George Osborne launches Innovate Finance to help support London’s FinTech sector
Today was the official launch of Innovate Finance, a new trade body aimed at accelerating the UK’s leading position in the world’s financial services sector by supporting London’s burgeoning FinTech scene. The event, held at Level 39 – Europe’s largest financial technology accelerator space – attracted key industry leaders and was hosted by Claire Cockerton, the CEO and co-founder of Innovate Finance.
Cockerton described the launch of Innovate Finance as ‘the birth of a new movement’ created by ‘entrepreneurs and innovators from our industry’ – a fully independent organisation with 50 founding members already including Nutmeg, Transferwise, Osper, Currency Cloud and Transfer Go.
Innovate Finance will aim to become a single point of access across the FinTech sector and will help to foster effective policies, regulation, talent development, business growth opportunities and investment in Britain.
‘The world of financial services is in a period of rapid change and needs to evolve further financially and in reputation,’ Cockerton told attendees. ‘The UK is emerging with strength and stability, feeding the success of new business models, new technologies and new entrepreneurs, taking advantages of the new opportunities of industry change – all within a strong business environment.‘
Chancellor George Osborne added gravitas to the launch of the new trade body. He made a speech about the importance of making the UK a leader FinTech development and how government backing will help make financial innovation flourish.
‘People are using technology in new ways to communicate, to form social groups, to shop – why not new ways to bank?’ he said.
Osbourne announced the following new measures to back FinTech:
- New tax regime for the industry
- New incentives to encourage investment in start-ups
- New Patent Box, so that if you invent in the UK you only pay 10% on those profits
- Peer-to-peer lending in ISAs
- Commitment of another £100 million of new funding to FinTech companies by British Business Bank.
‘With the right backing from government, I believe we can make London the FinTech capital of the world. For me this is not an add-on to what the City already does. It has to be what the City becomes in the future.’
Today’s event reinforced the importance of FinTech and how it will revolutionise the way we bank, and how business will raise money. How it will actually evolve and which ideas will take off is still anybody’s guess.
Whatever the outcome, here’s looking to an exciting new future in tech.