Crowdstacker appoints James Blower to help launch ‘game changing product’
CROWDSTACKER has appointed James Blower, founder of The Savings Guru, as an advisor to its board to assist with product development.
Blower will help the peer-to-peer business lender develop and launch a suite of new services, including what he called a “game changing savings-related product”.
“The possibilities for what Crowdstacker has planned over the next few months and years are hugely exciting, so it was a no-brainer to get involved,” Blower said.
Blower previously ran National Australia Bank’s offshore savings bank Clydesdale Bank International in Guernsey and was the first savings director of challenger bank Shawbrook before launching consumer savings information and comparison site, The Savings Guru.
He has since worked with a range of financial services providers including Harrods Bank, Cambridge Building Society, specialist mortgage lender Pepper Money and Zopa.
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Karteek Patel, chief executive of Crowdstacker, said the platform will reveal details of its new product later this summer.
“We have our sights firmly set on launching our new product in the next few weeks, but we recognise it’s going to upset the apple cart in the personal finance sector, and therefore know we have to have expert guidance,” he said.
“James has the specific experience and knowledge of the market plus the specialist skills in product development and marketing to help us get this right to create a savings revolution.”
It comes after Crowdstacker hired former RBS senior corporate director Ken Hillen as its new credit committee chairman to help expand its savings and investment range.
Hillen has spent 40 years working in the financial services sector, having previously held roles at RBS, Anglo Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland.
Crowdstacker said that Hillen will be tasked with “re-aligning all the lending and monitoring processes to prepare Crowdstacker as it makes changes to its business throughout 2019.”