EY has hired the head of Barclays' Fintech Venture Studio, Mark Jannetta, to run its first fintech lab, based in London.
Located at EY’s financial services office in Canary Wharf, the new lab will be a collaborative workspace designed for experimentation and rapid test-and-learn prototyping.
EY says fintechs, potential investors, clients, established financial services firms, regulators and other partners will be able to use the lab to share information, brainstorm big ideas and develop new tech-based financial services offerings.
Jannetta has spent the past seven years at Barclays, latterly working directly with fintechs in the innovation space. He will join up with the wider EY fintech team which is is headed up by former interim-CEO of the FCA, Chris Woolard, who pioneered the UK Regulatory Sandbox.
The new London lab will be complemented by a second lab, which will open in Edinburgh next year. alongside a financial services innovation hub in Bristol, combining design, data analytics and engineering capabilities.
Says Woolard: “We have clear and very ambitious plans to grow our fintech business in the UK. Our overriding objective is to connect fintechs, established financial services players, potential investors and the official sector and collaborate to bring new products and services to market. The EY fintech labs will be central to our growth.”
Alongside the new labs, EY is also launching a fintech growth programme aimed at early stage and growing businesses helping to equip them with the skills and knowledge needed for success. The programme will be managed by Katja Palovaara, formerly of Tech Nation and FinTech Rising Star of the Year at the London FinTech Awards 2022.
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