In an interview Ian Clowes, CEO of Omnio Group, talks about the launch of the new brand—and what it means for the UK’s fintech sector and the predecessor companies.
What does the Omnio Group’s exclusive launch at the Tower of London mean for the fintech sector?
The launch showcases the successful merger of our two predecessor companies—Payment Cloud Technologies (PCT) and Tuxedo Money Solutions. PCT was an incredibly strong fintech in cloud-based banking while Tuxedo was a leader in digital payments, so the powerful combination of the two gives Omnio the scale, resources, and the global reach to be a true global fintech partner.
What was the main focus of the launch?
The opening ceremony was attended by over 250 of the some of the most important influencers and experts in the global banking and payments industry. Attendees were formally introduced to Omnio’s new brand and vision which takes into account our insight into the state of the global financial services sector.
In addition to the Omnio presentation, some of our industry friends and partners took to the podium to talk about the highlights of their experience with the business. Peter Altabef, Chairman and CEO at Unisys explained the strategic partnership with Omnio and how the partnership helps power its Elevate™ product set that are being used to deliver cloud-based digital current account services to their global customers, including the signed deal with the Monmouthshire Building Society (MBS).
Former Senior Executive Director at AnPost, Liam Sheehan, highlighted the business’s unique platform and how it powered the digital banking element of AnPost’s Smart Account. While Chris Pond, Chairman at Lending Standards Board, in his key note address explained the scale of financial exclusion, alluding to the 1.3 million citizens in the UK without a bank account and how the government is now recognising the problem. He spoke about how, Change Account, one of Omnio’s subsidiaries, is doing sterling work in this area with the credit unions.
What is Omnio’s new brand all about?
CEO
Omnio Group
The new brand is an opportunity to redefine Omnio, by showcasing how we are at the heart of the revolution sweeping through the global financial services market in digital banking and payments.
In the world of B2B, it’s important that we ensure that all of the key stakeholders in the world of banking and payments know our new brand, while at the same time taking steps to safeguard against the loss of past collateral or brand equity. It’s also vital that our existing stakeholders and prospective partners fully understand our bold new vision, and appreciate our new capabilities as a true global fintech player. Our launch has been carefully calibrated to achieve all of this—communicating our new brand and our new capabilities, while also highlighting and reinforcing our impressive pedigree.
How will the merger of Payment Cloud Technologies and Tuxedo Money Solutions help innovation in the global banking and payment services market?
Bringing together the two expert PCT and Tuxedo teams, combined with the £70 million investment, means that we at Omnio Group now have a great deal of talent, digital assets, and resources at our disposal.
This will particularly benefit the product innovation for our digital banking and payments propositions—we will be able to significantly speed up the delivery of innovative new products. These will join our innovative cloud based Omnio. VISION client engagement platform is already on the market, supported by our programme and reliable banking system, VISION digital banking offering, as well as our flexible payment VISION payments option.
The increased resources will also help us further boost the support we offer our clients through our Global Managed Services. This offering allows us to guide our clients through the launch of their banking or payment service, from initial conception, to development and implementation, to ensure they have the best solution for their needs. We are even able to offer on-going customer service and technical support once the solution is launched so that we can support clients in meeting their customers’ evolving needs. Omnio is a member of Visa and MasterCard and a preferred supplier to both the schemes. Thanks to the merger, we can further enhance these managed services, opening up new revenue streams for our business.
In addition, merging the two companies also means that we will be able to create synergies in the services we offer all of our customers. This will enable us to benefit from economies of scale, which we can pass on to customers. As a result, it will help us become even more competitive, driving more sales.
Finally, the merger has given us a truly global reach—now we will be able to provide banking and payment support to our customers no matter where in the world they are operating, enabling them to grow their business internationally.
Can you explain Omnio’s role in powering the digital banking element of AnPost’s Smart Account?
AnPost’s Smart Account was the second banking-grade product to go live with our bank VISION platform. It equipped the smart account with a digital account that included all the cloud-based functionally rich benefits of a top tier current account, with two unique additional features: Digital wallets that allow for the subdivision of spending, budgeting and bill payments and Smart Rewards, a cash-back loyalty scheme that benefits customers who use the account at selected retailers.
This means that Smart Account customers can make payments, and transfers, switch funds between main accounts and wallets, and check their balance online or through mobile. They can also complete transactions at the branch including account application, lodgements, withdrawals, mini statements and balance enquiries at one of AnPost’s 1,100 branches nationwide. The new cloud-based platform helps Anpost to leap from its competitors and dramatically lower its cost of operations allowing them to focus on giving their customers a superior experience.
The partnership with AnPost represents a significant step for us as we were building on our reputation in the digital banking market and furthering our goal of widening access to fit-for-purpose financial products for customers worldwide.
How will Omnio lead the fintech market in the next two years?
The next two years will see significant growth in the markets and Omnio is going to be part of leading the changes this brings. We already serve more than two million users around the world on our Omnio. VISION platform and we want to grow this number further through direct sales and through our strategic partnerships such as Unisys. The Omnio team will focus on completing a number of key strategic acquisitions that are currently in the pipeline. These will reinforce our product scope and our international expansion, enabling us to continue growing our banking platform throughout Europe. In doing so, it will further strengthen our international presence. This will give us a strong foundation to build on the support we provide to our existing customers, so that we can help them achieve their ambitions to grow and scale their businesses around the world.