WHEN it set out the scope of its investment platform market study last year, the Financial Conduct Authority made it clear that it wanted to see evidence of customers being treated fairly in terms of investment choice, charging structures and competition.
One area it didn’t mention was technology, but given that some of the big names and consolidators in the sector have struggled with customer service because their technology has at times fallen short, it probably should have.
Not that Nucleus chief executive David Ferguson, who is also chair of financial technology body Fintech Scotland, feels that that is an issue for his firm.
Having had technology at its core right from the word go, Nucleus has spent the past 12 years in cycle of continual innovation, which in many ways means it operates less as an investment business and more as a technology start-up.
That is why, Mr Ferguson said, the firm talks of itself as having “the substance of a regulated firm but the agility of a technology firm”.
This is exactly the mix Mr Ferguson and FinTech Scotland want to replicate across the industry in order to make Scotland the “fifth biggest fintech hub in the world”
“We have substantial heritage in financial services in Scotland, which is to be protected and grown, and we’ve got a reasonable track record in innovation and technology too,” he said.
“Those different groups historically haven’t spent a lot of time together - if we’re going to get this to fly we have to oil the wheels a bit.”
If they are successful it could be transformational.
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