Member Article

Applications open for FinTech Innovation Lab London

The search for the UK’s top fintech innovators has begun as Accenture and 16 leading financial institutions open applications for the fourth annual FinTech Innovation Lab London.

Launched by Accenture in 2012, the FinTech Innovation Lab London is a 12-week mentoring programme that helps fintech entrepreneurs accelerate product development and gain exposure to leading financial-industry executives.

The 15 startups selected to participate in the programme, which begins next January, will be partnered with senior-level bank executives who will help them fine-tune and develop their technologies and business strategies.

Six of the startups will ultimately be selected to present at an Investor Day in March 2016 in front of venture capitalists and financial-industry executives.

This year, Societe Generale has joined in support of the FinTech Innovation Lab London.

The other financial institutions participating in the London Lab are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide, RBS, Santander and UBS.

Carlos Goncalves, Chief Information Officer, Global Banking & Investor Solutions at Societe Generale, said: “We are thrilled to join the group of banks that will help mentor and shape the technologies of the leading startups selected for the FinTech Innovation Lab London this year,

“Societe Generale is committed to applying new, innovative technologies to enhance the products and services we provide to our clients, and the Lab provides us with a great pipeline to innovation.”

Ashok Vaswani, CEO, Personal and Corporate Banking, Barclays, said, “Emerging technologies are transforming financial services and should be firmly embraced to ensure we stay at the cutting edge for our customers and clients.

“The FinTech Innovation Lab London brings together disruptive innovators, corporates, resources and support networks to accelerate the speed of innovation and is an important initiative to help shape the future of our industry.”

Julian Skan, Accenture managing director overseeing the FinTech Innovation Lab London, commented: “The financial services industry is being re-imagined by the accelerated adoption of new technologies by financial institutions and a corresponding surge of innovation and new ideas from small, entrepreneurial companies across the UK and Europe, “There are many talented entrepreneurs who are creating products and services that have the potential to disrupt the industry, and game-changing technologies that can help financial institutions enhance their operations.

“By bringing them together with senior decision makers from the world’s leading financial services firms, the Lab can both act as catalyst to new innovation and help financial institutions to adapt and push forward the transformation of the industry.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .