Introducing UK Fintech Week

Britain’s Financial Technology industry is a world-leader: it supports over 61,000 jobs and generates billions of pounds of revenue for our economy. Its development has kept our financial services sector on the cutting edge of innovation, and has increased competition and choice in banking, helping customers and businesses to get better services.

Fintech is an industry that we are rightly proud of, and one that we in government have backed as it has gone from strength to strength.

We have taken action to support alternative lenders and the digital currency sector, we have supported an industry-led initiative to give consumers better access to their bank data, and we have appointed Britain’s first special envoy for FinTech, Eileen Burbidge, to support our engagement with the FinTech sector and showcase our FinTech expertise around the world.

And now the next step: later this month on 22 February we will be launching ‘FinTech Week’ — a week-long programme of events focused around FinTech.

This week has two key aims. The first is to celebrate our status as a leading global FinTech hub. We have a lot to be proud of: Britain’s FinTech market generated over £6.5bn in revenue last year; our FinTechs attract significant investment, with around £550m in capital invested in 2015; and we have a strong pool of talent and the right government and regulatory regimes to help FinTechs thrive.

It is important that we promote the attractive environment the UK offers — we want to be the first choice destination for FinTech firms and those looking to invest and work in this sector.

Second, we know that if we are to remain a leading global FinTech hub, we need to go further, be more progressive, more ambitious, more far-reaching. As part of FinTech Week we want to start a discussion around what more we can all do to support UK FinTech. This could include further action from government or regulators, fostering greater collaboration between FinTechs and traditional financial services firms, and greater adoption of FinTech solutions by businesses and consumers.

The programme of events for FinTech Week is centred on these aims and is being supported by a range of different participants with an interest in the FinTech sector. The programme will include:

Monday 22nd February

• Association of British Insurers event on FinTech and insurance — contact events@abi.org.uk
• “UK FinTech: Regulating and fostering a world leader in innovation” event at the FCA — register here

Tuesday 23rd February

• Launch of FinTech week at No11 Downing Street — invitation only
• “Can I Trust a Robo-Advisor?”: An event from Innovate Finance and Lloyds Banking Group — register here

Wednesday 24th February

• Roundtable hosted by TechCityUK on access to skills and talent in FinTech — invitation only, but expressions of interest to elizabeth@techcityuk.com
• “FinTech: rising to the innovation challenge” — a Rise London event showcasing the best of UK FinTech in partnership with Barclays. Invitation only, but expressions of interest to faye.hayward@barclays.com

Thursday 25th February

• TheCityUK Policymaker Roundtable with HMT on FinTech — invitation only, but TheCityUK members can express interest here
• Roundtable for FinTech investors and VCs hosted by Eileen Burbidge — invitation only, but expressions of interest to event-info@passioncapital.com

Friday 26th February

• The London Stock Exchange’s FinTech Investor Forum — invitation only
• FinTech “Pitch10” event at No10 Downing Street — more information on how to get involved here
• Roundtable at EngineShed in Bristol — invitation only, but FinTech firms based in the South West can express interest to ben@bristolandbath.co.uk

I welcome involvement and participation from all parties with an interest in FinTech. This blog will be updated with any further details as the week’s events take shape. I look forward to celebrating this exciting sector with you and hearing your views on how we can ensure the UK’s competitive and dynamic environment for FinTech continues to be world-leading.