Barbara Gottardi

Such an important announcement today about the new Community ENABLE Funding programme which will empower the UK's communities by unlocking funding for under-served and under-represented founders #smallbiz #communityfunding

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It is humbling and exciting in equal measure that Charlotte Crosswell OBE has agreed to join Raidiam. An incredible endorsement of all that Barry O'Donohoe, Ralph Bragg and our whole team have already achieved; and a testament to the huge potential yet to come. As every country and every business explores and embraces the opportunities of permissioned data sharing. Raidiam is set to continue its market leading role as the provider of core infrastructure to enable appropriate and highly secure data sharing, with scale and interoperability baked in 🚀 #openbanking #openfinance #smartdata #apiecosystems #datasecurity

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I had the pleasure of presenting at the L&G Data Festival in our Cardiff office, where I introduced the concept of a Business Event Mesh. Business Events are significant changes or occurrences within business processes. This innovative approach captures these Events on a Mesh and makes them available for next best action by triggering AI Agents. Introducing AI services anomaly detection is possible. These Events can also be treated as Data Products. It has the potential for transforming how we handle real-time data across the organization, providing real value in several key areas: Predicting customer lifetime value to sharpen targeted campaigns Speeding up claims registration to improve service levels Proactively managing and preventing customer churn Streamlining data deletion and archival and management processes Tracking customer interactions to deliver more personalized services Keeping policy details up-to-date in real-time It was amazing to see the excitement and dedication around how we’re using technology and data to shape our future and better serve our customers. A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this event such a success—I’m really excited to see where these innovations take us next! #DataMesh #BusinessEventMesh #Innovation #CustomerFirst #RealTimeData #FutureOfInsurance

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This #DeafAwarenessWeek, we are pleased to share with you a new report which analyses the progress made by the financial services sector over the past year to improve access to finance for deaf people. While it’s encouraging to see such progress, we acknowledge that there is further work to be done. We hope to see the positive momentum from the last 12 months continue, with firms actively raising industry standards and contributing to an inclusive financial services sector for all. Read the report here: https://bit.ly/3y1Mbe5 #FinancialInclusion

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Thanks to https://www.jmoon.co.uk/ for delivering probably the single most useful training i have received in a decade. it's easy to make topics complicated. Jon shows you how to make them simple, which is much harder, and is massively under rated as a skill.

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Encountering resistance to change......... 🚦 ⛔ Read our report and see how you can navigate the pathway to success and innovation. 🚀 SaaScada - #bethedifference #makethechange #innovation #datadrivencore

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The Bank of England's Deputy Governor has said the UK is on the cusp of a technological revolution in finance. It's a trend we're seeing first-hand at The PHA Group, as we work with an expanding portfolio of payments clients around the globe. A recent blog here highlights the payment trends that will define 2024. In short, increased competition between big banks and challenger payment entities will trigger market consolidation. The goal for these challenger entities is ensuring they assume a sizeable market share and stand out from the competition. https://lnkd.in/eRZr92k6

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🚀 The UK Consumer Duty: Redefining Project Management Deliverables for Long-Lasting Impact 🚀 In the world of financial services, the introduction of the UK Consumer Duty has brought about a significant shift in how businesses approach their operations. It’s no longer just about meeting the bare minimum—it’s about ensuring that every action leads to real, measurable outcomes that benefit the consumer. For those of us in project management, this outcomes-based approach isn’t just a regulatory requirement—it’s an opportunity to reshape how we deliver value. Effective project management is now more crucial than ever. With the emphasis on longevity and sustainability, we’re tasked with creating deliverables that don’t just tick the boxes today, but also stand the test of time. It’s about planning for the future, anticipating needs, and ensuring that every project aligns with the broader goals of consumer protection and business integrity. Over the last year, I’ve had the privilege of leading Consumer Duty-related initiatives, and it’s been a game-changer. The focus on longevity and sustainability means we’re tasked with creating deliverables that don’t just meet today’s needs but are built to last. The impact of this is profound. We’re not just managing projects—we’re contributing to shaping the culture of entire organisations. By integrating Consumer Duty principles into our project management frameworks, we create a holistic approach that brings teams together, fosters collaboration, and builds a shared commitment to doing right by the consumer. The future potential here is truly exciting. As we embrace this outcomes-based approach, we’re setting a new standard for what project management can achieve. We’re moving beyond deliverables that meet short-term goals, toward creating projects that drive lasting, positive change. It’s a challenge, but one that promises to elevate our industry and deliver real, tangible benefits for consumers and businesses alike. 💼💡 Let’s continue to lead with insight, foresight, and a passion for excellence—together, we’re shaping the future of project management! #ProjectManagement #ConsumerDuty #OutcomesBasedApproach #Leadership #Fintech #Innovation

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Loans from CDFIs help to reduce regional and economic inequalities.  60% of loans to SMEs were in the most disadvantaged areas of the UK. Read more in @resp_finance latest impact report https://lnkd.in/g6QzmxER #RipplesToWaves #BusinessLending #CDFIs 

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Interesting read on Starlings SaaS and how it is helping new banks launch.

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📊 This report on SME data is becoming a bit of a hot topic this past week. I've been talking with industry partners about it, and there's no doubt of the potential to change the game for SME financing. Whether you're a lender, working in a fintech, or just interested in how small businesses get funded, this report has some eye-opening insights. Here are the key points that stood out for me: ✅Data validation is crucial. While accounting data forms the foundation, cross-referencing multiple sources ensures accuracy and reliability in decision-making. 🏢The core SME market is underserved. Open banking solutions cater to smaller businesses, but 45% of UK market turnover lies in the Commercial Lending sweet spot. Are we missing opportunities? 💡Rethinking data provision models. Instead of lenders building complex in-house solutions or relying solely on open banking, leveraging specialized data aggregators offers a more scalable approach. Thoughts on these findings? How can we better serve the SME lending market? #wegetfinancialdata #SMELending #FinTech #DataDrivenDecisions

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It’s not very often reviews gets adopted as National Vision, sometimes and on many occasions government policy reviews don’t end up seeing the light of day but our contributions into the Future of Payments Review 2023 has now been published as the UK National Payments Vision NPV. Delighted our contribution and many others formed UK economic growth strategy decades to come in establishing UK as one of the leading Nations for driving payments innovation! https://lnkd.in/dgR9RgZD #payments #fintech #UK #vision

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🏌️‍♂️ Update from Jeff Keen Charity Challenge - and a call for help 🏌️‍♀️ We're proud to announce that the Jeff Keen Charity Challenge has raised over £50,000 since summer 2021. Throughout this period, we have enjoyed the fantastic support of SportsDataIO, who generously provided scoring data at no cost, enabling us to enhance both the scale of the competition and the charitable contributions. The attached table shows that this has been significant in supporting our growth, highlighted by the increasing donations and prize funds, which are clear indicators of our expanding success. It's worth noting that no entry receives more than one prize, and very often, prizes are donated to increase our charitable contributions, which is a testament to the community involved in the challenge. We are now seeking a new partner to help us maintain this momentum. The donation of scoring data is crucial for the continued viability of the challenge. Almost every penny (except merchant fees) is funnelled directly into the competition, and our chosen charities, so every contribution from our partners has a significant impact. I would also like to acknowledge that Waverton Investment Management donate the infrastructure required to run the competition, and finally, our dedicated team, led by Jeff, volunteers their time, ensuring maximum benefit to the charitable causes we support. If you or someone you know, has any contacts in the Sports Data industry (perhaps a little niche I'll accept) we would greatly appreciate any introductions. We can't offer much in return, but we are always sure to acknowledge our partner's support in all communications and on the website. If you're interested in the challenge and the causes we've supported over the years, check out the website. https://lnkd.in/dyWuv7t #JeffKeenCharityChallenge #CharityGolf #CorporateResponsibility #DataPartnership #MakeAnImpact

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As an organisation that is committed to lending to firms across the UK, our ambitions are not only to invest in the growth of companies but to support our local communities too.   We have partnered with the charity - National Numeracy, who look to increase awareness about the challenges faced around numbers anxiety which can impact work, home, and school lives. For adults with low numbers confidence, this may result in greater vulnerability to debt, unemployment, or fraud whilst for children and young adults, it may prevent them from applying for certain courses, jobs and / or promotions. Unfortunately, this disproportionately impacts those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.   There are however significant amounts of free and helpful resources available for both adults and children which can help with real-life numeracy skills, driving greater confidence to deal with everyday maths problems, and in turn better outcomes including financial inclusion and social mobility.   Working in the finance industry, we’re privileged enough to have a wide network to reach out to and I’d encourage you to visit the National Numeracy website through the link below to see how you may be able to have a greater impact and create better opportunities and brighter futures in both the companies we work in / support, and in our communities too.   🔗Discover more about National Numeracy Day 2024 by clicking this link: National Numeracy Day: https://lnkd.in/eW5s2j7v #NationalNumaracyDay #KartesiaPhilanthropy

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Today we publish our results for Starling Group’s financial year ending 31 March 2024. I’m delighted to share that we’ve achieved our third year of profitability, driven by strong growth in revenue, deposits, active customers and customer transactions. Profit before tax rose 55%, from £194.6m to £301.1m. Every part of our Group contributed to this success. Starling Bank added 600,000 accounts and our customers spent nearly £20bn on their Starling cards. Fleet Mortgages expanded its portfolio by 51% to £2.3bn. Engine by Starling signed its first two clients and became a revenue-generating business with enormous global potential. We have continued to differentiate ourselves from the competition through user-friendly technology backed by our brilliant, UK-based customer service teams. Great service is fundamental to who we are and to our success. It’s what attracted those new customers to us and it’s what enabled us to win so many awards. All of us should all be proud that we are the Which? banking brand of the year for the fourth year in a row and a recommended provider for current accounts for a fifth straight year. - Group profit before tax up 55% to £301.1m - Revenue up 51% to £682.2m  - Total deposits up 4% to £11bn - ROTE now stands at 31.5% for the Group - Our NIM increased to 4.34% - We now serve 4.2 million customers in the UK Starling Bank and Engine by Starling

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Half year results this morning for Augmentum Fintech, listen to Tim Levene giving you the highlights. My personal one is: The asset value of the top four (of our 20+) positions (Tide, Zopa Bank, Volt and Grover) plus cash exceeds the market capitalisation. #fintech #vc #patientinvesting

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Current account customer satisfaction tables are often interesting! No major surprises here, as fintechs Monzo Bank, Starling Bank and Chase do well, as does Nationwide Building Society. With Virgin Money and The Co-operative Bank plc doing badly, I wonder how the takeovers by Nationwide and Coventry Building Societies will impact their performance?

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The latest episode of Tech and the City - out now.

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Digital verification innovation will transform how consumers and businesses engage with the financial services sector  Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) leadership bringing together a range of stakeholders in tackling economic crime will make it easier for businesses to access financial services.  The White Paper published today highlights how this industry leadership can have real positive impact. Terrific leadership by Leon Ifayemi Teresa Lam #FinTech #Innovation #FinancialServices #EconomicCrime #DigitalVerification  Charlotte Crosswell OBE Alex Marsh ★ Madush Gupta ★

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