At only 18 years old you are told you have to go to work, or indeed choose a subject to study for the next three years of your life. I'm quite sure that the vast majority of individuals at this point in their life don't have the slightest idea of what is the right thing for them, let alone what they actually want to do. Not quite ready to join the labour force, that narrowed my choices to one, so I went to the University of Kent to study economics. The only reason for the subject choice being that it was one of the more enjoyable subjects in college and had very few limitations in its application.
Throughout my time at university I was always pushed towards the idea of finance and banking. You have the opportunity to select specially designed finance orientated modules, join "Kent Invest" - the trading and investment society - and partake in internships at Lloyds and HSBC. However FinTech, one of the fastest growing sectors with over $12 billion being invested in 2014 alone according to an Accenture study, was absent from the syllabus. Not a single mention of what is one of the most exciting and disruptive sectors in the world, let alone the fact that its roots are bedded deep within economics and finance. Through reading and research outside of my course I knew that I wanted to work in FinTech. My big brother already worked at a big player within the market at the time and reinforced what I already knew. This exciting, entrepreneurial and disruptive sector was providing vital services to those previously exploited or in some cases completely abandoned by the institutional banks. Making up over 99% of firms in the UK, the SME market is not a small one, yet it seems that only the likes of Coca Cola and Apple can negotiate preferable terms with a giant like HSBC.
With only a month or so left before my last exam I felt well set up to find my place in FinTech. I had interviews set up, was on first name terms with every recruiter and I'd already started researching whereabouts in London I should live.
However a week or so before my exams were due to start, browsing jobs pages I came across Money Mover. Cambridge based and tech savvy - a small but experienced team with a foot in the door in the largest sub-sector within FinTech. After doing some due diligence and scouring the website it became obvious that this company was where I wanted to be. Based in Cambridge, renowned as a world leading area for research, development and innovation, Money Mover is working to liberate SMEs from the current conventions in global payments of poor rates, hidden fees and complex systems. That was something I most certainly wanted to be a part of.
Following a brief exchange on Linkedin I had the opportunity to meet with the CEO Hamish Anderson and Head of Operations Rosemary Fallows for what was a very thorough but quite informal interview, as is the theme in FinTech. I received a call back only a couple of days later with a job offer.
My first day was less than a fortnight later, only a month after finishing my last exam. It quickly became apparent that this is a company deeply invested in embracing the tech half of FinTech. From a customer point of view, getting to grips with the platform from the front end is incredibly intuitive and easy to follow. Consistent development in conjunction with Onespacemedia, who are an award winning Cambridge based digital creative agency, really helps us get to the bottom of what our customers want and need to make the payments process as simple and succinct as possible. The novelty working within such a small, innovative and dynamic company such as Money Mover is that no two days are the same. My roles can involve anything and everything from sales and operations to web development and client support. It's like dog years of experience in a company whose horizon is not even close to being defined.
It's evident our strategy is working well for us and is welcomed by our customers. Since I joined in late June, payments by Money Mover users have increased by over a third. We've also seen a great response to our recent PR push about our latest round of financing including articles in Finextra, Hot Topics and a feature on Bloomberg TV!
Just over a year since Money Mover processed its first payment, Money Mover users have traded over €25 million. It's been an exciting month for me at Money Mover and an exciting year for the company itself as well as its newly liberated customers. I often wonder where we will be in another years time, how many companies will be benefitting from our platform and how much money we will have saved UK business – but it's really anyone's guess.