UK government launches national hub to turbocharge Fintech growth

The government has announced the launch of a national hub for Fintech, named the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), to drive the growth of the sector on a global scale.

CFIT is supported by £5.5 million of Treasury and City of London Corporation funding and will boost growth and innovation, championing businesses and fostering job creation across the sector.

The hub, launched at an event in Leeds yesterday, also aims to promote the benefits of new and innovative technology that will widen consumer choice, cut costs and increase efficiencies, according to Westminster.

The CFIT will help firms to achieve global scale, supporting around 2,500 organisations and tens of thousands of jobs in the UK, which takes second place for Fintech investment behind the US.

Howard Wimpory, KYC transformation director at Encompass Corporation, said: “It is encouraging to see the government provide this support to the FinTech industry and, widely, digital transformation, which creates opportunities for growth while also assisting economic recovery. The UK technology sector overall has huge potential, with innovation at a high, and support of this kind can help organisations to harness the solutions within it to their advantage.”

Wimpory added that a “widespread effort to help organisations truly unlock the potential of digital transformation is how strong, long-term value will be created throughout industries, and particularly financial services.”

“These organisations must now recognise the importance of utilising the new and emerging solutions at their disposal, which not only add business value, but also help to protect the nation against the ever-evolving threat of financial crime.”

Outlined in TechInformed’s key fintech tech trends for 2023 disruption in the sector was billed one of the top five problem areas.

“Realising these goals requires businesses to embark on or accelerate their digital transformation journeys, embracing state-of-the-art cloud-powered technology to overhaul manual processes and instead trust in automation, which brings long-lasting operational benefits to power success,” concluded Wimpory.

Charlotte Crosswell OBE, chair of CFIT, said that the launch “represents a significant moment for the UK’s Fintech sector and our economy more widely. This organisation will enable us to come together as a sector to start breaking down barriers that the FinTech sector is facing while creating a clear path for our homegrown FinTech companies to achieve global scale, impact and success.”