FinTech Magazine March 2022

according to Lane; in 2021, however, a EXECUTIVE BIO MEDALLIA notable 80% of analysed experience signals were derived from data collected outside of RACHEL LANE traditional surveys. The dawn of a new era, of sorts, for the company. TITLE: CONTACT CENTER SOLUTION PRINCIPAL “Predictive and prescriptive AI models take analysis a step further — beyond INDUSTRY: COMPUTER SOFTWARE what manual analysis can do alone — to LOCATION: SAN FRANCISCO identify customers in need of attention and prescribe the next best action to take in Rachel has been working in customer order to improve loyalty, increase sales, and experience for the last 13 years right reduce churn,” affirms Lane, ushering in this across the omnichannel from being a new dawn enthusiastically. practitioner to a consultant and now leads the contact center practice for Nevertheless, Lane acknowledges that Medallia. insights alone are not enough. The contact center is in a new “It’s about what you do with this world of huge transformation and information. We put consumable, role- Rachel advises enterprises on the best specific actionable insights into the hands approach to harness customer and of the people that can influence experience agent engagement from the contact in-the-moment.” center to drive efficiency, maximise sales opportunity and manage agent But it’s not just customer engagement development and attrition with a that Medallia is passionate about; they also flexible workforce. Rachel is also a focus on employee engagement, too. When CX storyteller, showing practitioners seeking and training employees specific to just how the many successful brands the financial sector, the insights Medallia continue to achieve massive gains with collects can be used to up-skill and train powerful transformation programs agents on an individualised programme, to improve their entire operation by with analytics helping to identify any skill or integrating the voice of the customer knowledge gaps and align outcomes with directly from customer signals and customer feedback. journeys. An expert in ROI management, recommendations are built on driving 2001 the customers critical success criteria, not a generic view and so can deliver Year funded continuous results and drive an 2,000+ agile approach Number to business of employees improvement and 15+ continuity. Global offices

MEDALLIA “The contact centre for the financial as 100% per year, meaning that they’re not services sector is in a critical place,” Lane reaching peak performance, and new agents says. “Due to the very nature of frontline are struggling to find tenured role models agents in financial services enterprises, they with whom to home their skills.” are the most highly-trained agents in the contact centre world - typically taking up to “Analytics is a frontline driver in uncovering two years to reach peak performance.” agent skill gaps and, when enterprises bring employee engagement and customer Currently, the effectiveness of agents is engagement together, identifying opportunities reduced following the pandemic. to rapidly up-skill new agents, and identifying those high performers to fast track and “The labour market for agents is already empower, can deliver fantastic results.” tight, with average attrition running at 40% prior to the pandemic,” Lane notes. “Now With a number of partnerships under its that there’s a flexible workforce model for belt, the company prides itself on providing contact centres, those that don’t embrace some of the best-loved brands with apps it are seeing agent attrition rising to as much that are responsive and agile, incorporating 52 March 2022

MEDALLIA The multi-tiered channel and reseller model Medallia provides is specifically moulded for organisations that want to sell Medallia products and solutions – as well as value-added services – to grow its business platforms, with Medallia achieving growth by proxy. AI-powered experience management Innovation: the secret ingredient systems that detect patterns, anticipate Over the past few decades, there has been needs, and predict behaviour – all whilst a notable upswing in the volume of fintech recommending actionable suggestions. companies emerging. Known for ‘identifying Medallia prefers to look at its partners as product gaps, efficiency opportunities, and more than just that: they view them as an broken experiences for financial services to extension of its core team, building and capitalise on’, such companies are renowned expanding together. for their non-traditional approach to finance. This is a bonus for companies like Medallia, “Our technology partners are a global because it means the opportunity to build a ecosystem of best-in-class organisations partnership based on new ideas, risk-taking, making software products that work and cutting-edge technology. seamlessly with Medallia, extending the customer-needed functionality and As such, many fintech companies have capabilities to derive more value for customers risen through the ranks relatively quickly, in the Medallia platform,” asserts Lane. rapidly scaling up and engaging large numbers of consumers through the company’s recognition that data-driven feedback and insights are essential to their formula. “Early in their evolution, they recognise that they need to leverage a constant stream of direct customer feedback and indirect customer data insights, in order to rapidly iterate on all aspects of their products, customer journeys, and the interactions they deliver in and across digital and contact centre channels,” says Lane. Innovative systems and forward- thinking, responsive modes of engagement and management are what drive Medallia – the secret ingredients to its success – and this is where Medallia takes centre stage with its partners. The company’s feedback management capabilities and surveys enable fintech fintechmagazine.com 53

54 March 2022

MEDALLIA companies – among others – to ‘capture the voice of customers and employees wherever and however they want’, creating a personal dialogue between the voice of the customer and the brand itself, and engaging with customers across all digital touchpoints. Data, then, becomes a transformative tool through which Medallia’s corresponding autonomous systems can exert actionable change. What’s on the horizon for Medallia The near future is likely to continue the trends already flourishing across business technology, with cryptocurrency, the digitisation of systems, and the evolution of fintech leading the charge. But how is this likely to impact Medallia's future vision as a whole? “Moving forward, we anticipate that Medallia will continue to partner with businesses from end-to-end across the financial industry,” explains Lane. “From traditional banks, to fintechs, to fintechmagazine.com 55

MEDALLIA cryptocurrency businesses, Medallia is and social impact – the company seeks continuing to expand our portfolio and to further enhance its environmental and help organisations across financial services social credentials for meaningful impact provide better customer and employee in future. experiences.” “As we continue to grow and adapt to a Following Medallia’s ESG Program post-pandemic world, we hold a special launch in May 2021 – which specified its interest in ensuring our new and existing commitment and work so far towards spaces remain committed to preserving our having a global impact through the global environment,” says Lane. “Our goal is promotion of ethics and integrity, diversity to minimise our impact on the environment and inclusion, environmental responsibility, and conserve valuable resources when 56 March 2022

possible. We strive to pursue innovation Stretch. “Medallia helps companies deliver that raises the bar, and we take responsibility the cohesive and connected experiences for the impacts of our business.” that keep their customers coming back for more.” Medallia’s ultimate vision is to create a complete, connected experience platform. An ambitious vision, indeed – though “Whether a customer is visiting a storefront, if any company looks certain to achieve it, contacting support, navigating a website, you’d be best putting your money on the or clicking a personalized ad, the future efforts of Medallia. of VoC is about listening everywhere and making customers feel known across every interaction,” says Medallia CEO, Leslie fintechmagazine.com 57

HOW FINTECH ECOSYSTEMS DEMOCRATISE THE FINANCIAL LANDSCAPE Fintech ecosystems are playing a critical role in the financial technology landscape by improving democratic collaboration to technological advancement WRITTEN BY: DERIN CAG W hat is a fintech ecosystem? In the most basic sense, it can be described as a collaborative network of systems or organisations working together to support the overall growth of the industry. In finance, this usually means developing new technologies and products to make it easier for people to transform the industry and shape the future. Beyond technology, fintech ecosystems can also encompass everything from regulation and education to banking and investment. It's a democratic process of networking that helps accelerate development and improve the financial landscape around the world. THE STRENGTHS OF FINTECH ECOSYSTEMS Democratic collaboration One of the key benefits of a robust fintech ecosystem is the ability to drive innovation. By working together, organisations can share knowledge and ideas and develop new products more quickly and efficiently than they could independently. 58 March 2022

FINSERV “Fintech ecosystems that are purpose-built offer members a jumpstart in the industry and quickly distinguish the early movers” KIM MINOR SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL MARKETING AT PROVENIR fintechmagazine.com 59

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FINSERV How Fintech is Democratising Finance | AIM Summit Webinar “T he pace of This collaborative approach also helps innovation is fast, reduce the risk associated with innovation, and ecosystems as organisations can spread the cost and are the critical responsibility for testing new ideas across ingredient to the network. successfully tackling well- \"The regulator here in the UK remains worn topics” incredibly collaborative with fintechs and the wider financial services industry and KIM MINOR strives to strike a balance between fostering SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL innovation and keeping consumers safe,\" MARKETING AT PROVENIR said Olivia Minnock, Editor at FinTech Alliance. \"It's here that the term 'ecosystem' is most important – regulating something like BNPL or cryptocurrency is not a two or even three-way conversation, but involves a matrix of parties feeding back and forth, including government, regulator, fintechs, traditional institutions, merchants and of course the customers at the centre of it all.\" fintechmagazine.com 61

FINSERV “It takes the creation of ecosystems around different sectors within fintech in order to effect transformational change” NELSON CHU FOUNDER AND CEO OF PERCENT 62 March 2022

FINSERV Financial inclusion organisations, ecosystems help advise and Another benefit of a robust fintech expose new technologies and products to ecosystem is the ability to promote financial the market more quickly. inclusion. By making it easier for people to access banking and investment services, According to Kim Minor, Senior Vice ecosystems can help bridge the gap President of Global Marketing at Provenir, between the haves and have-nots. \"Fintech ecosystems that are purpose-built offer members a jumpstart in the industry \"The need to incentivise, cultivate, and quickly distinguish the early movers. The and scale innovative companies meeting pace of innovation is fast, and ecosystems the unique financial needs of different are the critical ingredient to successfully demographics was a significant factor in tackling well-worn topics like digital-first and the West Virginia Legislature's unanimous instant gratification, and yet to be named passage of the state's regulatory fintech new industry leaders.\" sandbox,\" said Sarah Biller, Co-Founder at FinTech Sandbox. \"West Virginia's regulatory Machine to machine ecosystems fintech sandbox is certainly a useful tool In addition to people based ecosystems, in my work to expand the state's fintech machine to machine ecosystems also ecosystem and build and scale companies play a role in the fintech landscape. These meeting the needs of rural Appalachians.\" are networks of devices that interact with one another, whether fully automated or Technological advancement requiring some human input. When two or more great minds work together, the potential for technological progress \"In the B2B world, there are any number of increases. Fintech ecosystems provide different fintech solutions designed to solve the perfect environment for technological very specific problems, such as streamlining development, and as a result, the industry is the capture of supplier invoices or matching constantly evolving and innovating. them with purchase orders, routing invoices for approvals, scheduling payments, and \"Fintechs have played an important role in expanding the technology choices available to advisors and wealth management firms. Tools introduced by the fintechs have also helped push the digital agenda forward, leading to the refinement of the usability and interactive aspects of the tools available to advisors,\" said Nitin Seth, CEO at Incedo Inc. Startup acceleration Fintech ecosystems are also great for companies at their early stage, as they provide a nurturing environment to help them grow and develop. By connecting startups with established

FINSERV automating the reconciliation of the receivable “F intechs have played on the supplier side,\" said Vijay Ramnathan, an important role in President of MineralTree. expanding the technology choices available to Additional examples of machine-based advisors and wealth ecosystems included; the internet of things management firms” (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), robotics, or the combination of any of these. Other advantages and disadvantages NITIN SETH The following are some of the advantages of CEO AT INCEDO INC fintech ecosystems; strategic partnerships, increased access to capital, enhanced well-established financial sector and strong support, and more. There are also other startup culture. strengths not mentioned above, such as the ability to develop new products and services According to Pat Larkin, Director at more quickly, among others. Mass Fintech Hub, another example is the state of Massachusetts, which \"identified \"It takes the creation of ecosystems around fintech as a priority sector in statewide different sectors within fintech in order to economic development plans, placing effect transformational change within the it alongside cybersecurity, robotics, overall financial technology industry,\" stated and AI as verticals where our state Nelson Chu, Founder and CEO of Percent. can be a global leader.\" He \"It is rare for a single company to cause the continued, \"Through the Mass incumbents to make a move but when Fintech Hub partnership, enough of a groundswell of companies we are able to engage emerge around a specific sector or purpose, and energise a broad you see banks and traditional financial cross-section of technology companies react.\" stakeholders to address critical issues that will Nevertheless, there could also be help promote growth disadvantages and risks associated with within our fintech ecosystems, such as the risk of state, unifying partners market saturation. Additionally, ecosystems from the private could also lead to monopolies and sector, academia, complacency. Understanding and abiding and government.\" by laws and regulations are critical before entering or creating an ecosystem to It's time for a mitigate potential risks. collaboration reboot Fintech ecosystems are Different hubs are appearing worldwide, changing the financial all with their own focus. Such ecosystems landscape. They offer a are helping develop a strong sense of collaborative environment community and help businesses grow. London is an excellent example of a city with a thriving fintech ecosystem, thanks to its 64 March 2022

FINSERV where organisations can share knowledge In conclusion, fintech ecosystems are and ideas, promote financial inclusion, and essential because they democratise the develop new technologies. As the industry financial landscape. Ecosystems are present constantly evolves and innovates, ecosystems in different hubs worldwide, each with its will continue to play a role in its development. own focus. As fintech evolves, so too will the role of ecosystems within it. fintechmagazine.com 65

PIONEERING CONSUMER-CENTRIC INSURANCE TECH WRITTEN BY: BLAISE HOPE PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY 66 March 2022

COVEA INSURANCE fintechmagazine.com 67

COVEA INSURANCE Covea Insurance has launched a microservice based policy admin platform that is driving huge change to an traditional industry through pioneering work with major partner brands. C ovea Insurance PLC is owned by Covea France, one of the largest insurers in France. The UK arm was founded in 2012 and is something of a laboratory for testing new and innovative approaches in the marketplace. They’re the partner of choice for a number of high-street brands, providing award winning claims handling and customer service to match the reputation of their clients. Graeme Howard, is Covéa’s Chief Information Technology Officer and the leader of a new era heralded by their micro service based approach to insurance platforms. Howard’s journey is a life lived through insurance and technology. A conservative and traditional industry, often slow and resistant to change, but where even minor change has an enormous impact on the end customer. Covea Insurance Plc was officially formed through a 1999 merger of 3 smaller UK insurance companies. Howard’s charge allows for the incubation of Covea’s most ambitious changes and sees its new platform approach as the launch of a new era in insurance technology. While applications of this technology are harder in an industry as traditional as insurance, that is precisely why digital 68 March 2022

Example of an image caption fintechmagazine.com 69

COVEA INSURANCE What's the secret to successful Digital Transformation? “I think it's really transformation here is so meaningful. Covea important that the Insurance is a young, dynamic and large insurance offerings business with a heritage behind it, as well as meet the needs and the flexibility and evolution of its offering, fit desires of customer. for the digital age. It's not necessarily about the cost Fostering innovation in of product” insurance technology Covea Insurance’s test and learn approach GRAEME HOWARD especially applies to the tech side of CHIEF INFORMATION things, which helps foster innovation and TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, allows Howard the autonomy to choose COVEA INSURANCE partners like Camunda and Dell. The company has created a new micro services, event driven policy administration platform to support the new Vitality Car insurance product. This platform was created in partnership with Vitality and also utilising some of the insurtech Iotatech components. That launched in June and a further enhancements to the platform are now in the works. 70 March 2022

The convenience of an API for carriers is COVEA INSURANCE something Howard is very excited about. GRAEME HOWARD Howard began his career at British Aerospace as an engineer hired through TITLE: CHIEF INFORMATION the firm’s graduate scheme as a software TECHNOLOGY OFFICER engineer. Later, he moved on to Motorola INDUSTRY: INSURANCE Solutions, helping roll out radio systems LOCATION: ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM across the UK, working his way up into more senior roles including Director roles in A dynamic board level CTO/ architecture and design of software solutions. CIO specialising in the delivery His last role was designing and implementing a of disruptive transformational standardised intelligent network management digital programs and Agile software systems to support 350 Managed Service development to drive organisational systems across the globe. growth, performance, operational efficiency and profitability. Passionate “Process automation, process definition, about enabling disruptive digital Six Sigma [process improvement], and innovation to flourish within the business really understanding, how to write business while ensuring that technology is fully processes are critical” explains Howard. integrated into the business functions “Creating those sort of cookie cutter that it supports. Thrives in fast paced approaches, to a blueprint of how we environments while combining could operate an IT system, in simplistic distinctive problem solving and strategic terms, and then migrate that out across capabilities with proven success in different networks, across the globe to driving execution with customers, multiple, different channels and hundreds through both regional and global teams of customers.” as well as virtual organisations. Howard landed his first Chief Technology EXECUTIVE BIO Officer role at global relocations firm Santa Fe as it embarked on a large-scale digital transformation for its 98 offices across 48 countries. He was later promoted to the global Executive team as CIO as the role out gathered pace and complexity. “There's a lot of transferable skills,” he says, “but by moving industries, there's a huge amount of learning but equally, coming in new to an industry allows you to challenge some of the previous sacred truths. After two years at Santa Fe, it was time for a new challenge. “I was looking for somewhere I could really get my teeth stuck into a major transformational role where I could really make a difference. I pretty quickly picked insurance as a sweet

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COVEA INSURANCE “If you don't put the the digitization of banking had made an hard yards in, if you impact. So I was keen to try and find a role don’t take that fight in an insurance company.” and that mantle forward, then That was when Graeme first encountered nothing, nothing Covea Insurance: “We had a discussion and I ever changes” think it was interesting that they were of the right sort of size to be able to implement a GRAEME HOWARD strategy. The leadership team were keen to CHIEF INFORMATION do something different and it fitted with my TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, aspirations and desire to drive forward.” COVEA INSURANCE Policy API and pushing for spot that I felt was ripe for disruption insurance-as-a-service and I felt it was massively underserved Howard is very excited about the potential from a digital perspective. There wasn't of Covea Insurance’s policy platform and the really a huge amount of change going benefits it can bring to the sector as a whole. on. You could see what happened within the banking industry and, and how much “You can see where kind of open banking has gone with the data share and capabilities, So we are - particularly Neil Walker, our Head of Technology - helping fintechmagazine.com 73

COVEA INSURANCE “There's a built-up swell of change within the insurance market, not just about technology, not just about pricing, but just around making products much more sticky for people and giving the service that they really want and need” GRAEME HOWARD CHIEF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, COVEA INSURANCE to really drive the foundations and the regulations around open insurance. So our platform is going to be fully compliant with the Open Insurance Initiative [OII].” The OII is the industry’s largest open source project and while Howard lauds his team’s work he also says there is still more to do, particularly with regard to machine learning and AI modelling and so the company has invested in created their own platform. In an era where digital fraud has skyrocketed with lockdowns, Howard praises his team for their work in an industry that historically sees high levels of fraud: “The team are doing amazing things in not just fraud analytics, but leading the way with, with ‘ghost broking’, which is a particular bane of the insurance industry and quite hard to pick out, but the models we've created now are starting to really push us into a much stronger position in that area.” 74 March 2022

COVEA INSURANCE Howard is looking ahead to a supercharged 2022, saying “I think the more data we get, the more information we can create, the more analysis we can do. Particularly as we move to more cross- product data and cross-selling. “I believe there's a huge amount of potential there, particularly when you look at different products at the same time, you start to get different patterns and get pretty passionate about it. It's quite exciting.“ How Covea Insurance maximises partnerships The policy admin platform launched by Covea uses Kong open-source software as its API gateway. While openness is important, Howards says working with select partners to great effect is the better strategy for continuing development. Camunda has really helped us to drive our orchestration capabilities and is a key part of our platform. “We can work with other people we're sharing that information up front so we can both develop at the same time. It's really about that, that transparent way of operating,” says Howard. “We found that by broadcasting that data…enabled us to move forward with other partners and co-develop at the same time, so when you're all pushing into production it's less of a surprise!” Howard says the fundamentals of a successful API rollout and development phase is having a clear understanding of working practises with partners you know well. “I feel with some partners, you don’t necessarily get the same level of closeness, it's not as symbiotic, it's more transactional,” he explained. “I think things tend to work better when you move from the transactional to a higher plane of collaboration with a partner. Howard says a principle of developing meaningful relationships with partners is at fintechmagazine.com 75



COVEA INSURANCE “If you are willing to accept the status quos then what have you achieved?” GRAEME HOWARD CHIEF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, COVEA INSURANCE the core of his development philosophy: “It’s about choice,” says Howard. “There's a “Less partnerships, but try to get deeper ground swell of change within the insurance partnerships, so you get a true understanding market, not just about technology, not just of you, of each other. You can understand about pricing, but around making products the business model that you are trying to much more sticky for people and giving support rather than it all being about your them what they really want and need.” business model. I think it works a lot better when you understand what you need to do “There's some great companies really from each other, and you can really share growing very, very quickly, and I think when that kind of experience to move forward.” you see that kind of hyper growth that really tells you they're hitting a sweet spot in the How insurance technologies market and will continue to grow.” put consumers first Howard joined Covea in 2019 and after His time with Covea has made Howard three years remains impressed by innovative an advocate for the industry and the huge practises, technologies and people in the change it can create. industry and the consumer-first approach being tackled by companies in the space. “I think insurance is an exciting place, technology's now right at the front and “I think it's really important that the centre of what we are doing and how we're insurance offerings meet the needs and getting there. I think insurance has had a bit desires of customers. I strongly believe of a negative perception from people,” says that subscription is something we should Howard. “When I first joined a few people be moving into. There's some great were asking me, ‘why are you working companies that have done some amazing in insurance?’ But I think I'm working in things with just consumer consumption insurance because it's hard and has been based insurance. Providing solutions to historically slow and the opportunity for questions likes - why do I need to pay £1,000 change is vast. [US$1,338] a year when I'm only going to use the car for two months of the year, or how “I think if you don't, if you don't put the hard does my pet insurance work? I think there's yards in, if you don’t take that fight and that just so many different things that we can do mantle forward, then nothing, ever changes. If with that data and pushing information out you are willing to accept the status quos then, to people and giving them greater choice.” really, what have you achieved?” fintechmagazine.com 77

WEALTH MANAGEMENT FEMININE FINANCE: WOMEN AND WEALTH MANAGEMENT The financial world has always been traditionally male. But diversity drives are changing the face of fintech as we know it WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND F intech is changing – and not just in the better. This is because ultimately, relation to legacy systems. While the women are winning the race when it comes global financial market has always to sheer spending power. They have always been intrinsically male, the landscape is commanded the purse strings when it shifting as more women than ever before comes to the domestic space. But now, with are embarking on careers in banking, more women in CEO roles than ever before, investment, and payment-related industries.  they are controlling corporate budgets too.  The move is not before time, and the Cory McCruden, CEO of Wellbly Tech – faster the industry accommodates this a US based fintech focused on closing the metamorphosis and the challenges the gender retirement income gap doesn't female customer brings to the marketplace, mince her words on the subject. 78 March 2022

WWEEAALTLHTHMMAANNAAGGEMENT She believes much more needs to be done “ASSET ACCUMULATION to equalise the balance between the genders AND DECUMULATION in terms of wealth management so that it ARE DIFFERENT FOR serves women more fairly. WOMEN FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS” She explains, “Women’s wealth is expected to reach US$93trn globally by 2023. I would CORY MCCRUDEN cast these as opportunities, rather than WELLBLY TECH challenges, which the financial services industry has, to better serve women, currently a huge and underserved market worth $700bn.” fintechmagazine.com 79

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There are numerous areas where WEALTH MANAGEMENT inequality in the space is stark and unequivocal, she points out. “One of the Contributors most significant opportunities we have is to close the gender retirement gap. Women Cory McCruden (right) is co-founder have 30-40% less money in retirement than and CEO of Wellbly Tech, a US-based men on average and are more likely to wind fintech focused on closing the gender up in poverty globally. retirement income gap. Women have significantly less retirement income on “Think about how crazy this is and the average than men and for women of color, magnitude of this gap. When we consider the these disparities are even greater. Wellbly gender money gap, many first look to wage is building an AI-powered platform that inequality, which in developed countries features holistic budgeting tools, liquidity is between 10-20%. However, if we look at management solutions, and investments, income in retirement, that gap balloons to that addresses the unique challenges over 30% in Europe on average, and can be and circumstances women experience as high as 49% in other parts of the world.” throughout their financial life journeys. Women, wealth, and the workforce Vrinda Gupta (left) is the co-founder and Such figures are sobering, and a reminder CEO of Sequin, a debit card that builds that even in the progressive West, we are credit, which debit cards less than half a century away from a time traditionally just don’t do. Sequin doesn't when women were considered second- report credit utilization, meaning women’s class citizens in all areas. But times are credit reports are on an equal footing different now – so why are there such to that of men. Sequin is partnered with huge discrepancies between the way men some women business founders, covering build their wealth, and the way women the mental health space, personal build theirs?  branding services, plant care, and education, and more. Additionally, Sequin “BEING A WOMAN is running rewards in Pink Tax categories, MEANS LIVING EVERY which is a new feature launching in 2022. DAY WHERE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES AREN’T fintechmagazine.com 81 DESIGNED WITH YOU IN MIND. THAT’S AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE CHANGE” VRINDA GUPTA SEQUIN

WEALTH MANAGEMENT 7 *inspirational* Women in Finance | MiracleMel “W OMEN CONTROL 40% OF GLOBAL WEALTH AND ARE ACCUMULATING WEALTH AT A FASTER RATE THAN MEN. MILLENNIAL WOMEN ARE EVEN MORE HIGHLY ENGAGED IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD’S FINANCIAL DECISIONS” experience more fluctuations in workforce participation. In fact, in some countries, CORY MCCRUDEN they are even mandated to retire and exit WELLBLY TECH the workforce at a younger age than men, even though they live longer. This results McCruden, who has studied the subject in less earnings and more volatility in their intently throughout her career, says asset cash flow.” accumulation and decumulation are different for women for a number of reasons.  But it's not just about working hours and salaries. Data, says McCruden, shows “First, women live longer on average that women’s expenses tend to be higher. than men. Second, women spend less time “On average women pay more for health in the labor market than men overall and care and caregiving. A US Department of 82 March 2022

WEALTH MANAGMENT Agriculture study of how households with McCruden believes there is much to be children spend money looked at expenses done, but that the rewards of addressing from 1960 to 2015 and found that while the imbalance will be great.  everything got cheaper, the only categories that went up were childcare and health She says, “Anytime you have a diverse care, which are also the expenses women group of people around the table, it’s much disproportionately pay.” easier to be innovative and creative. How do we reinvent the model versus recreate And the disproportion doesn’t stop there. it digitally? According to research carried out by Vrinda Gupta, CEO of Sequin – the first debit card “First, the dominant wealth management to be launched in the US that specifically business model continues to be to earn a builds credit for women, credit options are percentage of the assets under management also limited – diminishing borrowing power accumulated from clients. This incentivises for women. behaviour to accumulate as many assets as possible from clients and hold on to them Gupta, who has extensive experience in for as long as possible.” the financial services industry, only realised this fundamental system flaw existed after she She continues, “For someone caring for herself was caught out by it. She explains, an aging parent, this could be problematic “I worked at Visa launching popular credit since she is likely spending some time out cards, but when I applied for the credit card of the workforce to care for that loved one, I helped launch, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and therefore unable to accumulate at the — I was rejected. same rate. Second, the industry still treats women as a homogeneous group and “That was the moment I noticed a major through a marketing lens rather than from a flaw in the credit system. I looked at Visa business growth and revenue point of view.” data and I saw that 70% of young women, like me, were spending on debit cards or McCruden notes,  “Finally, women assess on credit cards that were in other people’s financial performance differently from men. names, which means they weren’t building While men on average look at performance their own credit. relative to a market-based benchmark, “I learned that the credit system is built on bias. Even though women are historically better to lend to than men, credit cards are still designed to reward the way men spend money, putting women at a further disadvantage. Women are reporting negative experiences with credit, which is directly related to access to opportunity.” Diversity and equality solutions  Nobody can deny that the space isn’t changing and that such a seismic shift to accommodate women equally, has been, and continues to be a challenge.

WEALTH MANAGEMENT women assess based on whether they have “W OMEN reached their goals with a high success rate. COULD EVEN As an industry, we’re not there yet in terms of BE DENIED A positioning products and services in this way.” CREDIT CARD WITHOUT Gupta agrees and says education must A MALE form part of the continued solution. “Studies CO-SIGNER show that women are less likely to receive a UNTIL 1974, lesson on credit by the time they reach high WHICH WASN’T school, and that financial services companies THAT LONG are spending 13 times more in advertising to AGO” men versus women. Women enter the credit game in an unequal playing field – through VRINDA GUPTA no fault of their own!” SEQUIN Redressing the balance Financial tools, she says, need to be According to McCruden, every investor and intentionally reimagined to center with VC should have a portion of their portfolio women, to ensure systemic biases don’t dedicated to addressing the structural steep into access to credit like they do today. reasons standing in the way of women and equitable access to financial services. “At Visa, I spotted a huge opportunity That means spending dollars to define new to better serve women’s financial needs markets that may not be as well understood because I was one of the only women in and to dig into the root causes of why we see a male-dominated financial industry, in such huge differences in the way women addition to identifying as a first-generation engage in financial products and services.  immigrant and person of color. I was uniquely impacted by the products I was She says, “I am an admirer of Melinda French building, in a way those before me weren’t.” Gates. She is a great example of an investor creating clarity around a new market through Catering better to the female market her company, Pivotal Ventures, which has Change, according to the latest data, says been working to advance our understanding McCruden, must happen for the benefit of of the care economy. The financial value of the US care market, which is $648bn, is astounding ($138bn larger than the US pharmaceutical industry. However, it’s not a market that has historically been well defined or understood, in spite of its importance.” There is a long way to go though, says Gupta, who points out that although much has improved, further change is essential. “The financial system truly was never designed with women in mind. Women could even be denied a credit card without a male co-signer until 1974, which wasn’t that long ago!” 84 March 2022

WEALTH MANAGEMENT the fintech industry as a whole. She says that industry has fulfilled its promises to every industry, not just fintech, that ignores customers and to be intellectually honest women is in trouble. “Women tend to be about where there are opportunities to the ones in charge of their family’s household improve. No one said this would be easy!”  budget, and in spite of the challenges I described earlier, women control 40% of Gupta agrees. “The world needs more global wealth and are accumulating wealth products and services designed by women at a faster rate than men. Millennial women and for women. Being a woman means living are even more highly engaged in their every day where products and services aren’t household’s financial decisions.” designed with you in mind. That’s also an opportunity to create change.” McCruden believes that for fintechs specifically, the risk we run if we can’t meet She concludes, “Investors who are not the needs of giant underserved markets, is afraid of new markets, and willing to do eventual irrelevance. “Fintech is maturing as the research to define and help others an industry, which presents an opportunity understand them, will reap the rewards to self-reflect and evaluate whether the of being a first mover in a space that will eventually attract more interest.” fintechmagazine.com 85

BEAZLEY DIGITAL WRITTEN BY: RHYS THOMAS PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY 86 March 2022

UNDERWRITING RISK IN THE DIGITAL ERA fintechmagazine.com 87

BEAZLEY DIGITAL Head of Technology James Wright introduces Beazley Group’s brand-new dedicated digital division and the future of digital, specialist insurance I nnovation and technological advancement have been at the heart of the Beazley Group since it was established in 1986. The specialist insurer has always remained close to the rapidly evolving industries it serves, with a client base that is highly diverse, in size, industry and geography, and leaders in their field. For more than three decades the group has experienced consistent growth, writing close to US$4bn of premiums in 2021, and with greater ambitions for the year ahead. But as the world is changing, so is Beazley. In January 2022 the group launched a new division to elevate its digital capabilities and lead from the forefront of accessible, always-on insurance, rather than react to the demands of clients and trends in the sector. Beazley Digital is helmed by James Wright, an insurance veteran who joined the firm in 2004 and has held a variety of roles in the intervening 17 years. His latest charge as Head of Technology will see him grapple with new challenges, but also seize new opportunities. 88 March 2022

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“We started to hear more and more from our brokers that they wanted simpler, faster, more digital ways of placing risk with us” JAMES WRIGHT to-face, expert relationship that HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY, we’re known for. So we decided to bring together all of the talent from BEAZLEY DIGITAL those digital channels into one division, to create a more joined up, holistic service “We started to hear more and more from back to our brokers, and to our clients.” our brokers that they wanted simpler, faster, Beazley Digital is built upon an objectives more digital ways of placing risk with us,” says and key results framework (OKR) - a common Wright. “Our brokers want digital but they also approach for technology companies - with didn't want to lose that kind of specialist, face- five overarching objectives that define the division’s output. Not only does this carve a transparent roadmap, it also allows each 90 March 2022

BEAZLEY DIGITAL individual to understand how the work they the perspective of brokers rather than an do impacts and improves the outcome. It is insular ‘build it and they will come’ mentality. important, Wright says, that the firm’s experts evolve as much as the technology itself. “Our third objective is access to specialists,” Wright explains. “This is really Beazley Digital’s Five Key Objectives important. We’re hearing loud and clear that The first of Beazley Digital’s core objectives our brokers and our clients still want to be is brilliant basics, a commitment to get able to access a specialist, whether a claims the fundamentals right and deliver an manager or underwriter, to better understand exceptional service in a very automated their risk. Fourthly - and this is becoming manner. The second is to meet brokers more common across the industry anyway where they want to be met, creating from - is using data to drive insight and leveraging that in our everyday business operations to better understand how our products are performing and what our clients want.” The final mission statement is to do better, to continue to innovate beyond base level expectations. Refining Beazley’s current business is not enough for Wright. With a new cross-functional team freed from their ‘day job’ and able to focus on pioneering truly transformative projects, Beazley Digital is building for the future, a near future where the Amazon effect has already brought friction free, zero-touch accessibility to everything from finance to supply chain procurement. “I’m sure we have a broker demographic that is becoming younger and much more digitally adept,” says Wright. “I think the way of doing business historically is probably not how it's going to be done in the future. Yes, in some markets the way that business is done is going to persist for the next few years, and that’s why we’ve got one eye on the future and developing those new channels that can really connect with our brokers in new ways to drive that digital efficiency.” To do this, Beazley Digital is stepping away from how insurance firms traditionally prioritise products, instead focussing on distribution channels through which clients and brokers access them. Wright says the team is “very deliberately organised” to serve four core channels: APIs, leveraging fintechmagazine.com 91

James Wright “We are changing how we work vendors and TITLE: HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY partners in terms of INDUSTRY: INSURANCE our agile method and LOCATION: LONDON, UK realisation framework” JAMES WRIGHT HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY, BEAZLEY DIGITAL James Wright is the Head of together in creating technology Technology for Beazley Digital powered products that deliver value he is part of the senior leadership team for all. He is passionate about taking focused on developing and delivering inspiration from technology giants seamless, intuitive digital insurance and making it relevant and applicable solutions for Beazley’s SME clients. to small commercial insurance. Before taking on the role within His breadth of experience in both Beazley Digital he held the position of technology and insurance enables Head of US IT where as part of the US him to add value in the alignment of Management team was responsible technology delivery alongside the for the end to end technology platform digitization of the insurance product, delivering specialist insurance products process and distribution strategy. for both large and small commercial markets. James played a key role in Deciding to not purse a Bachelor of scaling Beazley’s US operation through Science degree James as continued his continued strategy development, personal and professional development internal partnerships, technology delivery with formal technology qualifications and developing a vendor ecosystem. combined with management and Prior to his US leadership role leadership training from James managed the Lloyds of London London and Saïd platforms and before that managed the Business infrastructure and operations division School. laying much of the core foundation EXECUTIVE BIO that enabled Beazley to become an international organization. Prior to joining Beazley James held technology roles at Aviva and The Financial Times. James has a passion for building cross functional teams that can work 92 March 2022

BEAZLEY DIGITAL Microsoft’s cloud expertise to deliver safe and secure products and processes; a digital brokers’ portal; market hubs, where Beazley products are accessible to brokers in international, digital marketplaces; and email and phone, the traditional channels which remain the standard route for clients in the US and other major markets around the globe. “So as I say, we’re working with our brokers and their needs and feedback, and that means we are going to continue supporting that traditional channel,” Wright says. “But we are going to bring new digital technologies to the fold, specifically around email ingestion and using things like NLP and data enrichment to improve that service without changing what fundamentally makes it work.” To realise these objectives, Wright has embedded a philosophy of agility into Beazley Digital’s culture. Delivery sprints are biweekly, allowing the division to prioritise and react to emerging demands. Quarterly planning also allows the team to roadmap and deliver product changes in close to real time. It is a mindset that Wright also extends to the technology partners and collaborators that underpin the insurers digital offering.

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FOR SEVEN YEARS ENDAVA’S DEDICATED TEAM HAS WORKED THROUGH BEAZLEY’S DIGITAL JOURNEY Endava and Beazley, both global businesses The partnership between Endava and based in the UK, have been working together Beazley goes back over seven years. Till for over seven years, during which time they then they were relying on in-house talent, have developed many products, among hampered by spreadsheet-dependency. them Beazley’s e-trading platform, reporting Now this partnership delivers ongoing services and other applications. “More business value through teamwork. As recently, we have been helping Beazley Beazley’s Head of Technology James in their digital transformation journey and Wright said: “Endava has access to talent their agile transformation process,” explains markets that we don’t. Endava provides Gavril (Gabi) Halasu, Endava’s Head of that talent pipeline for us, which is crucial, Applications Management. “I think we are and has empowered us to scale our ideas all seeing the value that’s been created right and concepts quickly using very strong now, because Beazley is seen as a highly engineers that we wouldn’t ordinarily have innovative company in the insurance world.” access to.” Implementing and developing products on Sequel Rulebook has been a This makes both companies an ideal fit since game-changer for Beazley. “This has helped Endava, as one of the world’s leading them a great deal in growing their client providers of digital transformation consulting base,” says Gabi. and agile software development services, has become well known for the innovative, Endava brings much more to the table than low-code solutions it develops for its clients. IT capability. Its model of partnership delivers “We are a service provider working with global targeted and reliable results, at speed, for clients irrespective of vertical,” adds Design insurance carriers. Lead Ioana Catinean, “Gabi and I however, have focused mainly on insurance clients for LEARN MORE many years, for whom low-code platform- building is extremely beneficial.”

BEAZLEY DIGITAL Beazley Digital: Underwriting Risk in the Digital Era 96 March 2022

“Five years out, the real way to prove [digital] is by building a meaningful book of business” JAMES WRIGHT HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY, BEAZLEY DIGITAL Partnering for Digital Excellence “We are changing how we work with vendors and partners in terms of our agile method and realisation framework,” Wright explains. “We’re ensuring that those partners are aligned with that way of working, and we're using a common set of tools and language to drive the right outcomes, bringing our vendors closer together in this environment.” Endava is a key technology partner for Beazley, with delivery units around the world. “What this means is they've got access to talent markets that we don't have access to. And given that everyone's trying to digitise at the moment, in every industry, there is a real war on talent,” Wright explains. “Endava provides that talent pipeline for us, which is crucial, and has empowered us to scale our ideas and concepts quite quickly using very, very strong engineers that we wouldn't ordinarily have access to.” One example Wright points to is the Beazley Digital API gateway, a complex combination of proprietary, internally developed technology fintechmagazine.com 97

BEAZLEY DIGITAL “Winning the market is very important, but providing that true omni-channel experience, giving the client choice, is the really exciting part of what we're offering” JAMES WRIGHT HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY, BEAZLEY DIGITAL that relies on some standards Microsoft’s Azure to our industry.” cloud infrastructure. This product is “Endava’s engineering team surfaced to brokers under have been able to very quickly the MyBeazley brand, an evolving scale that operation up, so we can provide broker trading portal already on the market in numerous products and services via API.” four countries that illustrates where Wright’s division is headed. MyBeazley provides Under the bonnet, Beazley Digital’s brokers with access to 14 products, providing products leverage Verisk’s Sequel Rulebook, instant insurance quotes and terms they a robust rules engine into which the insurer can feed back to clients. It is an immensely inputs its underwriting rules, logic, rating and customisable portal that Beazley has been documents. It’s something Wright needs to developing for several years. do, but partnering with Sequel goes beyond “MyBeazley has been built in a very client- necessity. centric way; we haven't just taken the Sequel rulebook product off the shelf,” says Wright. “Sequel also have an ambition to move “Over the past three years it has been and digitise a broader part of the market,” he heavily customised, specifically from broker explains. “To do that they've got this concept feedback, and as a result of that is being called the Sequel Hub, which we’re a partner very well received by brokers. We’re even of, and that allows us to put products into a attracting underwriting talent as a result of one-to-many environment, allowing lots of having a system of that nature, and the plan brokers to access our products. The reason we really love that is that it is starting to bring 98 March 2022

now is to launch that into Canada and the US. to become over time. Winning the market is It’s a very solid example of how we’re using very important, but providing that true omni- digital in a competitive way.” channel experience, giving the client choice, is the really exciting part of what we're offering.” The Future of Beazley Digital Beazley Digital is a brand-new division. While Over the coming year, Wright hopes to much of the insurance firm’s digital acumen establish a digital foundation to build upon, is today centred upon the transactional an agile delivery framework, and “rather than elements of buying and selling insurance just me saying it”, feedback from brokers that products, Wright is emphatic that a focus vindicate the division’s OKR approach. on channels before products will change that. It means providing a true gateway “Five years out, the real way to prove that experience, where digital training materials is by building a meaningful book of business,” about Beazley products will better equip Wright adds. “Across multiple territories, brokers, where risk information is instantly across multiple products, what we'd like to available at their fingertips, and where having be saying in five years is that we're writing a video call with a specialist ensures Beazley’s somewhere between US$400-500mn of reputation for access to expertise endures. small business and 80% of that is digitally underwritten, straight through processes, and “We see that this as an experience that's with broker and client feedback being very much broader than just the trading portal positive about that.” element,” explains Wright. “That's really that's a core part of what our proposition is going fintechmagazine.com 99

TECHNOLOGY THE ULTIMATE TRENDS IN THE FINTECH ECOMMERCE REVOLUTION WRITTEN BY: DERIN CAG 100 March 2022