Wealth & Finance International - Fintech Awards 2017

2017 Fintech Awards 10 specifically focused on customer experience, assessing what the clients need and what concerns they may have regarding sending money overseas. “With regards to the customer experience, we have specifically been focusing on what visitors need and what problems they come across and any concerns they may have when sending money overseas. We have carried out extensive customer surveys and conducted user testing to see what works and what doesn’t. We are proud to say that we believe we now have this covered and are able to offer reassurance and peace of mind throughout the customer journey and through personalisation, will be able to tailor the visitors experience to a very high degree. Upon the launch of our new developments in September, we will be taking this a step further by providing users with an FX dashboard, with our partners becoming fully integrated into our platform through their APIs – the whole process will then become seamless and like no other comparison model (including the big price comparison sites) in existence.” “We have built The Money Cloud from the ground up, developing proprietary applications in-house on the Sitecore CMS – a very powerful tool regarding digital marketing and personalisation, normally used by large enterprises globally. This was an ambitious route to take, but using this platform ensures scalability and sustainability in the longer term, keeping us well ahead of the competition. “Combine this with new tools, user journey improvements and additions to the site as a part of the current development roadmap – to be launched at the end of September – and we are going to be in a position that gives us a convincing advantage over any other money transfer comparison site or fintech company that decides to add money transfers to their platform. In fact, through our API, we are also able to plug in to any fintech company that does want to offer foreign currency services to their product offering without having to develop it themselves, which is very much how the fintech sector is shaping up. Add to this, in February 2018 the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), opens up the whole industry with companies such as ourselves being able to include access to online banking, provided by high street banks, within our platform. We have built the foundation of the FX dashboard on the principle that we can integrate APIs of any financial product and essentially we will become a one-stop-shop for both individuals and businesses to apply for new services and manage their finances from a single platform.” Constant development is a key focus for the Money Cloud, and therefore the firm has plans to adapt and develop its innovative solution even further over the coming months to ensure that it continues to meet its clients’ ever evolving needs, as Huw is keen to emphasise. “Currently, our platform supports individuals and businesses to facilitate money transfer from a bank account in the country of origin to an overseas bank account. With regards to the future, we foresee a number of inhibitors in continuing this service, and as such we need to adapt it. In Africa, for instance, the vast majority of the population do not have bank accounts, so using traditional money transfer services that we currently compare is not possible. As we are striving to be a totally global service, we really can’t ignore a whole continent. How do we overcome this? The preferred method of cross-border money transfers intra-Africa is though using mobile wallets. More and more countries are adopting this method and the drivers behind it are mobile network providers and not banks (although some banks have jumped on the bandwagon). However, there are hundreds of different wallets in each country and not all of them are interoperable with the mobile wallets in the destination country, where there are also a lot of different wallets. It is very confusing for everyday users of the service. To combat this, we have partnered with a major African fintech company to compare mobile wallets. We are in the process of implementing a solution to offer a direct comparison that offers transparency and clarity to the different mobile services available, the costs involved and the countries served. It seems inevitable that at some stage consolidation will come to the fintech and money transfer industries, and this is something that we at The Money Cloud are taking very seriously. Consolidation may be inevitable, but what we must make sure is that when it comes, we do not see a reversion to the bad old days when banks and the likes of Western Union rules the roost, pushing up prices and disguising fees. Comparison will play a huge role not only in identifying the best services, but making sure these services are always putting the customer first. “By giving customers a real-time view and a wealth of choice, we can make doubly sure that the products and services that ultimately emerge victorious are the right ones. Not the most ruthless, not the ones that cut costs, but the ones who use modern technologies to reduce costs, who take note of customer feedback, who have a clear mission statement, are continuously improving, and most importantly, the ones that truly think globally. “Fundamentally, to call ourselves the “Google” of the money transfer industry is obviously self-aggrandising and premature, but at the same time we are not afraid to be ambitious and think big. The fintech industry still confuses most of the world and that is something that we can play a role in changing.” Ultimately, whilst Huw and his team are thrilled to have come this far and achieved the incredible success that they have, they are equally keen to not rest on their laurels, and as such the firm has many exhilarating plans for the future, as Huw proudly concludes. “Looking to the future, as we make our platform more of a “one-stop- shop” our customers will see less of our partners, and more of us. The Money Cloud will not just be where our customers start their journey, they will be able to complete the entire journey without ever having to leave the platform. They will be able to save information there, they will be able to review previous transactions and we will use their personal data not to show to advertisers or sell on to third parties, but to introduce them to products and services that could be of benefit to them. “These could be anything from simply giving them a view of different accounts all in one place, to helping relieve or reduce burdensome or expensive debt, to providing overseas accounts, to recommending financial products such as ISAs, credit cards – perhaps even stocks and shares. To support our clients and ensure that they choose the best possible option for them, we will, as we always do, be trying to show them the bigger financial picture, and all of the options. “It is invigorating to offer these client focused services, but it is important not to lose sight of how we started; as a small firm trying to figure out how to make people aware that they could send money abroad cheaper by avoiding service providers that had grown stale and had stopped looking forward. Now we have to make sure that does not happen to us by continuing to drive innovation. “Overall, we are in incredibly exciting times, as the world of fintech has simply exploded over the past few years, and in the UK we have seen unprecedented investment into products that began as products just like ours. When investors vote with their wallets, it is a great sign for an FIN17005 Best International Money Transfer Comparison Platform 2017