(Bloomberg) -- Paul Richards, a former executive at Bank of America Corp., is the latest senior ex-banker to start a financial technology company, with a focus on cash savings for wealthy clients.
Richards, who retired from the U.S. company in 2014 after almost three decades, has opened Insignis Asset Management, a cash management company that collates multiple bank accounts for high-net-worth customers, according to a statement on Monday. The former co-head of Europe, Middle East and Africa corporate banking and debt capital markets at Bank of America, is chairman of the new Cambridge, England-based firm. Giles Hutson, who previously worked under him at the investment bank, is chief executive officer.
Insignis will offer a cash deposit service to wealthy clients, starting from 100,000 pounds ($141,320), which electronically distributes money to other bank accounts that give the best returns.
A series of former senior bankers from Rich Ricci to Vikram Pandit are starting financial technology companies seeking to revolutionize the traditional banking industry, using decades of experience to carve fresh niches in everything from foreign-exchange trading to consumer payments. Their presence helps add weight to startups that might otherwise make little impact amid a glut of tiny firms.
“The cash deposit industry is experiencing dramatic changes and these present great opportunities for frustrated savers and cash managers,” Richards said in the statement. “With low interest rates and the tedious process of moving cash between accounts, increasing their return on those assets has been complex and time consuming.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Partington in London at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at [email protected] Jon Menon, Ross Larsen