Today, we have the opportunity to speak to Samantha Seaton of Moneyhub. Moneyhub is a people-first, financial management hub powered by Open Finance to enable businesses and their customers to do more with their money. Sam has worked across a range of organisations, from global advisory firms to innovative financial forecasting businesses, all the time working to make financial advice and information accessible to everyone.
Tell us a bit about yourself, your career so far, and how you go into fintech?
My career has been very varied, but a common theme has been my interest in technology and how it can improve financial wellbeing. I started off studying computer science at university in Australia, where I’m from, and began my career at Telstra as a graduate developer. My equestrian hobby brought me to the UK, which is a discussion for another day!
I joined Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson) when the internet and dot com boom created a transformational time for businesses and their clients. I then moved to Tillinghast’s institutional financial services, which was the beginning of my financial services and fintech career. From there I became CEO of financial forecasting firm eValue, and then Managing Director of Momentum’s UK Retail Investing.
This is where I met and fell in love with Moneyhub, and the power it gave to individuals through seeing their financial world in one place. Moneyhub was a huge upgrade on the accounts I could connect with my ‘Egg’ credit card back in the day!
We conducted an MBO of Moneyhub in February 2018 and took the platform to market as part of our vision to improve financial wellness.
How has Moneyhub changed since you’ve become CEO, and what is your mission with the business?
Moneyhub has evolved enormously over the years since its inception, but our vision to enhance the lifetime financial wellness of people, their communities and their businesses has remained unchanged.
As an Open Banking, Open Finance and Open Data digital platform leading the way on Embedded Finance, we are able to deliver tailored solutions that are built to solve real-world problems. We enable any company to offer their customers intuitive money management insights so they can make more informed decisions about their money, leading to better financial outcomes.
By aggregating the widest array of assets and liabilities, and using our proprietary AI categorisation engine, we transform unwieldy and vast amounts of unstructured data into concise and useful insight. This means our clients can use Moneyhub to accelerate enhancements to their propositions, allowing them to focus on how they can add value for their customers, while we provide the data, analytics and plug-in capabilities.
What’s been the biggest win / biggest challenge since starting at Moneyhub?
The biggest wins have also been the biggest challenges. I am extremely passionate about the power of technology to help consumers achieve better financial outcomes and the potential it has to make a real difference.
When I started in fintech, the sector was in its infancy so we’ve worked incredibly hard to educate and convince people of the power that Open Banking, Open Finance and Open Data can bring to their business and the consumers they serve.
We’ve been fortunate enough to partner with some incredible brands who truly believe in the power of what we can do, and knowing the benefits we’ve brought to their customers is very gratifying.
How do you find public speaking?
I used to be very fearful of any form of public speaking: I’m an introvert at heart. That may come as a bit of a surprise to people who have seen me speak as I’m often told I make being up on stage look very easy, but it’s taken time and effort to get my head around it all and to develop the skills needed to be an accomplished speaker.
My advice would be to just do it as it gets a little bit easier each time! It’s also much easier to speak on a topic that you feel knowledgeable and passionate about. For me, that’s extolling the virtues of Open Banking, Open Finance and Open Data, and how embracing them can revolutionise consumers’ financial lives.
What’s your best advice for women or non-binary people wanting to get into fintech?
It’s vital that women and non-binary people can see themselves represented at all levels of a business – without that representation, we risk people believing that these roles aren’t for them. My best advice is to find a mentor that you can learn from and emulate.
Mentoring is a great resource for when you need a bit of guidance or insight, and having someone to talk to who can relate to your particular circumstances can be so helpful. It takes trust and honesty on both sides, so you need to invest in finding the right person, but having access to objective but knowledgeable advice really is priceless.
Such an interesting read, thank you! Totally agree with the advice about finding a mentor. It’s one thing being told and reading about representation within a business, but a whole other thing seeing a fellow female or non-binary person that you look up to thriving, and seeing that – and how – it’s possible to do so.