Public finance minister visits Scottish Fintech Origo

Ms Forbes met with Origo managing director Anthony Rafferty and staff around the building.

Committed to developing digital skills both within the Scottish FinTech sector and within the company, Mr Rafferty made specific introductions with Origo’s apprentices and Cyber Security graduate apprentice – Taylor McAuley.

As Cyber Resilience is important to Scotland’s digital economy, Ms Forbes was also briefed on Origo’s digital ID service, called Unipass, that is used by 8 out 10 financial advisers to securely access digital services from financial providers and platforms.

Ms Forbes also received a demonstration of Origo’s world-leading Pension Finder Service for the Government’s Pensions Dashboard project. The role of Pensions Dashboards is to find and display an individual’s pension savings on one screen and is intended to encourage people to engage with and, where appropriate, take action on their retirement income planning.

Ms Forbes said: “Origo looks set to reinforce Scotland’s reputation for high quality and innovative digital skills and services. The FinTech is investing in our youth through development and support of apprentices and a graduate apprentice as well as recruiting from a specialist digital academy, Code Clan.

“Origo’s innovative Pension Finder Service will be critical to the Pensions Dashboard project and will also enable other and different FinTechs to get involved in delivering technology such as user interfaces and integration services.

“Scotland is a highly competitive business location, with investment built around the quality of innovation and the digital skills of our workforce. Companies such as Origo can play a big part in making Scotland a centre of digital excellence.”

Anthony Rafferty, Origo’s MD, said: “The Origo team was delighted that the Minister dedicated time to meet with us and to see the important work being developed in Scotland and how we as a company invest in our digital skills, including development of the next generations through relevant apprenticeships, to enable us to deliver industry critical services to the rest of the UK.

“We are excited by the potential for Pensions Dashboard to not only benefit millions of individuals and potentially improve their financial outcomes, but also help to drive further innovation by facilitating an open pensions environment.   

“Origo is dedicated to improving the financial services industry’s operating efficiencies, lowering costs for market participants and improving outcomes for consumers.

“We work collaboratively with government, other industry bodies as well as product providers, platforms, financial advisers, portals and software suppliers, to find new ways to cut costs and make processes more efficient.

“Formed 30 years ago in Edinburgh, we are one of the UK’s longest established FinTechs and we are proud of our long history at the forefront of innovation in Scotland’s and the UK’s financial services industries.”

Alastair Ross, head of public policy (Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland) for the Association of British Insurers, who attended the Minister’s visit, added: “Millions of savers stand to benefit from a pensions dashboard system – an initiative with cross-party support and the backing of consumer groups – which will give everyone much easier access to information about their own retirement prospects. The ABI, having led a cross-industry group of pension providers, pension schemes and FinTech companies, has already delivered a great deal of the work needed to make Dashboards a reality and we look forward to continuing this collaboration with Government.”