A Growth Vision for Fintech
We have released our Growth Vision for Fintech – read it here.
The UK’s fintech sector stands as one of our greatest economic assets, having raised nearly £40 billion over the past five years, and produced more unicorns – privately held companies valued above £1 billion – than any other technology sector in the country.
Last year, ahead of the General Election, we partnered with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change to outline a blueprint for the Government to harness the fintech ecosystem to support the delivery of progressive missions, including financial literacy, inclusion, and innovation. A year on, the first Labour Government in 14 years has an opportunity to put this plan into action, starting with its most urgent goal that underpins its other missions: the delivery of economic growth.
Our vision for unleashing fintech growth in the UK focuses on three strategic pillars that will enable the sector to thrive while delivering broader economic and social benefits.
Firstly, the Government must quickly implement its key manifesto commitments: making Open Finance happen through a statutory instrument with clear implementation timelines; positioning London as the Green Finance capital of the world through data standardisation and support for voluntary carbon markets; and ensuring startups have the access to finance they need through targeted reforms to investment schemes like SEIS and EIS and the British Business Bank.
Secondly, the financial regulatory system must be fundamentally reimagined to balance consumer protection with innovation and growth. The regulatory backlog must be cleared through a one-time authorisation initiative; implementing a 6-month authorisation guarantee with a ‘pay for speed’ program; creating a dedicated Fintech Authorisation Unit at the FCA; establishing regular ‘office hours’ for regulatory guidance; and reforming the Financial Ombudsman Service to provide greater certainty for innovative firms.
Finally, the UK payments landscape suffers from opacity that undermines competition and stifles innovation. we propose mandating adoption by the data holders of currently optional API standards for Open Banking and for action to inject transparency across payment and cross-border fees.