Royal Bank of Scotland Onboards Former Circle Exec to Head Fintech Project

The Roybal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has hired a former executive from cryptocurrency finance firm Circle, according to a report by the Financial Times on June 18.

Marieke Flament, who formerly worked as the European managing director of Circle, will reportedly join RBS as CEO of Mettle, its digital service for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Mettle has reportedly been operational since November 2018, and RBS is aiming to roll out a standalone version of the service in August. Flament commented on potential for financial disruption in the SME sector with Mettle, saying:

“There is a huge opportunity for disruption in SME digital banking. Insight and feedback garnered during the pilot stage have shown that we are in a very strong position to capitalize on this opportunity through Mettle.”

As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the Royal Bank of Scotland joined a trial program in April that used blockchain tech to streamline real estate payments. The trial reportedly used a tool from startup Instant Property Network — based on R3’s open source platform Corda — to cut costs and offer more transparency in property acquisitions.

Executive John Stecher at Barclays, another major bank participating in the trial, commented on the current un-streamlined process of buying a house, saying:

“When a person wants to purchase a house, the process encompasses a whole host of different interactions with different businesses and governmental entities that can be uncomfortable and drawn out.”