UK banks support small business growth with new innovation challenge – Business Insider

FinTech Scotland and Smart Data Foundry have joined forces to launch a UK fintech innovation challenge, in collaboration with some of the UK’s largest banks.

This challenge seeks to find solutions that will strengthen the relationships between financial institutions and their small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) clients.

Successful applicants will be able to access a prize of up to £50,000 to help develop ideas and support taking them to market.

It also offers an opportunity for participants to present their ideas to industry leaders, as well as engage with experts in data, technology and fintech.

Another key feature of this challenge is the provision of SME synthetic data by Smart Data Foundry, letting fintechs test and refine their innovations, ensuring the development of robust solutions that address the real needs of small businesses.

Due to the support from the Strength in Places UK Research and Innovation Grant, “substantial funding” will be offered to promising projects arising from the challenge.

Banks hold vast amounts of data about their SME clients. The organisers stated that unlocking the power of this data should help small businesses to become even more resilient and promote financial wellbeing.

Supported by NatWest Group and Virgin Money, this innovation call looks to attract creative ideas for data-led solutions, following recommendations laid out in the research and innovation roadmap, published by FinTech Scotland in March 2022.

Nicola Anderson, chief executive at FinTech Scotland, said: “This challenge presents a tremendous opportunity to support small businesses and drive innovation in the post-Covid business environment.

“By collaborating with industry leaders and leveraging synthetic data assets, we aim to empower entrepreneurs to develop ground-breaking solutions that will address the strategic needs of SMEs.

“We encourage innovators to join us on this exciting journey as we shape the future of the fintech landscape in Scotland and the UK.“

Bryn Coulthard, chief product and technology officer at Smart Data Foundry, added: “The combination of funding from UKRI’s Strength in Places Grant together with the unique SME synthetic data that we have made available for this initiative creates the ideal environment for FinTechs to embrace this challenge and to get involved.

“Collaboration is a key ingredient for innovation and I’m delighted that we have partnered with FinTech Scotland with support from NatWest Group and Virgin Money to provide sector expertise with the power of the combined networks to make this innovation challenge a huge success.”

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