We are pleased to share that we have secured strategic partnerships with @MastercardUK and Lloyds Banking Group @LBGplc, who will provide funding for our next industry-led coalition, launching in the first half of this year. This coalition aims to improve SMEs’ access to finance through SME-focused initiatives, such as the development of a digital finance education tool and a digital marketplace. Building on our previous work on Open and SME Finance, it will also further advance supply-side solutions, such as developing an SME resilience index to support lending to small businesses. Through collaboration, each CFIT coalition seeks to drive change and innovation in financial services, benefiting both SMEs and consumers alike. This new coalition builds on the success of our Open Finance coalition and SME Finance Taskforce, further empowering SMEs and lenders to make more informed financial decisions. We are grateful to Mastercard and Lloyds Bank for their support and shared commitment to creating a financial landscape where small businesses can thrive, driving economic growth in the UK. Read the full announcement: #FinTech #Innovation #FinancialServices #SMEFinance

Last week, @hmtreasury published the latest review of the Bank Referral Scheme, fast-tracked following the CFIT-led SME Taskforce recommendation. Launched in 2016, the scheme was designed to improve SME access to finance and enhance competition in the SME lending market. It has since connected businesses rejected by major banks with alternative finance providers through dedicated Government platforms, helping more SMEs secure the funding they need to grow. CFIT continues to champion SME finance, recognising the vital role small businesses play in driving economic growth. This commitment is reflected in our recently announced coalition, in partnership with Mastercard and Lloyds Banking Group, which aims to deliver SME-focused solutions through financial innovation. Read more here: #SMELending #CFIT #FinancialServices

Last week, Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority @TheFCA , wrote to the Prime Minister Keir Starmer and senior government officials outlining a proposed approach to aligning financial regulations with the UK's growth agenda. We are delighted to see that many of these proposals closely align with CFIT’s recent and ongoing work, including: 🔒A call for government action in the field of digital verification – as our latest innovation coalition prepares to publish its findings on how a digital company ID can help fight economic crime 📄Developing Open Finance as a priority smart data scheme through the Data (Use and Access) Bill – in accordance with the recommendations from our inaugural coalition on Open Finance 🤝A recognition that SME lending should be prioritised as a smart data use case – building on the work of the CFIT-chaired SME Finance taskforce, with further progress to be driven through our recently announced strategic partnership with @MastercardUK and Lloyds Banking Group @LBGplc to help SMEs raise finance more efficiently Collaboration is critical to drive innovation and create the conditions needed for change and growth. The success of our coalition delivery model is testament to the power of cross-sector collaboration between regulators, industry, government and academia. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the FCA and other like-minded organisations, driving financial innovation and positive change for both businesses and consumers. #FCA #DigitalInnovation #OpenBanking #Growth

As we embark on the next phase of our organisation's growth, we're transitioning to a hybrid model, combining publicly and privately funded coalitions. We recently announced the first of these coalitions, focused on helping the UK’s 5.6 million small businesses raise external finance more efficiently, in partnership with by industry leaders @MastercardUK and Lloyds Banking Group @LBGplc, with other organisations set to join this year. Find out more below 👇 #UKFintech #Innovation #SME #CFIT

RT @financialit_net: .@CFIT_UK Secures Strategic Industry Partners for 2025 Read more: #CFIT #IndustryPartnership…

🚀2024 has been a defining year for the UK’s Open Banking journey, marked by milestones such as the Data (Use and Access) Bill and the publication of the National Payments Vision, laying the foundation for a transformative future. Henk Van Hulle, CEO of Open Banking Limited, @UKOpenBanking, reflects on the collective progress made by the industry in advancing a digital and smart data economy this year, exclusively for @Finextra. Find the full article below 👇 #FinTech #Finance #Innovation #OpenFinance

A big thank you to Adrian Field, Director of Market Development at OneID, for sharing valuable insights on the progress of our second coalition. Together, we’ve been developing a Company Digital ID that enables businesses to securely store, manage, and share their financial data—reducing vulnerability to fraud. The Company Digital ID includes multiple data points and layers of verification, simplifying identification processes and making it harder for fraudsters to create fake companies or impersonate individuals. We’re grateful to OneID and all our coalition partners from the policy, technology, and academic sectors for their invaluable contributions. We look forward to the final report, set to be published in the first half of 2025. Read the full blog post here: #EconomicCrime #DigitalVerification #Innovation #FinTech

Great to see Chris Hayward @citypolicychair highlight with @CityAM the steps the UK is taking to ensure its future as a world-leading financial centre. We’re proud to collaborate with the City of London Corporation @cityoflondon, as we work together to make enhanced digital verifications a reality. Through our latest coalition, we’ve been working with over seventy organisations across finance, technology, and academia to develop digital verification solutions that will tackle economic crime and build a more secure and inclusive financial future. Together, we’re driving growth, innovation, and competition to keep the UK at the cutting edge of fintech. Read the full article here: #DigitalVerification #Innovation #FinTech #FinancialServices #CityAM

Earlier this week, we released the interim findings from the CFIT-led coalition addressing Economic Crime. 💡Our Chair, Charlotte Crosswell OBE @ccrosswell, shares her insights on the work below. #FinTech #Innovation #FinancialServices #EconomicCrime

This week, we published the interim findings White Paper from our Economic Crime coalition, revealing progress made towards creating a digital company ID which will contribute to the £600 million annual addition to the UK economy from the widespread use of secure digital identities. Our Chair, Charlotte Crosswell OBE @ccrosswell, sat down with to discuss the progress made towards developing a digital company ID model that simplifies business operations and strengthens security. This digital ID will exclude bad actors upfront, reduce compliance costs for financial institutions, and improve customer experience by streamlining verification across platforms. We’d like to thank our coalition partners for their invaluable contributions: A&O Shearman, Alliance Manchester Business School, Bank of England, Ctrl-Shift, Daon, FinTech Wales, Funding Circle UK, Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), UK Home Office, Konfir, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, NayaOne, Oliver Wyman, Revolut, Smart Data Foundry, Sopra Steria, The Payments Association, UK Finance, Virgin Money, Visa Read the full piece here: #FinTech #Innovation #FinancialServices #EconomicCrime #DigitalVerification

We’ve been on a mission to develop digital verification solutions for businesses that will enhance secure access to finance, working alongside partners from a range of industries including finance, technology, policy and academia. The interim findings report from our economic crime coalition highlights the work we have done to build models which will inform how a digital company ID will be created. Through collaboration with banks, data providers and leading fintech firms, we are working towards producing a working prototype, with a final report to be published by CFIT in March 2025. This new digital company ID will allow businesses to store, manage and share their financial data, enabling them to trade better and quicker, through the elimination of fraud. The development of digital IDs has the potential to transform the UK’s finance sector, driving innovation, facilitating competition and ensuring security, as outlined by the Chancellor, the Rt Hon @RachelReevesMP, in her inaugural Mansion House speech. We would like to thank our coalition partners for their invaluable contributions to this work, and we look forward to building on this momentum, unlocking the full potential of financial services innovation. Read the full White Paper here: #FinTech #Innovation #FinancialServices #EconomicCrime #DigitalVerification

This week, our Head of Stakeholder Engagement, Rob Haslingden, spoke at the @Experian Connect Conference, where he explored how we can shape the future to drive financial health for all. Key highlights included: 🚧 Rob discussing how we've been helping SMEs overcome funding barriers through the CFIT-led Open Finance coalition, showcasing initiatives that laid the groundwork for our SME Finance Taskforce. The taskforce continues to work together to provide recommendations on how to harness technology to improve SME access to funding, enabling growth and success. 🔒 Rob also shared insights on our second coalition, focused on tackling economic crime through enhanced verification. He highlighted the power of collaboration, with leading finance and tech firms joining forces to develop a digital company ID model that will improve verification efficiency and facilitate economic growth. The conference offered a valuable opportunity to connect with key stakeholders across the sector, exploring collaborative solutions to unlock a more inclusive financial future for both businesses and consumers. #OpenFinance #SmartData #EconomicCrime #FinTech #FinancialServices

🎉 We’re delighted to announce that our Chair, Charlotte Crosswell OBE @ccrosswell, has been named one of the 50 Most Influential Women in UK Tech by @ComputerWeekly. The list celebrates women who have made outstanding contributions to the UK’s technology sector. We are proud to work alongside Charlotte as she continues to drive innovation across financial services in her role as Chair at CFIT. Congratulations to all those featured in the list! #WomenInTech #Leadership #Innovation #Technology

Our Chair, Charlotte Crosswell OBE @ccrosswell, recently featured in @paymentsjournal, sharing valuable insights on the government’s newly announced National Payments Vision (NPV) which highlighted the key role open banking initiatives will play in shaping the future of the UK payments landscape. It was encouraging to see the work we do at CFIT, alongside our coalition partners, recognised at this level – a testament to the importance of our ongoing work. 🔗Read the full article here: #FinTech #Innovation #FinancialServices #Payments

Welcome to our latest coalition partner, @Moodys, who has joined our second coalition focused on fighting economic crime through digital verification.  Moody’s joins the coalition of over seventy organisations from across finance, technology and academic sectors, working together to strengthen the UK's financial security and promote growth in the economy. #EconomicCrime #FraudPrevention #FinancialServices #Fintech

Our chair, Charlotte Crosswell OBE @ccrosswell, and CEO, @EzechiBritton MBE, joined business leaders and policymakers last night to hear the Rt Hon @RachelReevesMP deliver her inaugural Mansion House speech and usher in the next generation of UK payments. A key headline was confirmation of a new National Payments Vision – an ambitious blueprint for the sector with a focus on Open Banking and Open Finance, to drive innovation and boost economic growth. The Vision also welcomes the work of CFIT and its coalition partners on enhanced digital verification to fight economic crime. The coalition is currently collaborating on data-driven research and solutions that will pave the way to making digital verification a reality. We will continue to work closely with the government and industry to make it simpler and safer to do business, and we look forward to sharing more detail about our efforts to design a Company ID in the coming weeks. #FinTech #Innovation #FinancialNews #FinancialServices #MansionHouseSpeech

It’s been an insightful couple of days at the @FintechTalents Festival and @TheFutureofID Festival, exploring topics from AI and financial inclusion to economic crime. At the Fintech Talents Festival, our CEO, @EzechiBritton MBE, joined @MickMcAteer, Co-director at The Financial Inclusion Centre and @yuvalsamet, CEO and Co-founder of RiseUp IL, and Wasim Mushtaq @wamushtaq, MD at 1CG to consider the transformative opportunities that AI presents, including: 🔒AI’s ability to improve fraud detection in identity verification and online transactions 🙎‍♂️How AI can provide personalised customer experiences across the sector 📈The intersection of Open Finance and AI, where data-sharing initiatives, including the work of our first coalition, can be enhanced by AI’s capacity to synthesise vast data sets. Our Chair, Charlotte Crosswell OBE @ccrosswell, also spoke on a panel alongside Chris Higham, Head of Payments and Cards at @Securetrustbank, Garrett Cassidy, Founder and MD at @Abarta_ie, Stephen Wright, Head of Regulation and Standards at @NatWestGroup and Lisa Gutu, VP of Product, Transaction Banking at @GoldmanSachs. They explored the future of the payments landscape, the intersection of payments and data and the key role that Open Banking can play in driving economic growth. Ez also attended the Future Identity Festival, where he spoke on a panel to discuss the impact of APP Fraud on businesses and consumers, and how emerging technology can combat financial crime going forward. By bringing together experts from across industry from academia, regulators and policymakers we can break down the complex challenges and innovative solutions that have a real-world impact for UK consumers and beyond. #OpenFinance #SmartData #AI #CFIT

We’ve had an exciting few weeks here at CFIT, connecting with other key industry players throughout the country to drive innovation across the fintech sector. 🚀Our CEO, @EzechiBritton MBE took the stage at Birmingham Tech Week @supertech_wm to explore the key role that Open Finance and digital verification solutions can play in building a more secure and inclusive financial future for businesses and consumers alike. 📈 Following the event, Ez caught up with Hilary Smyth-Allen @MsBYPY2011 for a special episode of the Beyond the Capital podcast, recorded live. Listen here: 🚧 We also joined @GhelaBoskovich, Regional Director at FDATA Europe, Archi Shrimpton, Senior Manager at @LloydsBank and Paula Sussex, CEO of OneID® at th NatWest Smart Data event to consider how smart data can break down barriers stifling economic growth. The work of our SME Finance Taskforce is highlighting the benefits that data-sharing can bring to consumers and businesses. 🎧Ez also sat down with @FinTechScotland alongside Jen Lothian, Founder of MyArk, to discuss the aims and achievements of Open Finance and how it is shaping the future of the financial ecosystem. Find the full episode here: We look forward to continuing this momentum, positioning the UK as a global frontrunner in FinTech innovation. #BTW2024 #OpenFinance #SmartData #DigitalInnovation #CFIT

The @scaleupinst has released its 2024 Annual Review report, laying out ten recommendations for how start-ups can overcome scale-up barriers in the UK and recognise scale-ups as a vital segment of the business economy. Key recommendations, such as using data to identify and support scale-up businesses early, align closely with the Smart Data recommendations in our SME Finance Taskforce report. By prioritising data-focused legislation like the Data (Use and Access) Bill and advancing Open Data and Smart Data initiatives, we can unlock growth for SMEs and start-ups alike. Our Chair, @ccrosswell OBE, joined the annual review event on Monday, participating in a panel discussion with Zoe McDougall, Global Head, SVP, Corporate Affairs at @nanopore, @Andy MacInnes, Chief Development Officer at @Paragraf_Gr, Charlie Guy, CEO & co-founder at @LettUsGrow and @AnaCStewart, serial entrepreneur, to address what’s needed for the fintech scaleup economy to thrive. The panel discussed: 📈What is essential to fully support scale-ups 📚 Insights we can draw from the fintech sector 📄 Essential areas for government policy 🍃 Support needed from local and national ecosystems At CFIT, we’re committed to positioning the UK as a global leader in financial innovation by removing barriers, implementing effective solutions, and collaborating with like-minded individuals and organisations to drive growth forward. 🔗 Click the link below to view the ScaleUp Institute’s full recommendations.