Lenders risk missing fintech 'dotcom boom'

Speaking at the NACFB Expo on 16th June, Mike warned that fintech has the potential to change the face of banking and firms must act fast to avoid being overtaken by their competitors.

“Fintech is clearly the buzzword right across the industry at the moment.

“I think it remains to be seen what shape that fintech revolution is going to be, but the risk is that there’s going to be another ‘dot com’ boom.

“As an industry, both challengers and traditional need to make sure we back the right fintech solutions.”

Andy Bishop, National Director of Business Development SME Banking at Lloyds, insisted lenders had a responsibility to stay ahead of the curve in order to meet their clients’ needs.

“It’s not restricted to funding alone, whether it be payment systems or whatever. It’s the whole fintech piece,” he explained.

“It’s actually the duty of everyone sat around me.

“This is about the success of SMEs and it’s about the right type of funding, in the right place, at the right time.”

However, Mark Johnson, Chief Operating Officer at Credit4, reminded lenders of the importance of balancing technology with human interaction.

“Obviously being an alternative we’ve got lots of young people in the office and not one of them has been into a bank branch.

“Everything they do is on their phone, on their apps, they’ve got mortgages and everything else.

“If you get [fintech] right with the customer relationship based on top of it… that’s the way forward.”