Business improvement company BSI has teamed up with the FinTech Delivery Panel to launch new guidance on improving engagement between FinTech companies and financial institutions.
The first of its kind in the UK, the guidelines aim to accelerate FinTech growth and reinforce the UK’s place as a global centre of innovation in financial services.
Financial institutions expect an 82 per cent increase in partnerships with FinTech companies within the next three years, demonstrating a clear increase in appetite for collaboration.
Investment in British FinTechs remains high, with the £12.2 billion invested in the first half of 2018 representing over half of that invested across Europe and more than a fifth of that invested globally.
The new guidelines have been developed through sponsorship from the government-backed FinTech Delivery Panel – an initiative run by Tech Nation – and are part of HM Treasury’s Fintech Sector Strategy.
The document has been jointly created by the UK’s top retail banks Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds Banking Group, and Santander, sitting on the FinTech Delivery Panel. Leading FinTech companies including MarketInvoice, The ID Co. and iwoca also contributed.
The Publicly Available Specification clarifies the process for FinTech companies and financial institutions, with the aim of reducing time, cost and risk for all parties.
It will be freely available to the 1,600 FinTech companies currently operating in the UK as well as international FinTech companies wanting to engage with UK-based financial institutions.
Key points including communicating as clearly as possible the problem identified and how the product provides a solution to it; the longer-term market opportunity it provides and information about the company.
The guide also provides an explanation of both the commercial considerations and the necessary checks and controls that need to be satisfied to meet business and regulatory demands.
“The UK is a trailblazer in FinTech but to be the best in the world we need to make it as easy as possible for newcomers to collaborate with the bigger players,” said Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen MP.
MarketInvoice CEO and co-founder Anil Stocker said: “In August this year, we partnered with one of the sponsoring banks in an industry-first collaboration to give their business banking customers access to our invoice finance solutions.
“We took a number of learnings during the creation of this PAS to help marshal our relationship with our partners.
“There is a lot of guidance that can really help young FinTechs. For me, culture is key. Both parties need to know and agree on a central mission in partnering.”