oversees a team of 500 employees investing assets under management worth US$1bn.

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