07725 160903
A Future of Finance webinar on 9 December 2pm UK time with banks, regulators and technology companies
Open Banking is existentially important. By pioneering the exchange of customer data between financial institutions through Application Programme Interfaces (APIs), it is the leading experiment in the economic consequences of giving consumers ownership and control of the data they create through their interactions with business and government. The success of the experiment matters intensely because the impact of data-driven transactions on the structure of capitalism as a whole, let alone finance, is potentially revolutionary. Open Banking, driven either by regulation or by market forces, is now at various stages of development in at least 11 jurisdictions around the world, including the United States and Australia. But it is the United Kingdom which pioneered Open Banking, and where enough time has now elapsed to pass at least an interim judgment on its success. True, its origins lie in the relatively modest ambition of fomenting competition in the oligopolistic retail banking market of the United Kingdom, where a 2016 Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report concluded that the behaviour of the nine largest banks had created “adverse effects on competition” to provide personal and business accounts and loans to SMEs. But the apps developed by third party providers (TPPs) – there are nearly 238 registered in the United Kingdon and nearly 500 across Europe as a whole – are introducing techniques that are prompting changes at incumbent institutions and which could overthrow them altogether by fundamentally changing the way business is done. With Open Banking now morphing into Open Finance, similar effects are likely to be felt soon by incumbents in the insurance and savings industries. An Open Data economy is also becoming visible, with initiatives to use customer data to facilitate switching in the energy and broadband industries now under way in the United Kingdom as well as other jurisdictions. This webinar, hosted in partnership with Trade and Invest Wales and Fintech Wales, will gauge the success of Open Banking in the United Kingdom so far, explore its evolution into Open Finance and Open Data, and ask what an Open Data economy will eventually look like and what it implies for a range of new and established businesses in the financial services industry.
Among the topics to be discussed are:
- Has Open Banking delivered on its promise to service providers to increase revenues, cut costs, facilitate new services and transform the customer experience?
- Has Open Banking also increased competition for established service providers to the point that they are losing customers?
- What has Open Banking done for consumers and small businesses so far?
- Is it too soon to declare Open Banking in the United Kingdom a success?
- What are the obstacles to the growth of Open Banking?
- What progress is being made towards Open Finance markets that encompass insurance and savings products as well as banking?
- How effective are Artificially Intelligent sources of financial advice?
- Is legislative or regulatory action needed to help Open Finance markets grow?
- Can Open Data initiatives in other sectors (such as energy and telecommunications) help drive the growth of Open Finance?
- How important are digital identities to the development and success of Open Data economies?
- What new forms of risk does an Open Data economy create?
- What will the Open Data economy of the future actually be like for both consumers and vendors?
Panellists:
Sarah Williams-Gardener, CEO of Fintech Wales https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-williams-gardener-7376714/
Sarah was a founding member of Starling Bank, the UK’s 1st mobile only challenger bank where she led Corporate Affairs. Formally Corporate Affairs Director at IBM UK Sarah’s interactions with Governments have been both as an employer/investor and supplier. Having been CEO at Opportunity Now when the equality bill was being amended, she is an ardent promoter for diversity & Inclusion, acting as a role model to Dyslexics & women in business. Prior to this as an IBM Client Director Sarah won many commercial deals implementing exciting new innovative solutions. She is a mother and farmers wife who is passionate about creating opportunities through education and innovative technology.
Julia McColl, Commercial Director at Chetwood Financial Services
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-mccoll-80248423/
Julia is focused on creating innovative products with world class customer experience that deliver return on investment. As the Commercial Director at Chetwood, she is part of an ExCo team leading them from start-up to scale up and into profitability.
Dr Kathryn Jones, Lecturer and Deputy Director of Teaching at Cardiff University School of Computer Science
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynjones/
Kathryn Jones is a Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University and Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for the School of Computer Science and Informatics. She spent over a decade working as a software engineer and data algorithm specialist in the telecommunications sector. She now bridges the gap between industry and academia with research interests in software engineering, networking and HCI. Kathryn also has scholarship interests in software engineering education with a particular interest in inclusive learning and widening access.
Harriet Rees, Head of Data Science at Starling Bank
https://www.linkedin.com/in/harriet-rees-74138054/
Harriet is passionate about using Technology and AI to drive better customer experiences. Prior to joining Starling Harriet’s career was focused in the Actuarial and Mathematical fields bringing applications for AI to traditional regulated insurance markets. Harriet has recently been invited to join the AI Public Private Forum with the FCA and Bank of England, which aims to better understand the use and impact of AI/ML in Financial Services and support safe adoption of these technologies.
Moderator Dominic Hobson, Co-Founder at Future of Finance https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominic-hobson-49b8222/
Dominic Hobson has worked for himself for 30 years. He was one of the founders of Asset International, a transatlantic financial publishing, events and survey business, which was sold in 2009. Since then, Dominic has contributed to the work of two data businesses covering financial markets, run a peer group network for hedge fund managers, and co-founded the Future of Finance, which hosts events on innovation in finance. He is one half of Hobson Cardew, Dominic also provides consultancy services to a number of financial services businesses and market infrastructures.
If you would like more information or we can assist in any way or you would like to pose questions ahead of the discussion please email Wendy Gallagher on wendy.gallagher@futureoffinance.biz