Not so stuffy, not so old: how influencers are shaking up banking

Milly Batchelor, Youth Banking Customer Journey Team, NatWest Group, Chair, Scottish Financial Enterprise Young Professionals and Financial Services Rising Star of the year 2021, Women in Tech Excellence Awards, talks to Computing about the #wearetomorrow programme, and how a background in creative arts is no bar to a career in financial services and technology.

Milly Batchelor began her career in financial services post graduation, but made the move to tech in 2019, in a bid to harness more of her creativity.

"I did a development course and they had a whole piece about values. It was a real evaluation and deep dive into the things that really make you tick. I absolutely loved my team and my job and mortgages, but my values were telling me to do something creative and challenge myself more, so I made the move to the web platform team in a role that was about making the changes that were needed to make our customer online experience safer, simpler and easier."

Batchelor emphasises the value of relationship building in this role, highlighting the importance of soft skills in technology careers as the role of technology itself evolves.

"I was going into the team without a tech background. I'd worked in a digital space before, but I knew from the outset, I'm not an expert. So I had to really think about what I could bring to the table and what I needed from others around me. We had a fantastic team of real technical experts but also it was also about building relationships with other teams such as cybersecurity with them so that when we had an issue or vulnerability we would be able to work together to figure out the best route forward. It was as much about relationship building as it was about understanding and upskilling and learning about the more technical side."

The migration of the bank's web platform to cloud was a huge undertaking, and Batchelor is justifiably proud of what the team achieved.

"People often don't perceive the web platform as being as exciting as the app to work on, but it was a great project. It took over a year to deliver and had so many moving parts, different experts and areas and spaces involved. The collaboration and the effort and the energy that went into the project to make it successful and to make it run on time was huge. It was a big transformation for the platform and also for our customers because those changes made customer journeys a lot easier and safer."

Harnessing the power of influencers

Batchelor has since been seconded to the Youth Banking division, with the aim of growing NatWest's share of the Youth Banking market. It's a role she's passionate about, and she has brought a fusion of technology and creativity to the task by changing the way that the bank engages with young adults.

The perception of banking is that it's stuffy and old. Young people don't want to be communicated with in that traditional way

"I run a project called #wearetomorrow which is 12 social media influencers and TikTok stars which is so exciting. The perception of banking is that it's stuffy and old. Young people don't want to be communicated with in that traditional way. We need to build confidence and relationships and support young people. We know that young people want to learn quickly, they want to use videos, they trust social media and influencers - probably as much or more than they would trust a friend or family member.

"We chose 12 really diverse influencers. Some of them are mums, some of them younger. We've got a woman that has been in debt and she's got herself out of debt. We've got@mimidarlingbeauty (Jessie) on TikTok. Her platform has exploded in the last year. She's got over 2 million followers and she's built an awareness of stammers which she has herself. We've got athletes, football coaches, and a comedy duo @Grayskitz! They're all telling their different stories. They're so inspiring."

Batchelor thinks the success of this project lies in its authenticity, and she speaks passionately about the ability of the influencers to turn personal finance into relatable content and send that message to millions of followers.

"We're not asking them to sell products. It's about how we build an emotional and financial resilience mindset. How do we get young people to think about little tips and tools and changes that they can make in their lives to build their resilience? Because life can be difficult."

Financial resilience and mental health are strongly linked. Not only are you likely to experience mental health difficulties as a direct result of money worries, having challenges with mental health can also lead people to make bad financial decisions which compound the problem. Young adults are up against structural financial challenges which can make getting into sound personal finance habits feel pointless.

Tech and finance need creative skills

Batchelor also works with teams focused on the more traditional outreach into schools and youth groups and is involved in the Career Sense programme which provides work experience for young adults. She also chairs the Young Professionals Network for Scottish Financial Enterprise.

"We work very closely with the Unified School Programme. Our committee members have the opportunity to go into schools and talk about careers and what you can do with your life or things like that, which I love because my background my degree wasn't finance and it wasn't tech. I like going to schools to explain that I just did what I enjoy."

Educators, government and public institutions and not-for-profit organisations are throwing a good deal of resource at encouraging girls to follow a STEM path, and quite rightly so. However, Batchelor stands as a brilliant example of the fact that there are plenty of roles in technology and finance that require a creative approach. Her academic background is in the creative arts, but her work on projects such as #wearetomorrow is a perfect illustration of how these skills can be applied as more traditional industries such as finance become digital first enterprises.

"It's surprising how diverse people's backgrounds and people's hobbies are. I love it when I'm in a school and I explain my background and they're really surprised. There are so many different career paths in banking, tech and financial services, but you'll fit in somewhere. You can follow your passion, even if your passion isn't maths or spreadsheets!"

Computing is hosting the Women in Tech Festival live in London on 3 November and digitally on 9 November. Join us to learn how the industry can keep championing diversity and make positive changes. Find your sense of belonging as we bring together the tech industry to collaborate, learn, and grow.