FinTech Scotland announced the appointment of IBM and Equifax as additional strategic partners.

• IBM: The company has been leading the way in terms of AI for many years now with Watson, the AI platform for business, powered by data. As an AI system, Watson can turn unstructured business data into actionable insights that enhance decision making. AI is playing a major role in the development of innovative and disruptive fintech solutions, allowing for seamless processes for customers and companies dealing with finances.

• Equifax: Data is the fuel that will drive innovation and it was therefore important to partner with a global data insights provider. Equifax, have a rich heritage of helping companies develop innovative solutions underpinned by market leading consumer and business data.

The addition of IBM and Equifax means that FinTech Scotland has now appointed six strategic partners following last month’s announcement confirming the selection of Pinsent Masons, Deloitte, Dentsu Aegis Network and Sopra Steria.

“Today marks the start of a promising collaboration with Fintech Scotland to grow innovative solutions and practices” said Paul Ryan, Director for Watson at IBM. “This is particularly significant as financial organisations look to further incorporate data and AI insights to provide a better service for their customers and stakeholders, from boosting customer engagement, creating conversational agents or even supporting client representatives as they interact with customers.”

Neil Cunningham, Partnerships Director at Equifax, said: “The Fintech Scotland vision aligns perfectly with our own aspirations to be the de facto bureau partner for data driven innovation. Increasingly our customers are looking to us to help solve their problems by creating unique solutions in collaboration with fintech partners. I think we’ve all been impressed by the blend of complementary strategic partners Stephen has been able to assemble, and excited at the potential to drive innovation through collaboration. ”

Stephen Ingledew, CEO at FinTech Scotland, said: “Strategic partners of this quality supporting the fintech ecosystem in Scotland will help us achieve our ambition to be in the top 5 fintech hubs in the world. I’m pleased to have a diverse set of strategic partners and with their expertise and global reach, they will play a crucial role in ensuring Scotland’s position on the world stage.”

About FinTech Scotland

Fintech Scotland has been established by the Scottish Government, the financial services sector and University of Edinburgh to ensure that Scotland seizes these fintech opportunities and achieves critical mass in the sector by encouraging financial innovation, collaboration and inclusion as part of the country’s broader digital economy objectives. The founding partners were the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, The University of Edinburgh, HSBC, Avaloq and Lloyds Banking Group. FinTech Scotland will act as a strategic enabler focused on leveraging the potential economic (i.e. productivity, business creation) and social (i.e. access to financial products and employment) benefits arising from becoming a leading global centre focused on data driven fintech innovation.

About IBM

IBM is a global cloud platform and cognitive solutions company, which has continually evolved over the past century to remain at the forefront of technological innovation. Our capabilities in data and analytics, cloud, mobile, social and security have helped the UK evolve to become one of the world’s most digitally advanced nations. This digital revolution empowers us and our clients to gather and analyse data in ways that have never been possible before—helping UK organisations unlock new insights and usher in a new era of cognitive business. Watson is the AI platform for professionals and is easily embedded into your business workflows. Since Watson is a cloud-based AI system that can be embedded into anything digital, the client and consumer interfaces vary per use case and solution.

About Equifax

Equifax is a global information solutions company that uses unique data, innovative analytics, technology and industry expertise to power organizations and individuals around the world by transforming knowledge into insights that help make more informed business and personal decisions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs 10,400 employees worldwide. Equifax Ltd is one of the Equifax group companies based in the UK. Equifax Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.