PM leads the charge to make the UK a global financial technology hub

As the UK strives to become the leading financial technology (FinTech) centre in the world, the Prime Minister embarked on a trade mission to south-east Asia, taking with him FinTech specialists from across the UK.

Companies such as Blockchain, Pennies and Earthport were amongst the 31-strong delegation hoping to capitalise on the opportunities available in the fast-growing markets of Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The Prime Minister’s trade mission came as FinTech membership body Innovate Finance published its new manifesto: Innovate Finance Manifesto: 2020. This ambitious manifesto aims to increase the number of people working in UK FinTech by 100,000 by 2020 – almost doubling the 135,000 people that currently work in this sector.

Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: “This government wants the UK to be the leading FinTech centre in the world, that’s why, at the Summer Budget, we appointed a special envoy for this fast growing sector. I’m pleased that Innovate Finance’s manifesto has set such ambitious goals including the creation of 100,000 jobs. This will ensure we are a world leader in the development of financial services technologies.”

While in Vietnam, the Prime Minister hosted a FinTech roundtable at the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), bringing together UK companies with Vietnamese companies and financial institutions.

With the UK FinTech sector generating £20 billion in revenue last year, this is a market with real opportunity for growth.

In its quest to become the leading FinTech centre, at the Summer Budget the government appointed Eileen Burbridge as the UK’s FinTech Special Envoy. It also announced that it will undertake a FinTech benchmarking exercise in the autumn to help identify barriers to the development of the sector in the UK.