The founder and CEO of Money Dashboard is set to tell the bigmouthmedia Finance Summit that his sector urgently needs to address the way financial products are sold online.
According to Gavin Littlejohn, who launched the open beta phase of the company's new offering at TechCrunch Edinburgh event this week, there is a widening gulf between the FSA's requirements for providing consumers with straightforward information and the financial sector's ability to provide it. He will tell an audience of finance sector executives at the 2nd annual bigmouthmedia Finance Summit that:
"In many ways the financial industry has been left trailing in the digital revolution's wake. Despite the fact that online should be a channel ideally suited to selling products based on hard facts and reliable data, we have yet to see the sector develop a consistent, credible approach to selling financial services," said Littlejohn.
"Set against a background where regulators have consistently pushed providers towards more professional practices, this situation is simply untenable."
Money Dashboard's personal finance software links consumers with their online banks and credit cards, showing all of their spending in one place, helping them understand where their money is going and making it much easier to manage their finances. Speaking in the wake of to the service's open beta launch, Littlejohn will discuss the ethical, legal and practical issues arising from the move online in a session entitled "Moving from Face-to-face to Online Distribution".
He will be joined by a panel of industry-leading online finance experts speaking on a range of themes including the development and history of online financial marketing and the issues surrounding best-practice in selling savings products via digital channels. Taking the podium at the bigmouthmedia Financial Summit will be Thisismoney.co.uk editor Andrew Oxlade and Colin Tomkinson, head of digital marketing at Barclaycard. Google senior head of Financial Services Ian Morgan will also lead a session.
Continuing the compliance theme, bigmouthmedia senior finance strategist Chris Cathcart will also unveil the findings of the company's latest survey into buying financial services online.
"Despite the degree to which the digital channel has impacted upon every business sector, the world of finance has been lamentably slow in coming to terms with the online marketplace," said Cathcart.
The bigmouthmedia Finance Summit takes place in London on May 26th and is a free event aimed at senior marketing and ecommerce executives. Places are limited, but those wishing to attend the bigmouthmedia event can register online for an invitation.
About bigmouthmedia
Founded in 1997, bigmouthmedia is Europe's largest independent digital marketing agency. With a team of over 200 staff located across 13 offices in 10 countries on 3 continents, the company maximises exposure for major brands online through a variety of fully integrated digital marketing channels: search engine optimisation, PPC, online media planning, affiliate marketing, social networking, brand monitoring, online PR and web analytics. Bigmouthmedia also provides up to date daily digital marketing news to ensure clients are fully informed and aware of all industry developments.
Iain Bruce, bigmouthmedia, 51 Timberbush, Edinburgh, EH6 6QH, (44) 131 555 4848, www.bigmouthmedia.com
