Fintech Insider Podcast by 11:FS
00:42:28 · Kate Moody
[00:42:28] S0: Okay. Now for a quick look at the story that we didn't have time to cover in full but still deserves a shout out. We took this one from Reuters, and that is Revolut launches personal loans in The UK as Bank of England orders review. Revolut has launched unsecured personal loans in The UK, taking on major lenders, including Lloyd's, Barclays, NatWest, and HSBC. Loans will range from £2,000 to £25,000 with interest rates between 6.929.3%. Initial rollout will target selected customers before expanding more widely. Revolut UK CEO Francesca Carlesi says the ambition is to move beyond being an everyday spending app and become customers' primary bank. The fintech is also planning to introduce credit cards and eventually mortgages as it looks to increase revenue per customer and expand its lending business. Unlike traditional banks, Revolut has less historical lending data and is supplementing its credit assessments with information from external providers. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the Bank of England's prudential regulation authority has ordered an independent review of Revolut's product approval processes, examining whether its internal controls can keep pace with its rapid expansion. Feels like not a week goes by without some sort of Revolut story and this is two coming out at the same time. So I think lots to break down here that I can't possibly do justice to. I think probably not a surprise to anyone that you lend lending has has come to the table. It was obviously kind of the main thing that Revolut were chasing that that UK banking licence for. Definitely going to be keen to sort of see, you know, do you have do you have a Revolut account? So we'll be keen to kind of see if I kind of get nudges or things like that within the within the interface. I think the main difference will be in terms of how these loans are actually introduced to customers and then if people choose to take them on, how those are managed, of what the options are for customers to stay on top of payments, make repayments early and how that's done. So yeah it'll be really interesting to see how that plays out and also kind of what the result of the, of the PRA's investigation is. Obviously lots of people are, are very keen for people to pick holes and Revolut's product approval process because they do move at such pace.
00:44:34 · Kate Moody
Think there's probably a lot of a lot of people wanting there to be an issue there, so I guess it'd be interesting to see if the regulator finds finds something that needs more scrutiny. Okay. And finally, story. Halloween bigger than Christmas, say businesses. This one was taken from the beloved BBC. Halloween has become such a major commercial event in The UK that some businesses are now generating more revenue from the spooky season than Christmas. At Avon Valley Adventure Park near Bath, Halloween activities generate around a third of annual revenue, wow, with £2,000,000 in turnover from October events. A Bristol fancy dress shop says half its annual turnover comes in October, with a third generated during Halloween week alone. Customers spend an average of £40 on costumes and accessories. According to research by IGD, 36% of UK shoppers plan to celebrate Halloween this year, up from 27% in 2025. Pumpkin patches, haunted mazes, and immersive scare experiences have become big business, with some farms transforming Halloween into a major source of income. Matthew, Brad, I'm conscious given you've got two US people on the panel, this is probably like, I mean catch up guys, we've been here for ages. Mean, to us in The UK this feels like quite a big cultural change. Is is is... How does it how does it how does it work? What's going on?
00:45:47 · Matthew Goldman, Kate Moody, Brad Wiskirchen
[00:45:47] S3: I've been fascinated by the global expansion of Halloween. I really thought for a long time it was very American, but it is it is everywhere, and it continues to grow here. I think there is so much more intensity around it than there was when I was growing up certainly. So it's kind of wild to see, but I guess people love a good scare. [00:46:05] S0: I mean, far does it go? What... What's the end game here? Like, what should I be anticipating? I mean, we're at pumpkin patches at the moment. What what hap... What's the next step of Halloween mania? [00:46:15] S3: Do you have any haunted haunted hay rides? That's really good here. And all the amusement parks kind of transform themselves in The US, Disneyland. Knott's Berry Farm originated. This was... It's called Knott's Scary Farm for the month of October. And you go and they have people who creep up behind you and try to scare you and they redecorate. So there's there's quite a ways to go, Kate. Prepare yourself. [00:46:43] S4: Oh, yeah. There's there's old prisons that are converted, and they turn them over to people for haunted houses that you go through. And there's an old old hospital that I've been through that was the scariest thing ever where they've turned it into a haunted house, like people people taking over large buildings and with an eye just to scaring the living heck out of you. So
00:46:43 · Brad Wiskirchen, Kate Moody
[00:46:43] S4: Oh, yeah. There's there's old prisons that are converted, and they turn them over to people for haunted houses that you go through. And there's an old old hospital that I've been through that was the scariest thing ever where they've turned it into a haunted house, like people people taking over large buildings and with an eye just to scaring the living heck out of you. So [00:47:09] S0: I'm really I'm really confused, Brad, because across the rest of this recording, you've said many intelligent things. You've exuded a lot of just authority and gravitas. But like, so why did you choose to go to a hospital, a deserted hospital that was designed to scare the crap out of you? What what what's going on? Why is this a thing? [00:47:27] S4: I I was in college and it was the thought of going through with a date produced the highest likelihood of getting to hold hands and hug. So Okay. Was the logic behind it. [00:47:42] S0: Okay. It makes it makes more sense. I mean, so Dan, from a from a fellow Brit perspective, are you are you a hal... Have you got on board the Halloween train or where's yours, what's your stance?
00:47:42 · Kate Moody, Daniel Wills
[00:47:42] S0: Okay. It makes it makes more sense. I mean, so Dan, from a from a fellow Brit perspective, are you are you a hal... Have you got on board the Halloween train or where's yours, what's your stance? [00:47:51] S2: I think we're definitely, we're definitely not at haunted scare hospitals yet in The UK. But, I can see your strategy, Brad, there. Very clever. I think, well, with It works, by the way. I think having got young children, we're definitely a Halloween household. I've seen it come on over the last decade or so. Definitely, when I was young, perhaps similar age to Brad when he was in his haunted hospital, I just remember dressing up, relatively straightforward outfits, and now it seems the dog's got an outfit as well these days. So who knows, what's what's gonna come up next. But from my very sensible, boring financial planning perspective, I guess this this growth of the industry just puts, I guess, a little bit more pressure on on households generally to put a downer on things. So if people can concentrate over the course of the year to put a little bit away each month, then October, November, December is not gonna seem like such a stretch because it's such an expensive part of the year. So my little bit of advice there for people, I guess, is to is to put a little bit away every month to make these months a little bit easier. But but, yeah, perhaps that's my scare as as a as a financial planner.
00:49:12 · Kate Moody, Brad Wiskirchen, Matthew Goldman
[00:49:12] S0: Well, yeah, mean, I think we've... I'm being encouraged to try and find some sort of Fintech financial services angle to this. So I suppose, to close out, I mean, you've kind of given your financial angle. I mean, Brad, Matthew, what's if we're kind of going away from ghosts and zombies and sort of just scary things in Fintech and financial services, what's what's the thing that scares you most within Fintech and financial services, Brad? [00:49:35] S4: Oh, scariest thing in Fintech and financial services. I'm not big into scary costumes, so I'd probably just go as a dongle, a payments dongle, and it's stupid simple because it's square. So I can't think of anything scary that I'd go at. [00:49:53] S3: No. Matthew, you're was gonna go as an un indemnified dispute. [00:50:02] S4: Yeah. That is that is actually scary. Yeah. It goes a dispute that's not protected by Chargebacks911.