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The UK stands at the forefront of Europe’s thriving FinTech scene, with London its undisputed hub.
Already a centre of excellence in financial services and technology, London’s status as a FinTech trailblazer will surprise few. Yet it’s also the flexible regulations, pervasive can-do attitude and openness to new ideas that make the city such an enticing prospect for FinTech startups.
London is widely regarded as the perfect springboard for agile FinTech companies to make a name for themselves in Europe, with 58.5% of respondents to a survey from the Hogan Lovells Global Financial Institutions Summit believe it will ‘win the race to the top as the global centre for FinTech’ – ahead of Silicon Valley (24.5%), Shanghai (13%) and Hong Kong (4%). Of course, London isn’t the only jewel in the UK’s crown, with Edinburgh, Cambridge and Brighton just some of the other cities wielding formidable international reputations.
Identified as crucial to the continuing prosperity of the UK economy, significant government backing has seen the domestic FinTech market become an environment of high-growth scale-ups, with the nation’s tech savvy, smartphone-loving population creating fertile ground for brands to conquer.
From P2P lending, short-term loans and equity crowdfunding, to mobile payment systems, money transfers and the exploding cryptocurrency market, the UK leads the way in both the development and uptake of financial technology.
The UK is the world leader when it comes to mobile payment adoption, with 49% of online transactions now conducted on a mobile device, according to research from Adyen.
What’s more, research from EY shows that the UK leads the developed markets in terms digital financial services usage, with 42% of the populace claiming to be active users.
Ultimately, firms such as Funding Circle, Blockchain, CrowdCube and TransferWise have excelled because they address the evolving modern needs of a time poor, globally-connected UK public; namely flexibility, speed and security.
Competition, however, is integral to the long-term health of any market: this is especially true of the FinTech sector, where the product innovations achieved by entrepreneurial start-ups will be crucial to consumers, small businesses and a huge cross-section of other industries in the coming years. We invite you to embrace this opportunity.