The FinTech Five – 16th October 2021
16 October, 2021
Welcome to the FinTech Five, the part of the week where we take a closer look at the best articles, news, and features from over the past week from our FinTech Wales members.
1. Sero and Principality unite to speed up delivery of green mortgages
First this week, Principality Building Society has announced a collaboration with Cardiff based energy tech company Sero, to accelerate the transition to net zero for new and existing mortgage customers.
The partnership follows the inaugural FinTech Foundry acceleration programme, which saw a cohort of eight companies, including Sero, on a ‘whistle-stop tour’ of the Welsh Fintech ecosystem.
Using Sero’s Building Passport app, Principality Building Society will look to gain a better understanding of the energy performance and carbon impacts of its existing portfolio, to speed up the development of future green finance products.
The collaboration will allow customers to gain a greater understanding of the carbon footprint of their home, how they can make it more energy efficient, and track the progress of the home on its pathway to net zero.
The pilot project will see the use of Sero’s Capture app to log data and understand more about each individual home. This data will be used to create a digital Building Passport, which will set out the current building status and set out a clear and attainable route to net zero for each home.
Ben Joakim, Head of Strategy at Principality Building Society said:
“Having known Sero for several years, we were pleased to be able to select them for the Fintech Wales Foundry and work closely with them over the last three months. Beyond our strategic focus on digital, another focus is our commitment to achieving our net zero carbon target as a business. However, we want to go further and have a positive impact for our members.
So we’re excited to announce the first step in a partnership with Sero to explore how we can support our members to reduce the carbon footprint of their homes, living more sustainable lives. We will work with James, Andy and the Sero team to understand how we can roll this out to our members across Wales over the coming years.”
James Williams, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Sero, said:
“Partnering with Principality is a fantastic opportunity to increase the awareness around Net Zero and the impact changes to homes can make. As well as knowledge and understanding, access to finance is going to be critical to enable more people to start to take that journey to decarbonising their home.
By providing each customer with a tailored plan, alongside the necessary data to support access to green finance products, we can begin to ensure that for more and moer people, decarbonising their home will become an attainable decision that enables them to take that first step on their pathway to zero.”
Read the full article on Sero’s website, here.
2. Active Quote named ‘Best Individual Healthcare Adviser’ at The UK Health & Protection Awards 2021
Next this week, we would like to offer a massive congratulations to Active Quote for winning the ‘Best Individual healthcare Adviser’ Category at The UK Health & Protection Awards 2021.
ActiveQuote is the UK’s leading comparison website and broker of health and protection insurance products, including health insurance, income protection, life insurance and critical illness cover.
The winners of the first UK Health & Protection Awardswere announced at a glittering ceremony at the Hilton Bankside in London this week.
More than 500 advisers, insurers and other representatives gathered together for the first time in almost two years to celebrate and recognise the industry’s achievements.
Read the full article here for a full list of the winners from the night.
3. Delio powers new ESG private marketplace for institutional investors
Next, Delio’s private markets technology is powering a new online marketplace by climate-focused capital raising and strategic advisory firm, Climate Solutions. The digital marketplace, Climarket, launched this Thursday and targets institutional investors seeking climate and ESG-focused investment opportunities in private markets.
Climarket directly responds to the rapidly increasing demand from institutional investors for higher returns and greater impact.
To empower companies to more readily raise capital at scale and pace in private markets, the digital platform connects banks, family offices, VCs, private equity funds, fund managers and high net worth individuals with debt and project finance investment opportunities.
Simon Puleston Jones, CEO of Climate Solutions, said:
“Climate Solutions was founded to address an immediate global problem. Whilst institutional investors are increasingly committing to invest billions, or even trillions, of dollars in climate change solutions by 2030, where can they find quality investment opportunities in which to invest at such scale and pace? Climarket directly addresses their demand and brings much-needed transparency to private markets.”
Gareth Lewis, chief executive of Delio, said about the ESG private marketplace:
“Our mission is to help financial institutions to unlock private markets for their clients. The interest in the impact space from both individual and institutional investors means that the launch of Climarket comes at a vital time, helping to satisfy investor demand and addressing the urgent need for action around climate change. We’re delighted that our technology will support Climate Solutions in connecting investors with companies that are making a positive contribution to the world.”
Read the full announcement on Delio’s website, here.
4. Trust Payments releases a short guide to Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
Next, Trust Payments have released a practical guide to help readers better comprehend non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
If you’ve been following the blockchain news cycle lately, you might have heard about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and their growth.
We live in a digital society in which expression, creativity, moments, and even social networks are shaped by technology. During the first six months of 2021, despite speculation of a bubble, according to Reuters, NFT sales volume surged to $2.5 billion.
Trust Payments’ guide begins by taking a look at precisely what non-fungible tokens are and how they’re different from fungible tokens, and finishes by looking at the impact that non-fungible tokens will have on blockchain technology in general.
5. Fintech Scotland brings UK Fintech Network together for ‘Accelerating FinTech across the UK’ Conference
Last but not least this week, business leaders gathered this Thursday in Glasgow for the first major conference dedicated to stimulating fintech growth across the UK.
Developing the network was one of several recommendations in a review of the sector, authored by Ron Kalifa, former chief executive of Worldpay. The report set out a five-point plan spanning policy and regulation, investment, skills, internationalisation and national connectivity.
It was brilliant to have our board member Eamon Tuhami representing FinTech Wales at the conference, which was hosted by FinTech Scotland at the University of Strathclyde by FinTech Scotland. Eamon spoke on our journey leading Fintech innovation through collaboration magic and hwyl.
You can read more about the conference in The Scotsman, here.
Until Next Week
And that’s it for the FinTech Five this week. Thank you for reading, and don’t forget to join us next week for more of the best content from across our FinTech Wales membership.