Disruption has been one of the key business trends of the last few years, as innovative and nimble startups make massive inroads into traditional markets and change the way we live our lives and spend our money. In September 2016 I was asked to produce a roundup of the latest developments in this field. Here are some extracts from the report I circulated:

Atom strives for critical mass after early customer interest

Atom Bank, the UK’s first app-based bank, has registered nearly 40,000 potential customers since launching in April, though only 2,000 have so far opened savings accounts. The bank has attracted more than £36m of applications for secured loans in the two months since it began offering business banking, with £14m approved. Atom, which is backed by Spanish lender BBVA, is preparing to open to the wider market in the coming weeks. It said it expected that would significantly increase account openings. The bank said it had seen the most interest in current accounts and expected these would have ‘a much higher conversion rate’ among customers who have preregistered.

Blockchain startup raises $55m from Standard Chartered and Accenture

Blockchain startup Ripple, one of several groups working with banks to create standards for distributed ledger technology, has landed millions more in funding, with Standard Chartered and Accenture among new investors jumping on the blockchain bandwagon. The venture arm of Siam Commercial Bank, SCB Digital Ventures, and Japan’s SBI Holdings also participated in the $55m series B funding round alongside additional investment from existing backers Santander, Seagate Technology and Venture 51. It brings total funding for Ripple to $93m. Separately to the new cash injection, Standard Chartered and Siam Bank will also join the group’s consortium of banks alongside several other new institutions including Westpac, National Australian Bank Mizuho, BMO Group and Shanghai Huarui Bank. Standard Chartered said the partnership would accelerate its digital plans.

Digital shift lifts outlook for investment banks

Research by McKinsey has suggested that digitisation of investment banks could increase the struggling sector’s profitability by 20-30% over three years, offsetting much of the predicted hit from forthcoming regulations. The report found digitisation could increase revenues in the sector by 4-12%, for example through enhanced customer relationship management and increased cross-selling. But it warned that 6-12% of revenues were at risk of digital disruption. McKinsey predicted that digitisation could cut a quarter of the sector’s cost base, and concluded that the new fintech start-ups were mostly potential partners rather than threats for investment banks. A third of the sector has now taken a minority stake in at least one fintech.

Autonomy’s Lynch backs AI project to aid M&A lawyers

Mike Lynch, founder of software group Autonomy, is backing a UK start-up that uses artificial intelligence to help lawyers with due diligence in mergers and acquisitions. He is investing through Invoke Capital, his $1bn investment vehicle focusing on European technology. Lynch is providing $3m in funding for Luminance, which uses machine learning to read and understand complex legal information and automate due diligence for dealmaking. ‘It is not an understatement to say that this is an application of artificial intelligence that will completely transform the due diligence process, which is perhaps long overdue,’ he said. Invoke is Luminance’s only investor, though Lynch said the company was also open to others if they can ‘show a case as to why they are very useful for the business’.

‘Do it for me’ economy takes off in Britain

A wide range of highly specialised services are now being offered to the cash-rich and time-poor in Britain’s fast-growing ‘do it for me’ economy. Outsourcing household tasks and buying in outside help with child-rearing is growing in popularity in the UK, as the gig economy provides a stream of freelance workers who can cater for dinner parties, assemble flat-pack furniture and teach children to ride bikes. According to McKinsey, online platforms selling labour and expertise directly to customers will add $2.7tn to the global economy by 2025. In Britain, the ‘do it for me’ trend is benefiting high streets – the Local Data Company says the number of shops providing outsourced services has risen 22% since 2010.