Retail Banking "Ripe for Disruption", says Former Banking Chief

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Jun 18, 2013, 10:51 ET

LONDON, June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

"The rate of change and innovation in retail banking and financial services in this country and across the world is at the tipping point thanks to consumer demand for digital change in their lives" Deanna Oppenheimer, CEO, CameoWorks and former Vice Chair of Global Retail Banking for Barclays said today at a conference in London.

Speaking at the Anthemis Innovation Playground conference, Ms Oppenheimer announced that she would be advising Anthemis Group as a Venture Partner, a leading digitally native company focused on re-inventing financial services through technology. Her partnership with Anthemis will help to scale companies that are bringing rapid technological and social changes to the financial services industry.

Far from taking a combative approach, Ms Oppenheimer reiterated her belief that the route to reform for the financial services sector lies in collaboration between the establishment and these new innovative companies. "Companies with scale are often challenged by launching new ideas, companies with new ideas often struggle to achieve scale. There is a natural fit between young entrepreneurial companies with disruptive ideas and their more established counterparts. Anthemis fosters this critical and crucial collaboration and I'm pleased to be applying my 30 years of experience in the industry to their fresh approach.

"The customer experience in financial services and retailing is facing its most fundamental change in this century. Recent technological advances and social changes, now at the fingertips of the majority via smartphones, have given rise to a new kind of consumer, one that is much more connected and demanding. Young, consumer centric, service and experience-lead startups like Fidor Bank in Germany and Betterment in the US are re-defining the customer's experience in banking; it will not be long before that kind of disruption reaches all parts of the world."

Nadeem Shaikh, Founder, Anthemis Group and Managing Director, Anthemis Edge said, "Deanna brings unparalleled breadth of experience and deep knowledge of banking services, complementing our core team's expertise, to help us deliver even better insights and value to our clients and group companies (within the Financial Services industries). We're delighted to be working with her".

Photographs of Deanna are available here - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l7wdm5ezjk86k30/vG2ujGqgmL

About Deanna Oppenheimer

Recognised globally as one of the decade's most influential leaders in financial services, Deanna Oppenheimer is an acclaimed turnaround strategist known for her ability to transform entrenched institutions into customer-centric champions. Deanna currently serves as a non-executive director for Tesco PLC, Tesco Bank, NCR Corporation, and the AXA Group, and is also a frequent speaker at national and international forums. As CEO of CameoWorks, a boutique retail and financial services advisory firm, Deanna connects global companies with American west coast innovation.

Previously, Deanna held c-level positions at national and international financial institutions. She most recently served as Vice Chair, Global Retail Banking at Barclays, where she was also CEO of UK and Western Europe Retail Banking.

About Anthemis:

Anthemis Group is a young, dynamic growth company focused on re-inventing financial services for the 21st century. We are distributed, networked and emergent; an approach we believe is optimally aligned with the economic, cultural and competitive environment of the Information Age.  

People, networks and ecosystems are the foundations upon which Anthemis is built: we are a technology and talent collective specializing in the design, implementation and financing of innovative business models and concepts in payments, banking, wealth management, capital markets and insurance.

We work with a diverse group of customers and partners - from start-ups and venture capital firms to corporates, financial institutions and private equity firms - catalyzing and accelerating positive and disruptive change across the financial industry.

Links:

Fidor bank - https://www.fidor.de/

Betterment - https://www.betterment.com/

SOURCE Anthemis Group