Fintech Brainfood: 9th August 2020

(I’m not sure this is in the right place, so do move, @robert!)

I found this newsletter the other day (indeed, I posted about it over at the Monzo forum) - lots of interesting stuff, but (other than Monzo financials which this isn’t the place for) two things caught my eye:

  • Integrated Finance - Manage all the fintech APIs in one dashboard. This made me think of Project Imagine / Dozens - it feels a bit like the Pi1 play.
  • Google launches a bank account style product called "Cache " No certainty this’ll come to the UK, but I think that building societies and smaller banks might jump at this opportunity. (I still think that Monzo or Dozens should jump in and do this first. Monzo almost certainly aren’t interested, but again I think this might be an interesting route for PI, maybe).

Thoughts?

thanks @Peter - sorry for the delay in replying, but I’ve tried to click on that Finextra link throughout the day but their site has been down all day so I can’t see the article

I have heard of Google Cache – which, by the way is a terrible brand name … try ‘googling’ that in order to find information about the financial service – and I can see that it is interesting for the US market where digital banking and financial services are curiously behind the curve.

I am not sure I completely understand the business model for the participating institutions. They will provide all the regulated activity but then Google keeps the customer relationship (and presumably a big chunk of the revenue)? I was wondering whether the article had more information on this.

I think most of us appreciate the convenience of services like Google Pay but I also think we want a deeper relationship with the business we trust with holding our money - especially for savings and investments that will be held for years to come.

That is why Incentive Alignment is at the core of Dozens’ unique mission

Can you really trust your long term financial wellness to a business whose profits come from getting you to click on adverts and spend money on products instead (whether that is advertisers’ products or their own phones and software)? Can you picture a future message in your gmail inbox saying; “We see you’ve got £3,000 in your savings pot, why not spend it on this holiday package - today’s special offer!”


On a separate note, there was one comment on the other forum that I thought I might address quickly here for information:

"there’s nowhere I can see on [this] forum to discuss fintech stuff / business strategy "

This is by design :slight_smile:

We would love to hear any specific ideas, comments or thoughts you have about :dozens:, or maybe something :pi: might consider, but we also think that there are already enough places out there to discuss the fintech world in general, and there’s no need for another one.

My goal is to make this place welcoming to as many of Dozens customers as possible, and to be fair, we hope that most are customers because they want a great app and a financial service that works for them, and helps them look after their future. While we have nothing against mentioning competitors on this site (in a respectful way), this is not the place for discussing fintech in general.

I’d rather have a discussion about how individuals are coping with their financial situation, how they are finding ways to save money or suggestions for growing their funds so that they can achieve their dreams.

I hope you agree.


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