When creating a new product or service the most important thing is to determine:
Who will FLIT serve?
Who will be affected or impacted by FLIT products?
Who is going to pay for this work? What type of work are they willing to pay for?
Who is the beneficiary, is it the same person who is paying, or is it someone else?
To answer these questions, FLIT.ie is working from the EcoSystem in towards our target customers. People have been very generous with their time and insights these last 2 months:
\* Dept of Finance explained key concepts underpinning "Financial Literacy in Ireland: Evidence base for a national strategy" & associated action plan to be developed later this year
\* Carlow CCDP: key insights into "whole-of-community" digital and financial literacy challenges
\* Sen Pat Casey: Explained how, during 2023, he toured his constituency equipped with an Excel spreadsheet and a forensic understanding of the 3 homebuying schemes and how they might be combined
\* Sorcha Mulligan, mentor and Venture Partner, tech and people enabler, who supported and opened doors to FinTech events
\* Susan Hayes Culleton: Shared her observations of promoting youth & female financial literacy across 3 continents
\* Leena Kaloinen who activated her network of female financially astute friends to highlight their top concerns
\* Caitlin Hafer of Hedgehog financial who provided "at the front" insights from her financial app
\* Techstars Weekend Startup Women organisers, mentors and judges
\* Rethink Ireland, for a place on the Social Entrepreneur programme Apr-June 2024
This is an ever-growing list and we absolutely welcome any feedback or suggestions at this point. We are considering which features might add value within FLIT. Discussion is much cheaper than software/content development!
Feel free to ask difficult questions. I've found that putting an idea out there and welcoming critical feedback, leads to workable solutions with a strong story.
Fintech - Understanding the EcoSystem
from the perspective of the Female Customer Base
Observations from primary research (stakeholder interviews):
- Gender pensions gap see women with on average 120K less in their pension pot than men at retirement
- Women face barriers to remaining at work, and to equality of pay and treatment at work
- Women don't usually talk about finances with friends
- Government sites are useful, but can be text-heavy and hard to process
- Women: strong at managing day-to-day finances and family budgets..
- .. but disadvantaged by time away from workforce:
- .. lifetime loss of earnings & pension contributions,
- .. limited access to employer-sponsored education
- Long-term finance/investment decisions often still led by male partner
- .. although women becoming more visible at discussions with partner's financial advisor!
- Unexpected incapacity or death of partner can disrupt access to money and assets
- Financial product costs in ireland not transparent
- Financial advisors in Ireland not viewed as accessible, affordable, trustworthy
- Women lead busy lives, juggle at-work and caring responsibilities and risk de-prioritising own needs
- Current "lifestage" frames women's circumstances, priorities and opportunities
- There's often a time gap between making a decision and taking action..
- .. possibly due to the emotional processing needed
We believe a market gap exists, in Ireland, for a female-dedicated financial education and action-tracking platform
FLIT.ie representatives have been busy during 2024 engaging with the Tech, Fintech, and female business worlds. Good old fashioned networking and relationship-building, scanning the environment for trends, influences and changes that impact women engaging with financial services - while raising awareness by wearing the team Tshirt!
In recent months, more than 70 stakeholders from the finance, fintech, and female worlds shared personal and professional observations with FLIT. We are immensely grateful to all the people we have met who shared personal or family experience. These stories often acknowledge vulnerability, a recognition of financial shocks affecting those closest to us. And a feeling there might better ways of preparing ourselves - to arrive armed with knowledge.
Events included:
- FinTech Summit, May 24
- TechFoundHER, April 24
- Dublin Tech Summit, June 24
- Karren Brady Women in Tech Summit - Manchester, May 24
- TechStars networking, June 24
- London Tech Week, June 24
- ESG in Finance Summit - London, June 24
- InvestHER summit, June 24
- Rethink Ireland Social Entrepreneur meetup, June 24
- Dept of Finance Financial Literacy Stakeholder event, July 24
- AI Governance, Kildare Merits, July 24
- AI Enterprise Barriers, NCI, July 24