BankiFi, a UK fintech firm founded by Mark Hartley, is the CEO.
Mark Hartley is the Founder and CEO of BankiFi – a UK-based technology company that focuses on Open Banking solutions for SMEs. Before establishing BankiFi, he served in various roles such as general management, sales, innovation and strategy at global level in the technology industry supporting financial services.
He spoke to us about launching start-ups in today’s climate.
Talk about your role and how you got there. What were some of the key events leading up to this position?
A couple of practice runs have let me feel lucky for having seen something similar before whilst working on it now.
I was fortunate enough to relocate to Australia when I was 25 or so to set up an Australian subsidiary for a European banking tech cash management vendor. It was kind of a test run for what we’re doing at BankiFi.
Also, right from day one I was part of the executive management team at Clear2pay. Initially running products globally then moving into global sales and latterly Chief Innovation Officer. I had involvement in all major decisions across the business as we grew from 5 people globally to over 2k employees.
In starting and building a company that sells and delivers products to banks, I looked at all aspects through that particular lens. Therefore, it feels like two very relevant dry runs already happened.
How hard is it nowadays to found a fintech startup?
The current situation doesn’t make starting any business more or less difficult than usual; it’s always tough. Whether you are in an economic growth phase or an economic recession doesn’t really matter too much. It is whether you believe in what you are trying to do with determination and a sense of purpose that will see it succeeded others have done will not matter much but if you trust yourself then half way there already,
What’s the biggest mistake start-ups make that prevents success?
Wanting to be a unicorn.
What will be the impact of 5G adoption on fintech markets?
I think it’s going to help with richer digital services. It will also make it easier for people to share large amounts of data and videos, though you might say that it would have been done in fintech before but for some reasons, this has not been the case. In Fintech video based interactions could improve – becoming similar to the traditional face-to-face service SME’s still want from a bank branch.
It’s more about incremental changes rather than creating a ton of service offshoots using 5g.
What is the single most critical factor to consider when building a successful fintech?
Have a purpose and don’t do it for money. Your business plan should never talk about making money or being an entrepreneur, which are probably two of the most overused phrases in the world. It’s having a problem that needs solving, having purpose and doing things for right reasons and everything else will follow from there.
Are collaborations/partnerships/MA’s becoming more important – and what would your advice be to someone seeking a new partnership in the current market?
Yes, they definitely are. There were three points in time that had FinTechs:
Firstly, this is where FinTech upstart organizations thought they were going to come in and change the world.
Secondly, the banks were trying to do their own thing and ignore the threat and opportunity fintech has brought.
I think we’re now in stage three, where both parties realise they have strengths and weaknesses. By bringing together both the Fintechs and banks into an MOU you have got a recipe for explosive growth.
My advice to you is: know what you can do well; know what your areas of weakness are; don’t reinvent the wheel. Think about solutions that solve real customer pain points and recognize that you’re just one part of a solution set not all of it.
Why is Asia leading when it comes to fintech start-ups globally?
I think it’s probably because there’s so much economic growth in Asia. There’s an awful lot of small businesses in Asia and it’s seen as the hotbed of the developing world, therefore there’s an awful lot of investment going into Asia. I think that naturally means there’ll be a lot of entrepreneurial ideas and spirit, and it’s therefore great fertile ground to start a business.
If you could give your younger self some savvy business advice gained from your current experience level, what would it be and why?
It is all about people – knowing who your customers are, partners or team members’ needs are.”
Always use your senses in proportion with how many you have – so listening is as important if not more than speaking because remember this saying “God gave man two ears but only one mouth.” Ultimately understanding what somebody else needs from a relationship with either yourself or your company rather than trying to sell and pedal a product onto them.
Think about why you’re doing what you do – have a purpose. When you set something up, you’re solving a problem and you’re trying to do it for the right reasons. Always go back to that, to ground yourself and don’t get carried away with success when it comes along, and don’t get carried away with failure when that inevitably happens too. Keep going back to your north star, focus on your purpose and stay on an even keel whatever gets thrown at you.
What can we expect from your startup over the next few years? Are there any new launches/products on the horizon?
Our goal was to become a global software company by opening many offices around the world with many customers. By 2024 we want to help two million small businesses be better served by their financial institutions.