Fintech investment thriving in the UK
Financial technology, or fintech, is thriving in the UK, with many start-ups leading innovation across the country.
With new advances in fintech it is increasingly easy to check your balance on the go, or to utilise contactless technology wherever you may be. It’s developing at such a rate that technologies such as paying with your phone or fingerprint technology at a checkout will soon become the norm.
How much is it growing in the UK?
A report from UK Fintech said that industry investment had increased by over 50% each year since 2008. To put things in perspective this is twice as much growth as in the Silicon Valley, which houses some of the worlds largest technology companies. In fact, in the first half of 2017 £433m has been pumped into UK fintech start-ups, placing us behind only China and USA in terms of fintech investment expenditure per nation. There had been some concerns that Brexit would have put a stop to Britain’s position as leader of financial technology in Europe. However, these latest figures look to have put some of these worries to rest, with new numbers indicating continuing growth in the sector. Abdul Haseeb Basit, the Innovative Finance’s chief financial officer, had this to say:
“We saw a period of uncertainty over the summer last year but I would say that by around the third quarter, things were starting to recover,”
“Things have slowed but we’ve seen an improving recovery since the referendum last year.”
The government has now specified fintech as high priority market, which provides around £9Bn to the economy and over 60,000 jobs.
Needless to say, fintech in the UK is booming and according to a report published by FinTech Global London is thought to be leading the charge. Other tech hubs such as Edinburgh, Manchester and Cambridge, however, are following closely. Larger corporations are investing heavily in this rapidly growing sector, but it is also helping smaller companies and retailers that only have an online presence to get off the ground. New innovation in mobile payment, more seamless online transactions, and crowd funding websites have all helped new fintech companies get a leg-up.
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Source: Fintech Investment Thriving in the UK – MoneyExpert
