This is a best prospect industry sector for this country. Includes a market overview and trade data.
Overveiw
The Financial Technology (FinTech) sector is revolutionizing the financial services industry by simplifying transactions, reducing costs, enabling innovation, empowering customers, and enhancing security. The UK is the second largest destination for FinTech investment, after the United States. The UK continues to be the most attractive destination for FinTech in Europe, and investments in the sector grew by 9.1 billion in the first half of this year, a 24 percent increase from the same period in 2021. The FinTech sector in the UK is comprised of over 1,600 firms, a number that is projected to double by 2030. The sector contributes an estimated $13.4 billion (£11 billion) and over 76,000 jobs to the UK economy.
In May 2019, U.S. Treasury and Her Majesty’s Treasury established the U.S.-UK Financial Innovation Partnership (FIP). The FIP seeks to encourage collaboration in the private sector, to enable sharing of expertise in regulatory practices, and to promote growth and innovation. The work of the FIP has two pillars of engagement: regulatory and commercial. As part of the commercial engagement piece of the FIP, the U.S. Department of Commerce hosted a U.S.-UK FinTech Trade Mission to the UK in June 2022.
The UK FinTech ecosystem is the largest in Europe. As the UK negotiates its future relationship with the European Union, Her Majesty’s Government has made its FinTech sector a priority. In February 2021, Her Majesty’s Treasury published a review of the UK FinTech industry. Spearheaded by Ron Kalifa, OBE, the Kalifa Review made several recommendations, including changes to UK listing rules, improvements to tech visas, the creation of a regulatory ‘scalebox’, and establishing a Centre for Finance, Innovation, and Technology. The UK government has already implemented some of the recommendations offered by the Kalifa Review, including changes to the UK listing rules. The full review can be found in the Resources section below.
Leading Sub-Sectors
The FinTech sector has seen steady growth and an acceleration of adoption in several sub-sectors, including payments, regulatory technology (regtech), and insurance technology (insurtech).
Opportunities
The rapid growth of the UK FinTech industry has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are opportunities for innovative U.S. fintech solutions to be provided as disruptive technology, as well as to forge partnerships with the major incumbent financial institutions. Though concentrated in London, there are other major centers for FinTech throughout the UK, including FinTech North, FinTech West, FinTech Northern Ireland, FinTech Scotland, and Fintech Wales.
Resources
U.S.-UK Financial Innovation Partnership
HMG Report (May 2019), “UK FinTech: State of the Nation”
UK Department for International Trade
FinTech Alliance
Innovate Finance
Other industry events include:
UK FinTech Week
Innovate Finance Global Summit (IFGS) is held each year at Guildhall in London. In 2021, this event was merged into “UK FinTech Week,” and in 2023 it will be held on Monday, April 17th and Tuesday, April 18th.
Money 2020 Europe
June 06-08, 2023
Amsterdam, Netherlands
For further information, please contact:
Commercial Specialist
U.S. Commercial Service