These challenges have been widely overlooked to date and businesses have been left to cope with these cashflow difficulties themselves, with minimal support made available from banks or other financial services. Zoe Newman, Head of Partnerships at Capital on Tap, explains below.

Fintech enterprises have begun to recognise the need for a solution here and are helping to innovate trade credit through new partnerships and co-branded trade card products. This innovative and automated trade credit solution enables wholesalers to better support their customers by issuing them with co-branded trade cards which provide instant credit with which to fund business purchases.

For many independent retailers, short-term cash flow issues are a familiar experience which will have had a significant impact on their business and impeded their ability to buy goods. Typically for independent retailers or restaurants, this experience often involves a cycle of not being paid by clients and customers and, as such, not being able to afford to purchase goods from wholesalers. Often, when looking for an alternative solution, many will turn to short-term loans, the majority of which have high-interest rates which make them unsustainable economic solutions, with the perils outweighing any perceived benefits. Needless to say, this cycle is detrimental not only to these retailers but also to the independent wholesalers who are reliant on them for business.

For many independent retailers, short-term cash flow issues are a familiar experience which will have had a significant impact on their business and impeded their ability to buy goods.

However, the new partnerships between fintechs and wholesalers are providing a much-needed solution to this problem and offering SMEs access to trade credit for business purchases without the strings of many short-term alternatives. The co-branded cards also give customers a sense of security should they come into any unforeseen costs and doesn’t restrict them to only spending with the wholesale partner.

By partnering with a fintech finance specialist, wholesalers are able to help SMEs access funding which will allow them to grow their organisation and take advantage of business opportunities, while also encouraging more sales with them. This scheme is a far cry from many bank-issued credit cards or short-term loans, as not only does this give their customers more freedom and flexibility, but it also removes some of the costs and burdens associated with the high-interest short-term loans that many will have had to resort to previously.

Through these partnerships, wholesalers are also set to benefit. This is in part due to it increasing their customers’ spending potential with them. Additionally, thanks to the branded nature of the cards issued, customers are reminded of the wholesaler every time they take out their wallet or use the card, providing valuable exposure for the brands.

Ultimately, these partnerships are a welcome development for many SMEs who are finding that banks are not providing sustainable or suitable funding options for their businesses. For many of these businesses, the sums and terms on offer to them do not fit their needs and meeting the strict repayment fees can be difficult due to the peaks and troughs in their trading periods. In addition, it can take several weeks for these businesses to be approved bank-backed funding, while many fintech partnerships guarantee a decision and access to funds within hours or days. It is the hope that this will remove the reliance some businesses have on short-term loans, which have historically allowed instant credit but with high-risk terms and extreme interest rates. As such, many SMEs will see the advent of partnerships between fintechs and independent wholesalers as offering a much-needed solution to these problems.

For many of these businesses, the sums and terms on offer to them do not fit their needs and meeting the strict repayment fees can be difficult due to the peaks and troughs in their trading periods.

At Capital on Tap, we have developed a number of relationships with independent businesses and wholesalers, such as JJ Food Services, to help these businesses overcome many of these issues. The partnerships between fintechs and independent wholesalers are enabling these businesses to inspire increased customer-loyalty and customer satisfaction by recognising a need in their customers and providing a viable solution. The initiative also means that these businesses are no longer just wholesalers, but they are also service providers - adding a new string to their bow.

Consumer trust in banks has plummeted in recent years. The 2008 financial crisis, as well as recent examples of bad practice such as TSB’s IT meltdown which compromised millions of accounts, has led to many consumers questioning whether their bank really has their best interests at heart. Indeed, RBS chief Ross McEwan recently predicted that it could take up to a decade to rebuild lost customer trust following decades of poor treatment.

In fact, as many as one in five customers (20%) no longer trust banks to provide them with a loan – ostensibly one of a bank’s primary functions.

Despite this mistrust, consumer appetite for credit remains high. We’re therefore seeing a rise in alternative lenders offering customers the flexibility and transparency customers desire - and which many traditional banks have conspicuously neglected – which could spell the end of the traditional banks’ role as leaders in the lending sector.

But how has the lending process evolved and what does this mean for traditional banks?

The rise of new consumer lending models

While consumers are willing to borrow outside of traditional banks in the wake of these institutions having cut back on unsecured lending, they will no longer trust a provider which does not operate transparently or ethically – as evidenced by the collapse of Wonga. This, combined with recent regulatory action from the FCA, has heralded a wave of change within the financial lending sector.

Following the lead of disruptive, digitally-focused providers such as Uber and AirBnB in other sectors, a number of fintech disruptors - such as Atom and Monzo - have materialised. These brands have analysed the day-to-day banking issues customers face – such as a lack of transparency and poor user experience (UX) - and designed their services from the ground up to mitigate these issues.

From taxi apps that invite you to register a payment mechanism, to autonomous vehicles that pay for their own parking or motorway tolls, “banking” without the need for a bank will gradually become a more everyday experience. In this vein, so too will consumer lending change through organisations that offer finance at the point of sale itself – both online and in-store - moving from traditional pre-purchase credit to a far more seamless service.

Flexible point-of-sale lending is changing the nature of financial transactions across a range of sectors, including how to fund a holiday, buy a house, and even pay for medical treatments at a rate which suits the customer. The potential of this lending method is huge, with more than three quarters (78%) of consumers saying they would consider using point-of-sale credit in the future.

What does this mean for traditional banks?

People seldom wake up in the morning thinking “I must do banking”. Banks don’t tend to inspire the levels of consumer loyalty seen in other sectors, and they must therefore work far harder to retain customers. Given this, the ongoing reticence of banks, to both lend and offer customers what they want, has created a gap in the finance market, which could be the death knell for traditional banks if left unchecked.

As frictionless point-of-sale lending businesses and customer-centric fintech brands continue to thrive, several key banking functions – such as money management and consumer lending - may be replaced entirely by newer, more agile providers. For example, could the fact that providers are now offering finance in the property sector put an end to the traditional mortgage?

If this growth of smaller, more agile disruptors continues, banks are highly likely to see reduced customer numbers. It was recently predicted that banks could lose almost half (45%) of their customers to alternative finance providers, and if banks do not adapt their offering there is a real danger they may be driven out of the market altogether.

Simply put, if banks do not place a greater focus on what customers want – flexibility and transparency – their status as the stalwarts of the lending market may soon be a thing of the past.

According to a recent report, late payments are costing SMEs in the UK a total of £2 billion every year, with the entire sum of the missed payments totalling £14 billion^[1]. Below Edwin Gabriëls, Consultant at Onguard, explains the intricacies of payments collection management, offering some tips for businesses.

With such a large amount owed to businesses, it would suggest that many organisations would benefit from improving their collection management strategy. Otherwise known as dunning, collection management is a vital process in credit control. It sees organisations follow set processes to chase for outstanding payments, making the chance of receiving payment more likely and given that 62% of invoices issued by UK SMEs in 2017 were paid late^[2], it’s important that businesses get dunning right.

A sub-standard dunning strategy can cause organisations to run into a number of challenges when trying to obtain a late payment, ranging from customers not responding to reminders and evading payment for long periods of time to ineffective systems requiring a great deal of data mining before the first step can even be taken. These factors often make collecting overdue payments a lengthy and difficult process. A poorly executed dunning strategy can be time-consuming, with UK SMEs estimated to spend 130 hours a year chasing outstanding invoices^[3], and can have a knock-on effect for the organisation as a whole, potentially damaging customer relations and inhibiting cash flow.

By creating an effective dunning strategy, which takes a structured approach to each stage of collection management, businesses are better placed to overcome these challenges.

By creating an effective dunning strategy, which takes a structured approach to each stage of collection management, businesses are better placed to overcome these challenges.The right strategy will enable credit control teams to determine factors such as how many times a customer is chased before legal proceedings are launched and what form of communication to take with the visible results of more efficient teams, reduced overdue payments and increased cash flow.

To develop the right dunning strategy for your organisation you should include the three stages and processes outlined below:

1. Structured Dunning

This stage should form the basis of every dunning strategy as the structured nature allows credit controllers to work to a predetermined framework to gain remuneration. For example, this could take the format of sending an initial reminder five days after an invoice becomes overdue. Then, if it remains unpaid, another reminder should be sent out at 15 days and a final reminder should be sent after 30 days. If payment still hasn’t been made after the three reminders, then legal action should be started. By following this process of chasing for payment, customers will come to the realisation that processes within your company are structured, meaning they can’t evade payment, leading to a reduction in overdue balances. Additionally, this format enables companies to pinpoint where issues occur during the process.

2. Dispute management and internal collaboration

Once structured dunning is in place, you can move on to implementing dispute management processes to look into issues customers have raised with invoices and processes. This stage requires some collaboration with other departments within your business to get to the heart of a customer’s problem and allow you to resolve the issue quickly as the sooner the dispute is resolved, the sooner you can get back to chasing for payment. By adding this step to your existing dunning strategy, you will see a reduction in overdue balances and an improvement in your cashflow as it doesn’t allow customer disputes to linger and for invoices to go unpaid for long periods of time.

3. External collaboration

Finally, by using the data you hold on the customer from both internal and external sources, you can determine how the customer wants to be addressed and the best ways in which to communicate. As customer engagement is becoming increasingly important, it is vital to use the tools at your disposal to create the correct communication at the right time. For example, if you have a long-lasting relationship with a customer it is crucial to address them in the right manner to avoid souring the relationship. This will help you avoid risks to cash flow and overdue balances posed by miscommunication.

For an effective strategy, businesses must first ensure they enforce structured dunning before integrating the other two elements as the strategy matures.

For human resources specialist t-groep, collaboration with other departments has become a key aspect of their dunning strategy. In fact, the entire company has access to the collection management solution as it is considered that those working closest to the customers have the best relationship with them. As such, these individuals are better placed to decide how to tackle the issue of outstanding invoices and find a way to ensure the amount is paid.

For an effective strategy, businesses must first ensure they enforce structured dunning before integrating the other two elements as the strategy matures. As a by-product of this three-tiered approach, the credit control department will gain a more centralised position within your organisation, rather than only becoming involved at the end of the relationship when an invoice is created, and payment is required.

With an established dunning process, it is possible to use information gained on customers’ payment habits and feed them into other processes within credit management, such as the order to cash chain. External data gathered through credit management can be used to determine whether customers are high or low risk, and decisions can be made as a result. For example, the knowledge that a customer regularly avoids making payments can inform decisions over whether to release an order to them. Additionally, this data can be used to segment customers into homogenous groups which can be used to determine aspects such as payment terms or discounts. This information could then be fed back into the dunning strategy to determine when chasing for payment begins.

It is important to remember that dunning certainly isn’t one-dimensional. In fact, with benefits including increasing cash flow, lowering overdue payments and improving customer relations, an entire organisation is likely to reap the rewards of an effective dunning strategy. It will also encourage credit controllers to be more focused on customer communication and address the disconnect between the way different departments communicate with customers. Although there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to dunning, by following this three-tiered framework, businesses will reduce the time spent on chasing customers for payment and achieve greater results.

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/late-payments-uk-business-cost-sme-2-billion-a-year-bacs-payment-customers-a7846781.html

[2] https://smallbusiness.co.uk/late-payments-trend-get-worse-uk-smes-2542060/

[3] https://www.siemens.com/content/dam/webassetpool/mam/tag-siemens-com/smdb/financing/brochures/united-kingdom/sfs-uk-late-payment-report.pdf

Chris Burniske, Placeholder Management partner, discusses the November downturn for crypto assets with Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal, Caroline Hyde and Romaine Bostick on "Bloomberg Markets: What'd You Miss?"

Despite the hype, research by IDEX Biometrics has revealed that mobile payments are almost as unpopular as cheques. In fact, the payment card is still the number one payment method when it comes to in-store purchases for UK consumers. Three quarters (75%) of respondents stated that they use cards, including contactless, most often, compared to cash (21%), mobile payments (3%), and cheques (1%).

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a glimpse of hope for mobile payments on the horizon, with 72% stating they are concerned about the possibility of no longer having access to a physical debit card and needing to rely on mobile payments only.

It seems consumers’ personal attachment to the payment card is virtually unbreakable. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents stated that carrying their debit cards provides a sense of security. It’s not surprising then that 75% say they always take a debit card with them when they leave the house. 65% of those questioned said that they wouldn’t give up their debit card in favour of mobile payments and a further 78% admit to feeling more secure using their debit card in comparison to mobile payments.

A further 60% also stated they would be worried people would have access to their accounts if they lost their mobile phone, amplifying the clear consumer distrust in mobile payments and their personal attachment to payment cards.

“It is evident that the UK public won’t be ditching payment cards in favour of mobile payments in the near, or even distant, future. Banks must face this and innovate with cards, which have stayed largely the same for decades,” comments Dave Orme, IDEX Biometrics SVP.

“With a resounding 53% of consumers stating they would trust the use of their fingerprint to authenticate payments more than the traditional PIN, this must be where the UK banking industry focuses its attention. Chip and PIN is now 12 years old, and has seen its course. It is time to elevate the traditional payment card and evolve authentication methods to make contactless transactions even more convenient and secure by adding seamless fingerprint biometric authentication”, added Orme.

(Source: IDEX Biometrics)

As global business and cross-border transactions have proliferated, there are significant implications for commercial customers who rely on banks and payments providers to provide a flawless service faster than ever. So how do can the financial services sector put value back into the process? Below Abhijit Deb, Head of Banking & Financial Services, UK & Ireland, Cognizant, explains for Finance Monthly.

Consumers now expect easy and immediate payment services, no matter where they are or what they are buying, whatever the payment method. It may be symptomatic of the ‘age of instant gratification,’ but it also demonstrates how people value financial agility. This was highlighted by a recent system failure with the UK’s Faster Payments System that caused mass inconvenience and frustration among consumers. Whether paying a friend back for last night’s dinner or sending emergency funds to family travelling overseas, the offerings of digital banks such as Monzo and Starling are testament to the industry’s efforts to keep up with rapidly evolving consumer expectations. This trend has now also filtered into the business world.

The technological saturation of the financial services industry has been met with an increasing affinity for risk amongst business customers. Churn has never been easier. If one bank cannot meet their needs, customers can leave, and it has never been easier for them to switch financial providers in a congested market. In essence, the evolution of the payments ecosystem encompasses much more than innovation targeted at consumers.

Understanding the value of payment data

Of course, there are some interesting examples of innovation in consumer payments. Gemalto’s biometric bank card, for example, highlights that the area is steadily advancing, despite scepticism that there will be mass consumer acceptance.

However, the pace of change is accelerating rapidly in terms of offerings. For instance, blockchain is being harnessed by banks and technology vendors as a prime enabler of an instant B2B payments infrastructure. Industry players realise that the methods that can derive benefits today are largely based on a better understanding of the value of payment data.

While such data has mostly been used to create a hyper-personalised customer experience for consumers, it is increasingly being harnessed in services to businesses, even outside the financial services sector with companies such as Google recently purchasing Mastercard credit card information to track users’ spending to create an additional revenue stream.

This evolution of B2B product consumption is emerging as a key theme across the broader financial services market and is increasingly allowing businesses of all sizes to ‘window shop’ for the products and services they want the most. Providers are racing to commercialise the increasing amounts of account information, a trend that has increased in the wake of regulation such as PSD2 (the Second Payment Services Directive). By doing so, they can position themselves as the customer’s ‘digital front door’ to a wider range of services such as financial advice, merging the dimensions of ‘fast money’ (a consumer’s daily spending) and ‘slow money’ (future spending, saving and investment).

Adopting innovations such as automation, means that banks and card providers can help their commercial customers transform payments into a process that can add real value and allow the integration of additional services. By making financial reporting much easier, organisations can glean better insights into data showing purchasing trends among their customer base. The emergence of machine learning and self-learning systems will make this process much more efficient, even incorporating features like automated financial advice or fraud detection to become commonplace.

Consumption models are changing

Therefore, as payments processors and providers realise the opportunities in the business payments ecosystem, innovation accompanied by a commoditisation of payments services is on the increase, characterised by providers trying to add more value in the supply chain. Although currently most relevant to the SME market, companies of all sizes are being targeted with added value payments services such as reporting, to help them make better decisions. For example, retailers working with Barclays have access to add-ons and third party apps via the bank’s SmartBusiness Dashboard, including basic analytics to see what customers are spending their money on. This information can then inform marketing schemes that tailor product promotions to specific customers.

Ultimately, the more choice the customer has and the more informed they feel, the more likely they are to return to the same bank to take out a loan or use other services.

With so many contributors to the payments ecosystem, and an increasing number of organisations using the analysis of payment data as a key differentiator against competitors, it is crucial that banks, regulators and payments processors co-ordinate their efforts and use the best technology available to create an efficient system. And with the Faster Payments Service deal up for renewal, a system that underpins most of the UK’s banks and building societies, perhaps it is time for the government to consider how it can best support a payments infrastructure that works for all.

More often than not, you will hear stories in the news of Millennials complaining that their generation is hard done by, but can you really blame them? Unlike today’s baby-boomers or Generation X, Millennials are saddled with an uncertain economic future and have the tightest cash flow compared to previous generations all because of the sheer complexity of modern life. This is a worrying fact and according to Christer Holloman, CEO & Co-founder of Divido, it’s time we cut Millennials some slack.

The burden of mounting student debt combined with an unrelenting affordable housing crisis and the fear of another credit crunch has made this generation particularly wary about their economic futures. This is translating into Millennials also becoming averse to borrowing from banks and sceptical about the financial services industry as a whole. Debt-conscious Millennials now favour prepaid and debit cards over the credit variety. This caution has two side-effects. Firstly, in a world governed by credit scores, it diminishes—some would say ironically— their potential to improve their credit scores and show that they can be trusted with credit and loans. Secondly, it means that those high-ticket, quality purchases are often deferred unnecessarily.

It’s fair to say that as a generation, Millennials suffer from perhaps the largest misconception about their spending habits, often criticised for being less money-savvy to other demographics. However recent research from Deloitte suggests Millennials aren’t as impulsive and money-reckless as the media makes them out to be. They are most likely, for example, to buy luxury, high-end goods when they receive extra income (such as a bonus) to avoid accruing debt. Because of this, it is crucial that businesses selling expensive aspirational goods targeted at Millennials, adjust their payment models, allowing consumers more flexibility and choice- choice that doesn’t stop abruptly at the checkout. It’s clear that this new wave of customer is not prepared to load up credit cards, meaning that if these businesses don’t change, their sales will become more sporadic.

Rarely is this negative attitude towards credit and debt addressed by a more convenient way to pay. This is curious given that Millennials now make up a quarter of the UK population, emphasising just how valuable offering finance options to this age group can be.

Millennials value convenience, flexibility and honesty from retailers and banks; all qualities which the main credit card providers are not renowned for. Paying by finance empowers customers by giving them the choice and flexibility that they crave from businesses. Allowing consumers to take a stronger control of their finances by spreading out their costs in monthly instalments at 0% interest, not only increases loyalty but makes those previously out-of-reach purchases more of a reality by removing the initial intimidating price tag. If more retailers adopted this system, the Millennial generation has a chance of becoming the next premium consumer base.

There has been a revolution in subscription payments for digital services over the past five to ten years. From Netflix to Spotify and even Nespresso, people are now very happy to spread out and manage their costs as they earn – it’s becoming the new norm. It is a model both the high street and online retailers should look to emulate in order to reach this influential generation and stay competitive.

The subscription model is now being rolled out to attract more affluent audiences with higher-ticket items such as cars as seen in Jaguar Land Rover’s recent launch of Carpe. Bitesize regular payment options are another way retailers can keep their customers loyal for longer by reassuring them that they are getting a good deal with the best long-term gains.

It’s clear that Millennials’ affinity for technology and new ways of doing things is reshaping the retail sector and its offerings. Having a strong brand is no longer good enough to lock in a sale with them. Retailers now need to work harder, tap into the financial psyche and purchasing mindset of Millennials to give them the flexibility and choice to own their payment plans. Not only will this ensure they’re not spending beyond their means, but it also allows them to buy the quality, higher-end products they desire then and there.

Recent figures compiled by banking industry group UK Finance have revealed that over £500 million was stolen from customers of British banks in the first half of 2018, of which £145 million was due to authorised push payment (APP) scams – referring to when people are duped into sending money to a fraudster’s account. While it is often a bank’s policy to refuse refunds to customers who fall victim to these schemes, Aspect Software believes financial institutions need to demonstrate a concerted commitment to addressing this problem head-on if they are to keep their customers on-side, by focusing on nullifying the methods that criminals use.

Of the overall amount of money stolen, £358 million was lost to unauthorised fraud – which refers to transactions made without the knowledge of the victim. While this represents the majority of stolen funds, UK Finance confirmed that two-thirds of unauthorised fraud is thwarted by financial institutions, meaning that banks are having some success in this area. APP, however, represents a different challenge entirely, with regulations meaning that banks are often well within their rights to reject refunds for this type of fraud.

Cameron Thomson, VP Northern Europe & Worldwide Subscription Sales at Aspect, said: “Banks turning down compensation claims due to a customer’s own errors is understandable to an extent. However, banks – like so many other businesses – are customer-focused institutions with a responsibility for those in their care. People are being hit by increasingly sophisticated social engineering schemes and related scams, including SIM swap hacks or posing as a highly convincing text message, email or web page purporting to be from the bank.

“A certain level of common sense from customers should rightly be expected, but the growing skills of fraudsters in appearing legitimate mean that it has become unrealistic to expect every customer to distinguish a fraudulent request from a genuine one.”

While Thomson considers it crucial that banks reaffirm their efforts to teach adequate security hygiene to their customers, he also believes that it is time that financial institutions stepped up their efforts to detect techniques such as SIM swap or social engineering campaigns, before taking the necessary steps to reinforce data security measures and shore up the accounts most at risk.

He added: “Humans will always be the weak link in the security chain, so banks should be doing everything in their power to mitigate the impact of errors made by individual customers. This means that financial institutions should have fraud detection capabilities in place that are able to keep them abreast of the latest scams, as well as automatically flag and escalate instances of issues such as SIM swap or particularly successful social engineering schemes. Banks might not be compelled by regulations to refund customers, but there’s a possibility this could change very soon, and demonstrating a steadfast commitment to customer welfare will always be positively received.”

Thomson concluded: “Key to this is also a willingness by banks to work closely with regulators to work out the best possible course of action to tackle APP. The issue of compensating defrauded customers can be a sticky one, so engaging in open discussions with regulators can go a long way towards ensuring that we arrive at a positive resolution to the APP conundrum.”

(Source: Aspect Software)

Research from Dun & Bradstreet reveals that UK businesses prompt payments deteriorated in in the three months to June (Q2). On average, less than a third (31.5%) of payments were made on time compared to 31.3% in the previous quarter. The average payment delay in the UK is around 15 days, two days higher than the European average.

Dun & Bradstreet’s UK Quarterly Industry Report shows a clear split by sector, with ‘Health/Education/Social’ and ‘Finance/Industry/Property’ recording the sharpest deterioration in payment performance (down by 1.7% and by 1.4% respectively quarter-to-quarter). However, more positive results were recorded for the Consumer Manufacturing sector which demonstrated the largest improvement, followed by the ‘Eating and Drinking’ (0.8%) and ‘Materials Processing/Mining’ (0.6%) sectors.

Late payments remain a significant problem for UK-based small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). On average, larger companies of 251 employees or more only paid 8.1% of their payments promptly, compared with smaller companies of 250 employees or less, which averaged at 25.7% for paying their suppliers on time.

Commenting on the results, Markus Kuger, Senior Economist at Dun and Bradstreet said: “What is perhaps most worrying from the data is the sheer volume of late payments UK-based companies are having to contend with, not least as a result of weaker retail sales and the uncertainty of the impact of Brexit on businesses. Although there is legislation in place to assist small businesses with their struggle against late payments, the majority of the time they take no action for fear of alienating their larger customers. Late payments affect businesses across the sectors and of all sizes and give rise to tighter financial conditions and higher administrative, transaction and financial. With continued uncertainty for the foreseeable future, it is likely that we will see further deterioration in prompt payments due to rising headwinds triggered by the Brexit vote.”

(Source: Dun & Bradstreet)

With a world that increasingly relies on the individuality of society, transformation towards bespoke platforms and mechanisms is inevitable. Here David Orme, Senior Vice President of IDEX Biometrics, discusses the growing benefits of biometrics in the world of money, a world which for consumers is deemed one of the most private and personal to each of us.

Sadly, our relationship with money and purchases is not as personal as it used to be. Gone are the days when people would visit their local banks, queue up at the kiosk and request to withdraw cash from their account via the bank clerk.

Modern technology has positively shaped personal finance in many ways by providing convenience and security through areas such as online banking and payment cards. As a result however, our personal relationships with our money is quickly deteriorating.

After all, we live in a world of personalised experiences. Amazon offers us individual recommendations, Spotify suggests great new songs based on our listening, and Netflix knows what we’ll love to watch. We now expect everything to be unique and tailored to us and our personal preferences. It puts us in control and validates that we are each individuals with our own specific likes and needs; that in a world of 7.6 billion people, we have a voice.

This taps into an innate love of the personal... Something that reflects who we are: from a monogrammed shirt, a personalised number plate, a tailored itinerary for your holiday to simply how you like your coffee.

Yet there are some things in life that have resisted being personalised: credit and debit cards are one such example. They’re all the same. All dull and functional. Generally, the only way to personalise cards currently is to use a PIN with significance such as a birthday, as insecure as that may be.

But as the protagonist from the 60s TV show, The Prisoner, famously shouted “I’m not a number!” None of us are numbers. We are all unique. And what is more unique than our fingerprints?

Biometric intervention

Our society has become increasingly security conscious, in a landscape characterised by the rising skill levels of cyber criminals. With biometric technology already implemented as a security measure in airports, and even on the latest smartphone devices, the idea of fingerprint recognition should not be a foreign concept. Instead, due to it already being a consumer habit, biometric payment cards will be easily adoptable, thus paving the way for a smooth transition.

Traditional methods of authentication such as the Personal Identification Number (PIN) are becoming more and more outdated. Failing to combat fraud, the PIN has seen millions lost to scams ranging from shoulder surfing to lost and stolen, even to opportunist criminals discovering PIN codes written down.

By introducing a biometric payment card, consumers will be far more protected from fraud, which will eventually bring an end to the PIN. By storing a fingerprint sensor directly onto the payment card, as opposed to a central database, there is nobody else in the world that will be able to connect with the card to issue a transaction other than the owners themselves. Thus, creating a far more accurate method of authentication and the ultimate personal relationship between consumers and their cards. With everything else now seemingly moving towards a digital platform, this is the last piece of physical interaction in payments and therefore a much-needed opportunity to build a personal connection and better security to combat fraud head-on.

Specifically, the reference fingerprint can easily be uploaded to the card by the user, at home, and once that is done they can use the card via existing secure payment infrastructures — including both chip and ID and contactless card readers — in the usual way.

Once it is registered and in use, the resolution of the sensor and the quality of image handling is so great that it can recognise prints from wet or dry fingers and knows the difference between the fingerprint and image ‘noise’ (smears, smudging etc.), that is often found alongside fingerprints. The result is a very flexible, durable sensor that provides fast and accurate authentication.

Fingerprint recognition will provide a clearer means to distinguish an individual from everyone else on the planet. This technology will not only assist the financial sector, instead, its benefits will transcend into a range of areas, from bolstering national identification which will help address healthcare and social fraud, assisting financial inclusion and maintaining access to controlled spaces such as government buildings.

How soon is now?

Fortunately, the long-held ambition to add biometrics to cashless transactions has now been achieved. The production and trials of an extremely thin, flexible and durable fingerprint sensor, suitable for use with payment cards, is underway in countries such as Bulgaria, the US, Mexico, Cyprus, Japan, the Middle East and South Africa.

However, we anticipate that each banking customer may deploy as many as 100,000 biometric cards to their account holders by the end of 2018 and that biometric bank card adoption will go into many millions from 2019. Paving the way for payments to become personal once again.

Personal relationships are a key part of life, they offer us a sense of importance and happiness. The time is now for this to extend to our payment cards. Biometric payment cards will create a unique connection, with transactions exclusive to the owner, shunning anyone else on the planet trying to access the sensor. Not only is this integral to creating a personal relationship between the card user and their bank, but the security benefits are therefore more profound as the challenge of forging fingerprints is a far more complex one for criminals

Though biometric technology is already in-place across our society, its potential within payments has yet to be truly discovered. Before this can be achieved, banks need to gain consumer trust and promote the value of biometric technology before its benefits can be realised by us all.

The UK’s passion for innovation means it is now seen as a global leader in the development of financial services that are powered by prepaid technology, according to data released by Prepaid International Forum (PIF).

PIF, the not-for-profit trade body representing the prepaid sector, reports that the percentage of UK adults using tech-based financial services has risen to 42% (up from 14% in 2015). The UK is at the forefront of this growing market in Europe, ahead of Spain (37%) and Germany (35%). The UK is third globally to only China (69%) and India (52%).

Fueling this growth in the UK is prepaid, which has become a driving force for the fintech companies who are rapidly transforming the way we pay and get paid. The prepaid sector in Europe is growing faster than anywhere else in the world (up 18% since 2014 compared to just 6% growth in the US) is now worth $131bn*.

Experts believe that the UK’s passion for innovation may help to offset the potential negative effects of a no-deal Brexit, should UK financial service providers lose its right of automatic access to EU markets.

Diane Brocklebank, spokesperson for PIF, says: “The UK is a globally significant player in the creation of prepaid-enabled financial services with consumers keen to adopt new and innovative services and a growing industry of experts with the knowledge needed to develop such products and bring them to market.

“In a global sector, the UK stands out as being a key market and one that should retain its prized status even if it loses its financial passporting rights as a result of a no-deal Brexit.”

The UK’s status in prepaid is significant as it is a sector that is growing much faster than other financial services. In Europe, the 18.6% growth in prepaid since 2014, compares to just 7.8% growth in consumer debit and 5.8% growth in consumer credit markets*.

Diane Brocklebank, continues: “Prepaid and Fintech are the areas where people looking to invest in financial service businesses are seeing the most potential. This is being driven by increased dissatisfaction with mainstream financial services and a desire for greater innovation and flexibility, particularly amongst consumers looking for lower costs and fees as well as smartphone accessible products.

“The UK’s status as a global player is therefore crucial to it continuing to be seen as a key market for such investment. To maintain this, it must continue to be a positive environment for innovation with a supportive regulatory environment and strong skills base.”

(Source: PIF)

Do you want to go from being a stock market dreamer to a high earner? A new tool could be what you need to transform your hindsight into insight.

How Rich Would You Be? uses market data from the past 12 months to reveal exactly what you could have made if you invested in a variety of cryptocurrencies, commodities and companies. It also forecasts the potential gains for each over the coming months to predict the next big investment opportunity.

Via a bespoke algorithm that uses machine learning, the tool feeds historical data on all 15 options through a recurrent neural network to unveil the future rise and fall in value for each investment.

The 15 commodities monitored include:

• Bitcoin
• Ethereum
• Ripple
• Bitcoin Cash
• EOS
• Gold
• Oil
• Copper
• Wheat
• Coffee
• Apple
• Alphabet (Google)
• Microsoft
• Amazon
• Facebook

All data is displayed in concise visualisations, allowing you to compare individual or multiple investments side-by-side.

The future predictions reveal that the cryptocurrencies will experience the highest percentage increase, yielding more profit than commodities or companies.

The algorithm also reveals that the value of Ethereum will skyrocket from $289.26 per unit to $788.42 if it continues on its predicted path - an astounding 173% increase by October 28th.

Similarly, Ripple investors should look forward to the next month since the cryptocurrency is charted to rise in value by 159% - surging from $0.34 per unit to $0.88 per unit.

Alphabet Inc should perhaps be avoided as the value of the company is set to drop -10% per share. Following in Alphabet’s footsteps is Apple, which is set to fall -8% from $227.63 per share to $208.47.

Despite the unpredictability of the cryptocurrency market, the historical data shows that when compared against commodity and company investments, EOS, Bitcoin and Ripple boasted three of the top five investments.

EOS aficionados who invested in September 2017 will have noticed a 786% increase in price per unit over the last year - a jump from $0.73 per unit to $6.47.

Though it is now set to undergo a negative percentage change, Amazon experienced a 106% increase in value per share between September 2017 and September 2018.

Unfortunately for commodity investors, the two investments that have made the biggest losses over the past year include coffee and copper. Coffee has made the most significant loss over the last year, with a -20% change - dropping from $129.65 per pound to $1103.33.

Copper investors will also have been disappointed with the -12% change in value over the previous year from $3.06 per pound to $2.68.

Commodity investors who chose to invest in oil over copper would have enjoyed a 46% rise from $48.07 per barrel to $69.97 in just one year.

Values: Historical and predicted change in 15 leading investment choices

(Source: How Rich Would You Be?)