FR: What have been your highlights at Quintessential in the last 12 months?
Aside from seeing the firm‘s turnover grow from £11million to over £34 million in the last 12 months, one of the most gratifying elements has been our expansion into new territories, specifically the US, where we opened our first permanent office in New York at the end of last year. When the firm first started operating in America, it dealt with around 1,000 applications a month, but now handles up to 50,000 a day. The US market now represents a significant share of our overall revenues which is great.
Equally we’ve been able to demonstrate the flexibility of our technology platform, diversifying into several different financial sectors, with new products meaning we are operating across personal loans, short-term loans, insurance and data services as well as price comparison.
It’s also been an incredible year of accolades being named as the 3rd fastest-growing technology business in the UK, and the top company in the North West, in The Sunday Times Tech Track 100. We were also awarded the ‘Online/Mobile Technology Provider of the Year’ at the prestigious 2014 FSTech Awards and Fastest Growing Technology Company in the North at the Northern Tech Awards. I am not a big one for awards but it’sfantastic to get the recognition that we have.
FR: Technology is constantly improving to support brokers and lenders alike – tell us more about your Pingtree technology.
Developed in-house, Pingtree is as a direct response to the changing way in which people purchase and interact with financial services and products, including how they borrow and save.
The emergence and adoption of new technology is driving choice and, with it, increasing competition. Consumers demand quick and easy access to solutions, wanting decisions in minutes, whilst providers need a consistent, high quality supply of customers. Pingtree simplifies this process executing it in real-time for both audiences by bridging the gap between the consumer and a whole market of lenders or providers.
Pingtree posts applications or quotes to a huge panel of integrated lenders or providers in a matter of seconds. Rather than generating a list of potential products, which require further application forms, Pingtree directs the customer to a provider that has agreed to accept them and can provide them with the product or service they require.
Pingtree supports more than 1,000 active partners and affiliates across three continents, our core proposition is to give those partners, finance businesses and affiliates a simple and fully integrated way to access an entire market of lenders of providers.
In essence Pingtree provides one relationship with the whole market.
FR: What challenges do you feel are most affecting brokers in the current market?
Rapid developments in technology as well as change in regulation continue to change consumer buying habits and challenge brokers to re-evaluate their business models to keep up with the changes whilst remaining profitable.
Key areas such as delivery channels, business infrastructure, the propositions and services they offer, and even the markets they operate in will have to have to be assessed. Those that have grasped this are probably learning what it’s like to exist within a new model of varied competition and increased customer bargaining power.
For those that still haven’t got to grips with the changes or aren’t taking technology seriously, the challenge is going to be, ‘how do they catch-up and then keep up’? The pace at which things move continues to increase and shows no sign of stopping. Looking forward and developing a model that works in the years to come as well as today is not an easy task.
FR: If you weren’t in financial services, what would you be doing?
I don’t see myself as necessarily being in financial services but definitely in technology generally, probably with a focus on financial technology at the moment.
I love the consumer finance space and feel there is huge opportunity to affect it positively. That said I have other interests in the payments space, as well as some tech start ups which, if I had more time, I would without doubt enjoy being more hands on with.
FR: What advice would you give to anyone looking to start up in the industry?
My advice would be – know your customer, know the market and identify where you fit into it and where there is least amount of competition.
Financial planning is key but, with increased competition, the changes in regulation and close scrutiny the financial services industry is under, there are significant barriers to entry and also the costs involved in setting anything up. All of these need to be considered and evaluated.
That said, financial services are a broad church and there are huge opportunities for those that can get to grips with technology and new industry models, without needing to be a traditional service provider. We’re in an era of low cost products and less remuneration for the intermediary, and this is certainly food for thought when considering starting out in an ever changing arena.
