Digital Transformation Becomes An Imperative In Responding To This Pandemic
We have been talking about digital transformation in the UK for almost a decade. Then a pandemic came along and accelerated the process out of sheer necessity. It is clear that it will be a combination of the best of science and cutting-edge technology, along with the human collaboration necessary to sync them together, that will get us to the other side. But the assault of Covid-19 could also nudge the financial services sector into overdue innovation via Open Banking, hailed a ‘revolution’ by the Competition and Market Authority in 2016 and implemented by banks in early 2018.
Amid high volumes of noise in the UK media last week around the government’s pandemic response, an app called SNOOP quietly launched earlier than originally planned. It aims to help consumers save money wherever they can, an issue foremost in the minds of most households in the country.
Research shows that inertia costs UK consumers £12 billion a year . Claiming that it can save the average household £1500 a year, Snoop takes the effort out of trying to look for ways to save, ‘snooping’ around for you for the best deals while keeping an eye on what you are spending via access you grant to your current account.
The sharing of access has been enabled by Open Banking, but you retain your control over your financial data. Interacting with the app by telling it what sort of suggestions you appreciate and which ones you don’t find useful, it tailors itself to your needs, from shopping voucher codes to utility bills - to keeping an eye on your lottery expenditure (if you pay by bank transfer).
Shopping - image via SnoopApp, London April 20,2020
One of the best-known bankers in the City of London, Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, is behind the creation of Snoop, and is its Executive Chair. Having helped set up Virgin Direct in 1995 she moved to RBS when it acquired the financial services group four years later. Returning to Virgin in 2007, she left her role at Virgin Money as CEO after its £1.7bn takeover by CYBG in 2018 with a team who have now helped launch this financial services start-up.
“The coronavirus pandemic has been a gamechanger for everyone. We know money is going to be tight for many in the months to come and so we’ve worked flat out to get to market as soon as humanly possible” said Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia last week, at the early launch.
Snoop is one of a growing handful of start-ups that are beng set up by FinTech innovators who are using open banking APIs to make things easier for consumers and SMEs during the coronavirus pandemic. You can see them here, under the #PowerOfTheNetwork.
When Jayne-Anne Gadhia left Virgin Money, she moved to Salesforce as CEO, UK and Ireland for the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software provider. She stepped down from that role last month, but remains a strategic adviser to the business. Salesforce Ventures Europe is a lead investor in Snoop.
The Snoop team is clearly intent on making this app as much fun as possible, so that it is welcomed. They say that because Snoop’s tech can provide personalised and proactive savings opportunities at exactly the right time, they believe they “can transform the way consumers compare, find and secure better deals across all their finances.”
“Snoop’s ability to connect people with relevant and personalised money insights at exactly the right time has proved extremely popular with our first 5,000 customers beta-testing the app” said John Natalizia, CEO.
Snoop is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a Registered Account Information Service Provider (RAISP). One of the early independent reviews of the app is here, along with other looks at digital banking start-ups. Media reports suggest Snoop aims to on-board three million customers in two years and will earn money from commissions, made clear in the preamble to signing up.
“The market potential is significant and the consumer benefit is huge. Much more than a price comparison app, the ultimate ambition is to make Snoop something that people will love - something brilliantly simple, completely personalised and exceptionally helpful” said Scott Mowbray, co-founder. (Twitter: @scott_mowbray @SnoopApp).
Digital technology and artificial intelligence have, very rapidly over the past few months, gained in value as not just life-enhancing, but potentially as life-saving tools. In the UK, as we watch the government feel its way forward with its response in uncharted territory guided, as it says, “by the science”, it is already apparent that the many challenges in facing up to the horror that is Covid-19 have been exacerbated by existing problems of logistics, infrastructure, bureaucracy and flaws in human connection and communication.
But harnessing the best of human intelligence and collaboration with digital know-how is already proving to be a national achievement with the manufacture of PPE equipment across the country from schools to start-ups to savvy individuals with a 3-D printer and the internet. From contact-tracing apps to testing around Covid-19, from harnessing an overwhelming human response of 750,000 willing people in the #NHSVolunteers drive to adapting the GoodSAM app to try and deliver it smoothly, the UK - like every other country - is on a steep learning curve following the arrival of Covid-19.
Not everything goes smoothly, and there will be many lessons to be learnt when there is time and space to consider them. But it surely must be clear as never before to any doubters that digital transformation is an imperative.
In the meantime, this blog does its bit here for #NHS love and thanks, with another pic- with thanks to Snoop. #stayhomesavelives #tomorrowwillbeagoodday
Snoop loves NHS - image via Snoop app, London April 20, 2020
