SaaScada is a UK-based, data-driven, cloud-native core banking technology provider on the verge of opening its Series A funding round. The company’s origins trace back to a desire by its two founders—Steve Round and Nelson Wootton—to ensure that quality banking products were accessible to everyone.
“Everything is stacked against you when you’re on a low income. Banks don’t want to deal with you because you’re not profitable for them,” says Wootton. To address this problem, Wootton and Round created a bank account in the UK to serve this demographic. In doing so, they ran head-on into the costs and difficulties of core banking.
Suddenly, the reason for excessive banking costs became clear—the technology underlying banking was ancient, cumbersome, and expensive. Things had to change.
So Round and Nelson took a fresh look at core banking and built a new core offering, using disruptive technologies that go against everything legacy technology had to offer.
Join us at Baltic Fintech Days on April 2-3!
Product DNA
By looking at the fundamentals of product configuration, it was clear that most products were fundamentally made up of the same features—their DNA is not that different. For example, charging interest for a loan and paying interest for a savings account.
“It seemed madness that these two sides of the coin would need two sets of code. But that is just what legacy cores have been delivering for decades,” says Wootton.
The next logical step in the evolution of core banking was to make available all the product settings needed to create any product in one place from day one. “And we wanted to do it cheaper, easier, and faster than ever before,” Wootton says.
As a cloud evangelist for nearly 20 years, Wootton also chose to leverage all the benefits of cloud-native technology to ensure real-time data availability, scalability and speed.
Adaptability to change is key to survival
In building SaaScada Wootton and Round were determined to deliver a pure core without straying into the customer-facing technologies. Wootton describes it as a “skinny core” banking solution that covers the product engine, ledgers, and payment integrations at a low cost.
This approach enables banks to redirect money and resources toward customer experience and innovation. By using open APIs to build out the tech stack, SaaScada’s clients can also pick and choose best-of-breed partners, and can quickly add new tech partners to the stack when new technologies become available.
Join us at Baltic Fintech Days on April 2-3!
New territories
SaaScada is ready to expand, with sights set on the Nordics, Baltics, Middle East, and Asia.
“The Baltics is an incredibly innovative part of Europe with a strong reputation for being pretty leading edge in financial services,” he says. “The bonus in the Baltics is the approachability of its regulators and their willingness to support innovation.”
In common with many parts of the world, the Baltics are also encumbered by legacy technology, says Wootton. “Engineering costs are also rising significantly.” Both of these conditions make the zone a ripe area for a company like SaaScada, which offers a low-cost solution to legacy issues.
“Every region has its own flavour, and it’s important to understand the local needs before expanding into any area,” he says.
The company is in the final stages of acquiring its first client in the region. It will be attending Baltic Fintech Week in April to further understand the Baltic ecosystem and explore potential synergies with front-end builders and other complementary product providers.