Let’s start with a brief definition The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon whereby people with little knowledge tend to overestimate their abilities, precisely because they ignore how much knowledge is necessary to master them.

Part 1: It’s time for change When my electrician comes to my house to install a new light fitting, he writes the job spec on a notepad by hand, he writes it up on a computer at night, after doing the day job, and emails me a quote. We agree with the quote and schedule the work when communicating via email and whatsapp. Then he sends me an invoice, written up on MS Word, after the job is completed, via email, when he has time to get round to it. Using his sort-code and account number included within the word doc, I manually set up a beneficiary with my bank online, or on app, and approve the payment.

SMEs and the funding gap. One of the biggest problems facing SMEs today is the lack of consistent and contextualised funding options for small businesses. Many SMEs and sole traders find themselves grinding to a complete stop in their development due to cash flow and funding issues.

‘Cash is king’ is a well-known adage; looking at this statement, quite literally, it may be safe to say that this is not the case anymore.

This op-ed originally featured in Global Banking and Finance Review.

We were thrilled to take part in such a well-thought out piece on marketplaces, and a fintech's place in such an exciting, dynamic ecosystem.

With the third lockdown in full effect across the UK, and shops still closed, many small businesses rely on government support now, more than ever before.

Happy birthday, Open Banking! Three years have passed by so quickly, and you’ve grown up a lot since then too. It has been three years since the introduction of Open Banking as a part of the European Union’s Payment Directive Services 2 (PSD2) on the 13th January 2018.

The festive season is a time where we enjoy the small things that provide us comfort; in London, it may be seeing the Oxford Street Christmas lights, the magnificently opulent tree display inside St. Pancras Station, the mulled wine and roast sandwiches lined up in Borough Market, and of course, the much loved (and missed) Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.

The several-month-lockdown has caused the economy to suffer the worst contraction in 41 years due (the economy dropped by 20.4% in April) due to a lack of consumer confidence in spending.

Six months ago the first Covid-19 case was registered in the Hubei province in China.

Since lockdown was imposed in Wuhan, China on the 23rd January 2020, a ripple of concern waved through the financial markets with the CSI 300 Index (an aggregate measure of the top 300 stocks in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges) dropping almost 9% GDP (Gross Domestic Product) by 3rd February 2020.

Currently, the UK is severely affected by Covid-19 and its death toll is the highest in Europe.

It’s a relief to see that the government has listened to the pleas of small-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by creating a much more tailored government support scheme named the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS).