Gone are the days of cheque books, requesting mini-statements and queuing at the bank — technology is changing the way we handle our finances massively.

With the introduction of contactless, even chip and pin could soon be obsolete. One of the most recent financial tools is the smart-banking app Monzo, who joined forces with Liverpool Girl Geeks earlier this week to discuss the importance of tech and digital innovation within the financial services sector.

People from a range of different fields attended the meetup at Launch 22 with Jo Morfee, Liverpool Girl Geeks director leading the panel. Jo was joined by four industry professionals including Maria Campbell; head of people at Monzo, Jonathan Seal; strategy director at Mando, Danielle Haugedal-Wilson; the leader of the business and architecture analysis function at Co-op Digital, and finally Chelsea Slater; co-founder of InnovateHER and fellow Girl Geek.

For those of you who aren’t already in the know, Monzo is a ‘mobile-only’ smart banking app that’s disrupting the financial services industry with its ‘data-first’ approach. For customers, features like instant notifications, no fees or exchange rates abroad and budgeting assistance provide a better banking experience - one that’s designed to make life easier, rather than harder.  

In a lively discussion that took in topics from machine learning to online communities through to diversity in the tech sector, here are the top 4 takeaways that got us thinking ….

1. Legacy banks were not built with the capacity to store vast amounts of data. This is why if you ask your bank for a statement from 12 months ago, chances are they’ll tell you, you need to pay a fee for this information. Many established banks are now faced with the challenge of making customer data accessible in order to keep up with the disruptors like Monzo.
2. For free platforms like Twitter and Facebook, user data is the product. Speaker Danielle Haugedal-Wilson made an interesting observation on this point: “It’ll be interesting to see – before it turns into an episode of Black Mirror – whether there will be some sort of revolt where people want to take back their own data and be compensated for companies using it in such a way.”
3. For purpose-driven businesses with clear values, digital is a powerful tool for building communities around a product, service or movement. The data it generates can be used to put customers at the heart of your brand and to build services around them.
4. When we talk about diversity, the conversation needs to shift from gender and race to life experiences. Diverse teams have a positive impact on a company’s innovation culture because they add important perspectives.

Watch the full discussion on the Liverpool Girl Geek Facebook page here!

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