Mr Rathi met on Monday (1 September) with Professor Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor and President at the University, and financial and business researchers at the pilot site for its new Bristol Innovations Zone (BIZ) – a key part of the University’s flagship Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus (TQEC) set to open next year.
BIZ, currently located at the Engine Shed, was an ideal venue for the visit as it will be a hub for businesses across the region, country and globe to collaborate with researchers and benefit from leading interdisciplinary expertise, including Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Future Finance, a University of Bristol-led initiative which is helping firms in the financial services sector adopt a more innovative, digital-focussed approach to improve service delivery and productivity, came under the spotlight as part of the visit.
Through identifying and tackling challenges in making this shift, the researchers helped small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-tier financial services organisations overcome barriers and ease the transition to new products, processes or services, including embracing the ever-growing potential of AI. The support included bespoke training, awareness-raising workshops and hackathons, industry-mentoring, and coaching, alongside knowledge sharing with financial technology (FinTech) leaders at the forefront of innovation adoption.
More than 80 companies, spanning financial advice, savings, lending and credit brokers amongst other services, have benefited so far from the initiative’s Innovation Adoption Accelerator and almost all participants – 95% – have improved their performance by introducing at least one new change as a result.
For example Penny Pensions, based in Paintworks, Bristol, helps consumers across the UK consolidate and manage their retirement savings. Having already reunited people with more than £500 million in lost pensions, the app-based start-up has recently transformed its operations by adopting Generative AI. In just six months, the team developed and deployed an AI prototype that significantly improves pension tracing accuracy, increasing speed and reducing risk by removing the need for manual reviews.
David Henderson, Head of Pensions at Penny Pensions, said: “The support from Future Finance’s Innovation Leadership Programme has been pivotal and we are now an advanced tech company, rather than an admin operation. Thanks to our AI model, the business can automatically extract and classify pension types from existing providers, reducing delays and costs.
“Through the implementation of AI and cultural changes, including embedding a more action-focused mindset, we have not only achieved better results for consumers but also created more capacity to build a long-term vision for the company. In a fast-changing and competitive environment, we’re building an efficient and scalable tech-first platform which puts pension holders’ needs first.”
Moneyhub, based in Redcliffe, Bristol, a data and payments company specialising in open banking, open finance and data solutions, has strengthened both its service offerings and workforce capabilities through the programme.
Nejc Korošec, Head of Compliance at Moneyhub, said: "As a compliance professional, this programme was instrumental in broadening my understanding of innovation and leadership. The future forecasting and design thinking tools were particularly valuable in developing comprehensive innovation adoption strategies.
"The introduction of Open Finance regulation will be essential to support these emerging products and services. This is precisely why companies like Moneyhub must remain actively engaged in regulatory discussions and continue providing constructive feedback to FCA consultations."
Future Finance is backed by Innovate UK and the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Professor Jonathan Beaverstock, Principal Investigator of Future Finance and
Deputy Dean of the University of Bristol Business School, said: “Future Finance has made a transformational step-change for SME and mid-tier firms’ innovation adoption, raising productivity and awareness of technological advances. The support it delivers is novel because it is tackling challenges related to mindset, culture, behaviour and risk appetite that equip participants with the skillset to proactively and continually horizon scan and identify opportunities for business improvement. The initiative also nurtured in-house capability to effectively implement change and innovation adoption.
“We are driven by a social purpose to not only increase access to financial services for those underserved in society, but also to be regional rather than London-centric. This has led to successes in the South-West of England and Scotland, which has scaled to the Midlands and North of England.”
Mr Rathi also learned about research from the University’s Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) and a project exploring potential financial risks posed by the prevalence of digital platforms. For instance, PhD researcher Billy Greville is leading research on the links between high-risk investing and gambling, including the impact of online investing communities and finfluencers.
Billy said: “Low-cost investing platforms and social media are now key to how consumers make financial decisions, access information, and build communities, making them highly influential in shaping the market and practice of consumer investing.
“A key concern I’m researching is whether these developments are increasing interest in low or high-risk types of investing, which share similarities to gambling. Early findings indicate finfluencers, who have huge followings on YouTube, are potentially influencing large numbers of consumers into high-risk investing activity. Finfluencers are not qualified financial advisors and currently have limited regulation, so this is an area for future scrutiny and oversight.”
Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the UK FCA, said: “Innovation in financial services can support growth across the UK, as well as delivering benefits for consumers. It was great to see some real-world examples of how The University of Bristol is supporting small businesses to grow and develop.
"We hope some of them will use our innovation services, designed to support a wide range of firms to bring new products to market.”