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.

Chief Financial Officers (CFO) are playing a critical role in driving digital disruption across the organization, according to new research from Accenture. Today’s CFOs oversee more than just the finance function and are now integral players in directing enterprise-wide digital investments and managing their economic outcomes and impacts.

The research report, The CFO Reimagined: From Driving Value to Building the Digital Enterprise, finds that CFOs have expanded beyond their traditional finance roles into areas that have broader consequences for the whole organization. In the UK, eight in 10 CFOs see identifying and targeting areas of new value across the business as one of their main responsibilities. More than three quarters (78%) believe it is within their purview to drive business-wide operational transformation.

"CFOs are increasingly stepping out from the confines of their role to act as strategic advisors as well as innovators across the entire enterprise," said David Axson, Senior Strategy Executive Principal at Accenture. "In an era of unprecedented disruption, this repositioning of the role will continue as CFOs take the role of digital stewards, using data to drive value and improve efficiency while mapping out the digital investments required for their organisations to remain competitive."

CFO as the Digital Investment Sherpa

UK CFOs are emerging as drivers of the digital agenda, with 80 percent heading up efforts to improve performance through adoption of digital technology, and 73 percent also exploring how disruptive technologies could benefit the entire organization and the business eco-system. Not only are CFOs carrying out their own tasks faster and better through automation, they’re also increasingly ushering in the “digitalization” of other functions and finding new ways to use technology to change business models and open new revenue streams.

CFOs: Get Your Data House in Order

The standard CFO to-do list is shifting towards strategic planning, advisory and analytics roles as CFOs continue to automate routine accounting, control and compliance tasks. Automation of these finance duties is enabling the finance function to focus on newer and more challenging tasks and bring the C-suite together to act on insights gleaned from data analysis. Today, 34% of finance tasks are carried out by technology; by 2021, almost half (44%) of these duties will be taken over by automation.

“CFOs’ use of data is expanding to other parts of the business. As a result, they will need to be more entrenched in transformational technologies such as AI and analytics to usher in digitization of the broader organization, create new business models and unlock new revenue streams,” said Dr. Christian Campagna, senior managing director, Accenture Strategy, CFO & Enterprise Value. “The CFOs who step up to manage these opportunities will be the true guardians of the enterprise.”

As the role of the CFO continues to evolve, so do the skillsets required to become a finance executive. Today’s finance function must include employees with a wide range of capabilities, from data visualization to flexible thinking. Most CFOs recognize that finance skills will continue to move away from core finance to advanced digital, statistics, operational and collaborative skills (79 percent). And more than three-quarters (76%) say the change must be rapid and drastic, as traditional finance roles may soon become obsolete.

Future Finance Talent Is Calling

The biggest challenge for CFOs will be recruiting or training the talent to understand how to collect data and gain insight from data. Almost 9 in ten (87%) UK CFOs agree that data storytelling is an essential skill for today’s finance professional. They must be more open-minded and collaborative to work effectively with and serve as strategic advisors to leaders in other business functions.

“It feels like there are two camps for what people look for in a CFO: the control or accounting background versus a more strategic finance role who partners with the CEO,” explains Chris Weber, CFO and executive vice president, Halliburton Company. “Over time, I think the shift has been towards this second role, even if that means the candidate isn't an accountant by training.”

(Source: Accenture)

The top 5 biggest real estate companies in the world. We take a look at the top 5 biggest real estate companies in the world, and compare figures such as profit, sales, market value and assets.

Jeffrey Wernick is an independent investor whose portfolio includes early holdings in Uber and Airbnb. Wernick started buying bitcoin in 2009, the year it was created. Wernick says that people misunderstand bitcoin because it is often explained as a payment mechanism instead of as a store of value.

In support of the tenth annual My Money Week last week, Equifax partnered with Young Enterprise in order to equip young people to grow-up with the life skills, knowledge and confidence they need to successfully earn and manage money.

Underlining the need for broader awareness amongst young people of the cost of the things they want – and how they might be financed - the credit information provider has released research which reveals that a third of parents admitted feeling pressured by their child to buy them the latest technology, and 35% felt pressured to buy fashionable clothing for their children.

“Our findings suggest that some parents are feeling under pressure to spend on their children when they may already be financially stretched,” explains David Stiffler, Vice President of Global Corporate Social Responsibility at Equifax. “As well as spending money on technology, nearly a quarter of parents said they have been put under pressure to keep up with the latest gaming devices and online apps, and a further 29% said their child pressured them to buy the latest toy craze.

“More than ever before, Equifax is committed to making a difference to the communities in which we live and work and My Money Week is a fantastic opportunity to encourage both parents and schools to help the younger generation appreciate financial values. The right attitude about money management starts at home so it is very encouraging to see a campaign that will teach children more about managing money in a way that is practical and relevant to them.”

The Equifax research also highlights how 11% of parents will spend between £51-£100 just on technology such as tablets, laptops and smart phones, for their child every school year. A further 10% admit to spending between £151- £200.

Russell Winnard, Head of Educator Facing Programme and Services at Young Enterprise, said: “It is important to have the right foundations from an early age to ensure that young people continue to manage their money well throughout their life. The aim of My Money Week is to improve financial capability for young people in primary and secondary schools. It’s all about teachers and parents inspiring young people to be financially literate, and the statistics from Equifax demonstrate just how important it is to learn about finances from an early age.”

To help parents keep control of their budget, Equifax has added an interactive Equifax Budget Planner to the tools on its website.

(Source: Equifax)

Stock market investors should not be spooked by the return of volatility on US and global stock markets, they should instead use it to their advantage.

This is the message from deVere Group as US stocks fell into correction territory on the first day of the new quarter, triggering a ripple effect to other financial markets around the world.

The turbulence is largely due to investors becoming rattled over rising trade tensions between the US and China – the world’s first and second largest economies – and major tech firms’ recent declines.

Tom Elliott, deVere Group’s International Investment Strategist, comments: “Stock market investors should not be spooked by the return of volatility on US and global stock markets.

“We are emerging from an unusually long period of low volatility, and this makes recent sharp moves in stock prices feel like an important signal when, in all likelihood, it will prove largely irrelevant for long term investors.

“Several themes are being used to describe Monday’s fall on Wall Street: fear that Trump will announce another set of tariffs on Chinese imports, Trump’s attack on Amazon’s low - but legal - corporate tax bill, and consumer and regulatory backlash against those tech companies who harvest and re-sell personal data to advertisers. None of these are sufficient triggers for a major correction outside of certain sectors, with tech looking the most vulnerable.”

He continues: “Indeed, the current correction feels like a continuation of March’s de-rating of tech stocks, as investors revaluate future earnings potential in the sector. Tech makes up about a quarter of the market cap of the S&P500, so it is important. But its problems shouldn’t be bringing down other sectors. Therefore stock price falls elsewhere on Monday – for example discretionary goods and energy - are perhaps best described as ‘collateral damage’.”

Mr Elliott goes on to add: “The sell-off in late January and early February felt more convincing, as a sharp rise in Treasury yields amid some buoyant wage and inflation data combined to convince investors that the days of cheap money are coming to an end. Risk assets, such as stocks, fell in response.

“A trade war with China certainly has the potential to be a trigger for a major sell-off, but we are not there yet. Otherwise Treasury yields would have risen in recent weeks, in response to a likely rise in inflation coming from tariffs and import quotas. Instead, 10-year Treasury yields have remained in the 2.7% to 2.8% range.”

Nigel Green, the founder and CEO of deVere Group, says many investors will welcome this bout of volatility: “Some of the most successful investors embrace some volatility as major buying opportunities are always found where there are fluctuations.

“Fluctuations can cause panic-selling and mis-pricing. High quality equities can then, for example, become cheaper, meaning investors can top up their portfolios and/or take advantage of lower entry points. This all, in turn, means greater potential returns.”

He concludes: “A professional fund manager will help investors take advantage of the opportunities that volatility presents and mitigate potential risks as and when they are presented.

“Many serious investors will be using this turbulence to create, maximise and protect their wealth.”

(Source: deVere Group)

There's no doubt that these are strange times in the digital age. Whilst the advent of technological innovation has made it easier than ever for individuals to access products and launch businesses, for example, stagnant economic growth and global, geopolitical tumult has prevented some from maximising the opportunities at their disposal.

Make no mistake; however, the so-called “Internet of Value” has the potential to change this and create a genuine equilibrium in the financial and economic space. In this article, we'll explore this concept in further detail and ask how this will impact on consumers and businesses alike.

tellhco.com

So what is the internet of value and how will it change things?

In simple terms, the Internet of Value refers to an online space in which individuals can instantly transfer value between each other, negating the need for middleman and eliminating all third-party costs. In theory, anything that holds monetary or social value can be transferred between parties, including currency, property shares and even a vote in an election.

From a technical perspective, the Internet of Value is underpinned by blockchain, which is the evolutionary technology that currently supports digital currency. This technology has already disrupted businesses in the financial services and entertainment sectors, while it is now evolving to impact on industries such as real estate and e-commerce.

What impact will the Internet of Value on the markets that its disrupts?

In short, it will create a more even playing field between brands, consumers and financial lenders, as even high value transactions will no longer have to pass through costly, third-party intermediaries to secure validation. This is because blockchain serves as a transparent and decentralised ledger, which is not managed by a single authority and accessible to all.

This allows for instant transactions of value, while it also negates the impact of third-party and intermediary costs.

What will this mean for customers and businesses?

From a consumer perspective, the Internet of Value represents the next iteration of the digital age and has the potential to minimise the power of banks, financial lenders and large corporations. In the financial services sector, the Internet of value will build on the foundations laid in the wake of the great recession, when accessible, short-term lenders filled the financing void that was left after banks choose to tighten their criteria.

Businesses and service providers will most likely view the Internet of Value in a different light, however, as this evolution provides significant challenges in terms of optimising profit margins and retaining their existing market share. After all, it's fair to surmise that some service providers (think of brokers, for example) would become increasingly irrelevant in the age of blockchain, while intermediaries that did survive would need to seek out new revenue streams.

The precise impact of the Internet of Value has yet to be seen, of course, but there's no doubt that this evolution will shake up numerous industries and marketplaces in the longer-term.

For an Agile transformation to be truly successful all departments within an organisation need to be part of the journey. For finance teams this can be a particular challenge as historically change happens infrequently within finance practices.

Often finance departments are blamed for slowing innovation. In today’s marketplace the ability to pivot and quickly try new ideas has become critical to success. Below, Paul O’Shea, CEO of Kumoco, the management consultancy that specialises in Agile working and cloud consulting, looks at some of the simple steps finance can take to become an enabler of innovation

1. Adopt a VC model for funding projects

Finance departments usually do not have a culture of reviewing value generated by projects as they proceed. Typically they engage at the start to approve budgets and at the end of projects to review ROI and manage depreciation. Working in an Agile way requires continual assessment of the value being delivered. This means that projects that are not delivering value can be identified and stopped earlier. Conversely those that are, can be promoted and additional investment assigned.

In practice this means finance departments should be encouraged to adopt a venture capital model. An initial budget should be allocated to kick-start a project, then value delivered is continually measured to trigger further releases of funding.

A finance department usually works to longer-term goals and does not have a culture of reviewing projects as they proceed to make sure what is undertaken is still valid and has not been overtaken by changes in the business or the market in which it operates. However, a more flexible approach is increasingly necessary as the pace of change in economies and markets has never been faster and companies need to be fleet of foot to survive. Finance departments should be encouraged to perhaps adopt a venture capital model, nurturing projects over defined periods of time. They could provide an initial budget to kick-start a project but then continually assess the project’s progress and validity before releasing further funds for subsequent stages to ensure that what is being funded is still relevant and is valuable for the business.

2. Embed the finance team in projects

Typically finance departments sit apart from actual project teams.

This is in direct opposition to an Agile way of working, which involves continual assessment and development, to drive efficiencies and ensure projects are on track and are meeting evolving goals. To address this, businesses should consider embedding finance department members in the project team so they have a better understanding of the work being done and the strategy and goals. Finance team members could also benefit from Agile training where they receive an introduction to Agile and to understand its ethos and integrate more effectively with project teams.

3. Use a range of metrics to measure value

Assessing value is not easy. A 2017 global survey by the Scrum Alliance showed that for 41% of participants[i], measuring value was their greatest challenge. To help finance departments correctly assess the value of Agile projects to a business there should be regular reassessment, the metrics should be standardised and value should be measured not solely by financial gains but through a range of key performance indicators (KPIs) to have a more holistic view of the benefits of the project on a business.

4. Foster an Agile finance function

As well as the above measures, which apply across a business, fostering an Agile approach in finance departments is also a key part of helping to encourage an Agile and lean way of working in an organisation.

Adopting Agile will help finance functions to increase efficiency and speed through simpler data management by accelerating financial processes such as capital expenditures, resource allocations, reporting and analysis, leading to fewer controls and more real-time information. The result is more timely and actionable financial information that allows managers to be more Agile and responsive and avoid problems and recognise opportunities that will help to transform a business. This is supported by the 2017 CFO Indicator Report that found that 36% of CFOs would like their teams to spend less time on report preparation and data collection more time on forecasting and scenario analysis.

Simple techniques could be embraced, such as understanding how Kanban, a process designed to help teams work together more effectively, can help streamline processes and drive efficiencies. It may also be useful for the finance department to have a Kanban board, updated daily, so that everyone can see and understand how and why these tools work.

CFOs and their teams should also monitor and analyse non-financial KPIs, including customer satisfaction, customer relationships and brand reputation, which can be used to make more accurate forecasts, minimise risks and identify new opportunities.

5. Training & preparation

Finally, finance departments should also make themselves transformation-ready and educate staff on the key role the finance function plays in helping to develop an Agile ethos in a business focused around developing a strong customer-centric culture, making a company more flexible and able to achieve goals that are rapidly evolving. The truly Agile finance function has the adaptability, skills and nimble effectiveness to help transform businesses of whatever size or sector - and take them to new heights.

[i]https://www.scrumalliance.org/scrum/media/ScrumAllianceMedia/Files%20and%20PDFs/State%20of%20Scrum/State0fScrum_2016_FINAL.pdf?aliId=270113596

Management Consultancy firms are cropping up left, right and centre these days. It’s easy to find one willing to help, but how do you go about finding the right fit for your business? Below Mark Peters, Managing Director at Protiviti, talks Finance Monthly through the process of sourcing management help.

As the market environment continually shifts, businesses face an increasing need to make fundamental changes to their strategies if they want to continue to grow profitably, manage risks effectively and optimise the opportunities brought about by change. Both emerging and mature businesses need to navigate digital technological advancements; disruptive innovations threatening core business models; soaring equity markets; uncertainty brought by political disruption (e.g. Brexit); cyber breaches on a massive scale; increasing regulatory scrutiny; adjustments to corporate culture; and changing economic conditions.

These critical concerns are in abundance for boards and executives, and the expectations amongst key stakeholders for greater transparency about the nature and magnitude of risks undertaken in executing a businesses’ corporate strategy are high. Simply put, hiring more people is no longer sufficient to maintain growth; instead, today’s challenges are driving increased demand for management consulting expertise.

Management consulting can include a broad range of business advisory or implementation services. It consists of providing third-party independent expertise in areas such as business strategy; management organisation; financial management; risk and regulatory requirements; HR; and technology to solve business problems. There are many types of consulting firms in the market. Strategy firms focus on one or two of the areas outlined above, while large accounting firms offer a broad range of services, to name two examples. However, market demand for greater insight and choice has seen both the emergence of more specialist knowledge, and an increasing requirement for consulting firms to provide a ‘full service platform’ offering. At one end of the spectrum, potential clients are looking for high-value consulting services (e.g. realising opportunities of strategic change) for critical areas, while at the other end, they are also looking for more traditional commodity and lower cost consulting services (e.g. staff augmentation). Overall, the market is seeing increased demand for a cross-spectrum offering as well as a rise in independent consultants offering more niche services.

With this backdrop, to find the best consultants to support them, organisations need to develop their own criteria for selection. Factors might include the extent to which the consultant can show:

• An ability to discover value – The best consultants demonstrate an ability to clarify the stated need within the context of the client’s business and work collaboratively with the client to identify the ‘real problem’.
• An ability to deliver external insight and value – Executives that hire consultants often have their own perspectives on the problems they are facing but turn to consultants for help to make sure they aren’t missing the obvious or a better answer. The best management consultants team together with their clients to see beyond the surface of the initial changes and problems to discover opportunities that the client might otherwise miss.
• Specialism related to your ‘real problem’ – The most effective consultants provide a combination of consulting professionals and people who have held management positions to bring a wider perspective. They also demonstrate that they have worked with many different companies and may have worked through this problem in the past with another organisation. This breadth and depth of experience enables them to provide an informed perspective and bring both pragmatic and innovative solutions that the client would not have been able to discover alone.
• A desire to sustain a relationship – The best consulting firms can demonstrate a track record of success and will provide the client with a consistent experienced team with ‘skin in the game’ for the long-term and not just the ‘sales pitch’. The best firms focus on building strong relationships with the people in the organisations they are supporting, creating an exceptional working experience.
• Demonstrate value delivered –The best advisors don’t just provide a view on how they will solve problems at a price, but also provide hard numbers and statistics to show how the cost of their advice has generated value to the organisation. Finding the best consultant and value often doesn’t equate to the cheapest compared with one that might be more expensive but more effective. The top firms can measure their value in terms of risk reduced, improvements delivered or opportunities realised as a result of their work.

Experience tells us that no one competency or consulting firm is ever enough to solve today’s complex business problems. Most clients want to work with a consulting firm that can demonstrate the qualities described above, solve business-critical problems and offer an alternative, fresh perspective. Consulting firms that develop the expertise of their people in the areas of digital transformation, data analytics, robotics, risk, regulatory change and front-to-back office improvements, and tailor solutions to fit the unique business problems of every client, are seeing unprecedented demand from companies wanting help to face the future with confidence.

From democratising data to driving value, blockchain has a lot of potential to improve on some of the credit industry’s greatest challenges. Here Alexander Dunaev, Co-Founder and COO at ID Finance, delves into how blockchain could disrupt credit agencies all over the world by providing a solution to address the broken and archaic data practices at the credit bureaus.

Blockchain is driving a paradigm shift in how we deal with data, rewriting the rulebook around approaches to data management, transparency and ownership. While digital finance is cutting the cost of serving the underbanked to drive financial inclusion, blockchain could offer a way of widening access to even greater numbers of consumers excluded from mainstream financial services.

Within lending, where we see blockchain having the biggest impact is on transforming the credit bureaus. The technology offers a much-needed solution to address the inefficiencies associated with data security, ID verification and data ownership.

Credit bureaus are not infallible

Although a number of new ways are emerging to determine loan eligibility, the largest banks and financial services providers still rely heavily on an individual’s credit history, sourced from credit agencies such as Equifax, Experian and TransUnion and its corresponding FICO score. Indeed 90 per cent of the largest US lending institutions use FICO scores.

The way in which credit histories are stored and accessed by corporates has historically made a great deal of sense and offered a multitude of benefits. It regulates how the data is stored, audited and accessed, and bestowing a government seal of approval provides the necessary level of trust among and consumers and contributors (i.e. the banks).

The severity of the recent Equifax data breach however – described by US Senator, Richard Blumenthal as ‘a historic data disaster,’ – where personal records for half of the US were compromised, exposed a number of critical flaws and vulnerabilities. Experian also suffered a breach in 2015, which affected more than 15 million customers.

In spite of the supposedly robust data storage safeguards, the hacks highlight that these databases are simply not safe enough and are certainly not immune from intrusion.

With first hand experience of dealing with multiple credit agencies across the seven markets ID Finance operates, I believe there are three key ways blockchain could address the inefficiencies associated with having a centralised credit system:

1) Reducing the costs and complexities associated with data verification:

Achieving a comprehensive view of a borrower’s financial discipline and credit capability requires extensive verification and evaluation throughout the lending process. This is both time consuming and costly particularly when multiple credit bureaus exist in a country.

As data isn’t shared among the credit agencies, each will inevitably hold a varying report of an individual’s credit history meaning we need to engage with all of the providers to gain a consolidated view of a borrower’s financial health.

The combined revenue of Experian, Equifax, TransUnion and FICO in 2016 was c. $15bn. These are the fees paid for mostly by the banks, to access the credit histories needed to carry out their day-to-day lending activities. In the most simplistic sense this is $15bn of fees and interest charges passed on to, and overpaid by the end user – via higher lending APRs – for the privilege of having access to credit.

At the same time the regulatory compliance surrounding the storage and distribution of credit histories creates high barriers to entry making the market oligopolistic and hence less competitive. It is hampering the ways and locations in which businesses can lend.

In short, we have a process whereby consumers are paying the steep price of having a centralised credit history facility, which isn’t immune to data breaches, while frequently creating hurdles for financial services firms to actually access the data. This process is broken and out-dated.

2) Blockchain as a key value driver in lending:

Blockchain – a tamper-proof ledger across multiple computers with data integrity maintained by the technological design rather than on an arbitrary administrative level – has the potential to address the broken and archaic data practices at the credit agencies.

Until recently there was no alternative to having a robust authority managing the credit database. However, it is precisely the lack of a centralised authority, which makes blockchain so suitable for the ledger keeping activity, and is what facilitated the most proliferated application of the technology within cryptocurrencies where reliability is key.

Storing the data across the blockchain network eliminates errors and the risks of the centralised storage. And without a central failure point a data breach is effectively impossible.

Without intermediaries to remunerate for the administration of the database, the cost of data access drops dramatically, meaning lenders can access the data without having to pay the ‘resource rent’ to the credit agencies.

3) Democratising data and handing ownership back to individuals:

As the data is no longer held in a central repository, ownership is handed back to the ultimate beneficiaries – the individuals whose data is being accessed. Borrowers will have constant and free access to their own financial data, which is rightfully theirs to own, and potentially monetise without the risk of identity theft and data leakages.

Blockchain can address the limitations of the credit system and boost financial inclusion as a result. The technology offers security, transparency, traceability and cost advantages, as well as achieving regulatory compliance and risk analysis.

While it may be too soon to predict the exact impact of blockchain in lending, what is apparent is the centralisation of the credit industry isn’t working. It’s time to rip up the rulebook and start afresh and blockchain offers a compelling solution.

President Trump claims to have well over $10 Billion dollars but his finances are still kept very secret. So how much money does Donald Trump really have? Watch this video and find out.

More than 50% of the customers of UK financial services brands would be willing to spend more – potentially equating to billions – if only they felt more valued by them, according to new research from Jacob Bailey Group.

Missing Billions is a new report from Jacob Bailey Group, the creative business services agency, based on a survey of 1,200 UK consumers in Spring 2017, to better understand the concerns of financial services customers today.

Key findings include:

Brands are missing out on billions

• More than 50% of financial services institutions’ existing customers would be willing to spend more money on multiple products with the same provider if only they received better communications;
• This would equate to: £2.6 billion spent on debit cards, £2.3 billion on credit cards, £2.3 billion on car insurance, £1.9 billion on home insurance, £1.7 billion on mortgage lenders, and finally £1.6 billion on life insurance;
• 15% of people would spend more than £100 extra per year.

Customers do not feel valued

• More than one third of people (37%) do not feel valued by their current bank; while one in ten (12%) do not feel valued at all by bank brands;
• Nearly a third of people (31%) do not feel valued by their credit card provider;
• Just over a third (35%) do not feel valued by their home insurance company;
• 22% do not feel valued by their life insurance company.

Communication is poor

Almost one fifth of people believe their financial services provider does not communicate with them enough. This figure is higher for people who earn between £45,000 to £55,000 (22%), as well as people with an income above that bracket (21%).

The study uncovered a number of issues around how financial services brands communicate with their customers, including lack of timely, relevant, personalised and helpful information, and general misunderstanding of financial circumstances.

The Missing Billions report also ranks financial services companies according to how valued their customers feel. Out of 20 brands examined, Bank of Ireland was the top performing company with the fewest customers feeling undervalued (22%), followed by Nationwide (31%) and RBS (33%).

Rob Manning, Strategy Director, Jacob Bailey Group, said: “In an age dominated by digitisation, convenience and personalisation, the financial services sector has never been under so much pressure to evolve.

“We set out to understand why these brands are failing, losing out to savvier, more agile new market entrants, finding that how financial services brands communicate with their customers is potentially costing them billions every year. To unlock these missing billions, these brands need to connect relevance through microtargeting, based on the best use of data, technology and creativity, leading to brilliant customer experiences.”

(Source:  Jacob Bailey Group)