Capital Gains

Fintech investment in the UK has risen by 500% in the last three years, compared to 170% for the USA and 133% for Europe, research from recruitment firm Robert Walters has revealed.

Since 2018 the UK fintech market has outstripped the USA and Europe for investment deals.

Tom Chambers, senior manager – technology (London) at Robert Walters, said: “Fintechs were not initially seen as direct ‘competition’ to traditional banks – with their products and services differing vastly.

“However, over the past 12-18 months we’ve seen fintech’s apply for banking licenses which means they can now expand their offering to include overdrafts, guarantee deposits, and the ability to set-up direct debits.

“Perhaps the most drastic change was governments’ swift action to ‘shake-up’ traditional lending and allow fintech companies to be an official loan provider for the government COVID-19 bailout scheme – introducing fintechs to the masses.

“As fintechs creep into traditional banking territory, and financial services continue to embed technology into their processes, the sectors stand to become indistinguishable in the next year.”

In Q1 of this this year, London fintechs have generated almost as much investment ($114m) as they did for the entire year of 2017 ($148m)– highlighting the significance of 2020 for the sector.

Fintech remains London-centric.

In 2019, the number of investments into UK fintechs nearly doubled to 96, however only eight were into regional businesses (under 10%).

https://www.propertywire.com/news/london-outstrips-the-us-and-europe-for-fintech-investment/