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techUK looks forward to working with both government and members in the New Year to support implementation and ensure that the UK’s fintech sector remains world…

This week techUK has been digesting the chancellor’s Autumn Statement commitment to additional high-value investment in infrastructure and innovation, aimed at addressing the UK’s widely accepted productivity gap and in recognition of the growing pace of technology advances and competition from other leading economies.

Fintech feature prominently in the package of measures and has long been heralded for the productivity gains it can deliver to the financial sector and wider economy, as outlined in the Government Office for Science’s Fintech Futures Blackett Review.

The key activities and funding pledges relevant for Fintech, found in HM Treasury’s accompanying Green Paper, are as follows:

• £500,000 a year to the Department for International Trade to support FinTech specialists in the promotion of the UK market overseas
• Commissioning of a ‘State of UK FinTech’ report on key market metrics for inward investors
• Appointing of a group of regional fintech envoys aimed at decentralising and ensuring benefits are distributed nation-wide
• Modernise guidance on electronic ID verification, working with the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group
• An additional £400m for the British Business Bank in venture capital funding to support start-ups (Fintech is one of the three main areas alongside digital and life sciences)

techUK looks forward to working with both government and members in the New Year to support implementation and ensure that the UK’s fintech sector remains world leading.

Read further content regarding the Autumn Statement:

>> What tech companies need to know: Autumn Statement

>> Autumn Statement Response: "A match-fit Britain is a tech-fit Britain"

>> Focus on IoT and smart infrastructure in Autumn Statement

>> Digital infrastructure investment at the forefront of Chancellor's intentions

>> What techUK called for in the Autumn Statement

>> techUK Deputy CEO Antony Walker's vision for a new industrial strategy