Re-watch: Virtual Manchester Conference 12/11/2020
On the 12th November 2020, the FinTech North Community came together virtually for our 3rd annual Manchester Conference and our first ever Virtual Conference, which was hosted in partnership with global card issuing platform Marqeta.
To re-watch the conference, click the image below. Speaker and Showcase timings follow in the article below.
Joe Roche, Engagement Manager at FinTech North, opened the conference and welcomed attendees. Joe then handed over to Julian Wells, Director at Whitecap Consulting and FinTech North. Julian talked about the past year for FinTech North and also the future of FinTech North.
Julian then handed over to Chris Sier, FinTech Envoy for HM Treasury and Chair of FinTech North. Chris spoke about the evolution of UK FinTech, the funding journey from a start-ups perspective and also mentioned the impact of FinTech hubs around the country.
Chris then made way for Charlotte Crosswell, CEO of Innovate Finance, to take the virtual stage. Charlotte talked about providing a national coverage for supporting FinTech in the UK, and made reference to the need for digitisation. Charlotte also explored the funding gap within the sector.
Next we heard from Markos Zachariadis, Professor & Greensill Chair of FinTech & Information Systems, Alliance Manchester Business School. Markos talked about his professorship and his research, which has recently centred around innovation ecosystems and has identified Open Banking as a driving force behind a more modular banking architecture. Markos also explored governance issues around Blockchain and DLT, asking questions around what is preventing adoption and examining how de-centralised they are.
Ian Johnson, Managing Director (Europe) for Marqeta was next on stage. From Marqeta’s unique perspective as a global card issuing platform, Ian was able to explore the sector wholistically, and provided some truly fascinating insights into the world of payments and related developments in banking.
“Open API’s are central to the explosion of innovation in Financial Services” – Ian Johnson, Managing Director (Europe), Marqeta
James Cliffe, Managing Director (EMEA) at Refinitiv, then joined our keynotes for a UK FinTech panel discussion.
Session 1 timings (Keynotes & UK FinTech Panel Discussion):
- Chris Sier, FinTech North & HM Treasury – 00:09:29
- Charlotte Crosswell, Innovate Finance – 00:30:26
- Markos Zachariadis, Alliance Manchester Business School – 00:52:00
- Ian Johnson, Marqeta – 01:09:47
- UK FinTech Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A – 01:32:00
To skip between the sessions, click ‘forward’ or ‘backward’.
Session 2 timings (Manchester FinTech Showcase & FinTech in Manchester Panel – sponsored by Verlingue):
- Frost – Pawel Oltuszyk, CEO & Founder – 00:01:44
- UK Advisor – Maxim Cohen, Founder & Chief Executive – 00:16:30
- interactive investor – Moira O’Neill, Head of Personal Finance – 00:28:17
- Infinity Works – Mark Melvin, Director – 00:41:03
- Mutual Vision – Rich Wainwright, CEO – 00:50:53
- Collctiv – Pete Casson, CTO & Co Founder – 01:01:30
- Raisin UK – Kevin Mountford, CEO & Co-founder – 01:10:43
- Open Money – Rich Jones, Lead Product Manager – 01:26:04
- FinTech in Manchester Panel and Audience Q&A sponsored by Verlingue – 01:34:48
- Julian Wells, Director Whitecap Consulting & FinTech North (chair)
- Rachel Eyre, Business Development Director – MIDAS
- Sky Parlour – Kimberley Waldron, Managing Director – Sky Parlour
- Mark Robinson, Client Director – Verlingue UK
Our Virtual Manchester Conference was hosted in partnership with Marqeta, Verlingue UK, MIDAS, pro-manchester and the University of Manchester Alliance Business School. We would like to say a massive thank you to all of our sponsors and partners, without whom we could not continue to bring together the northern FinTech Community. Thanks also to everyone in the community for their continued support, contributions and insight at our events.
If you are interested in speaking at or sponsoring a FinTech North event, or if you are interested in becoming a partner in 2021, please contact our Engagement Manager Joe Roche (joe@fintechnorth.uk).
