News and Blogs Upskilling with CFP

I started at the grass roots as a bank teller with HSBC and progressed through a variety of different frontline roles. This included relationship and branch management roles and leading a retail network of 70-plus branches across the south coast of England. I was successful in focusing my teams on the number one priority - the customer.

LIBF formed a part of that journey, and I was delighted to be awarded associate status of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, the forerunner to LIBF, in 1995.

Later, I led the retail and wealth business for HSBC Mauritius. This was a tremendous learning experience, running a business at such an early stage in my career - with the added benefit of beach life at the weekends!

With the customer still very much at the centre of my career path, I took the learning I gained from owning the end-to-end experience, to focus on driving customer value and transforming our North American businesses from a product-focused to a customer-centric culture.

Through this work, I saw how technology helped us improve the banking experience for clients, particularly as we teamed up with large and small providers to offer new products, services and deliver innovative solutions. As an example, we were able to work with a facial recognition biometric company to offer the first remote account opening journey for international clients coming into the US. This allowed them to open a bank account in the comfort of their homes! Considering the complexities of international client profiles, that was truly a groundbreaking innovation.

I realised then that I wanted to further explore how the intersection of CX and Technology can delight and solve day-to-day customer problems. With this in mind, in the summer of 2023, I decided it was time to move on from retail banking and follow my passion of marrying both concepts to make great experiences come alive in a pragmatic way.

Being a proud owner of a Sinclair Spectrum way back when (can anyone remember trying to write a program with 16k memory?), I've always had a strong interest in technology, but I temper that with a business-driven mindset. I always ask the question “what’s in it for the customer?” rather than “how does it work?”. With that, I am extremely keen to educate myself more, not just about the technology landscape, but how this all fits in, how it can make a difference in improving people’s lives – in a smart and safe way.

In the past year, I was a keynote speaker at several financial services conferences, discussing how technology (particularly AI) is delivering positive changes to customers' experiences. During these conferences, I was surrounded by a variety of fintech providers which piqued my interest.

I knew it was time to upskill. I’ve been an LIBF member for around 30 years, so naturally, you were top of mind for me and I came across the CFP programme.

The CFP programme had a broad set of topics and a digital-first focus. I liked that I needed to use my in-depth business and technical knowledge, while showcasing practical solutions to help guide a Fintech partner in order to get the accreditation. It involved both theory and practice, which I appreciated.

“Throughout history, there've been these kind of evolutionary jumps, and it feels like we're literally on the precipice of another one with digital technology. Although I am on the start of my journey, what I'm seeing is there's likely to be a wave of challenges before this can happen for everyone.

In my role, I've gained more awareness of my lack of education in certain areas – my understanding of fintech, in particular.

My organisation offered training as part of our introduction and Certified Fintech Practitioner was one of the courses that was suggested. I started to look into it and thought: this looks interesting.”

The content was really interesting and the course helped me tremendously. I particularly loved the Global Trends section headed up by the brilliant Helene Panzarino - really insightful and engaging!

I think the course can work for all levels of a person’s fintech knowledge. For me, there were parts that helped validate my own thinking, but also areas where I really learned a lot - particularly around the exciting world of payments.

The CFP really brought my knowledge and thinking up to date and gave me the confidence to step outside of mainstream banking to be able to engage and connect with true differentiators in the industry.

I’m establishing an advisory practice for banks and fintechs to bridge the gap between business and technology and work harmoniously together. I’ve been helping shape startups from pre-seed stage upwards with their business strategy and execution plans. The knowledge I've gained from the CFP programme will be invaluable, and the digital badge will help prospective clients understand that I have knowledge and domain expertise to help solve their challenges.

Because technology moves quickly and the banking and financial industry needs to keep up, my advice would be to never lose your desire to learn, and don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone. If you are like me who comes from the business side, or someone who has built a career in technology, CFP can provide a broader view of the landscape and help fill in blind spots in your knowledge.

CFP will expand your perspective and give you the chance to consider options if you really want to go into a particular fintech domain. You might find opportunities different to those you imagined or ways in which these technologies can connect to areas you are already working in.

Lastly, as a bonus, CFP is a more cost-effective solution than many other providers, a customer value add in itself!