The five leading banks in the U.K. have experienced a sustained decline in market capitalization over the past 15 years, shedding an astounding $150 billion in value. Compare that to the ascent of the U.K. fintech sector, which has generated $200 billion in value over the same period.
an article written by Sanchit Dhote , investment manager at Outward VC
What is the quintessentially British business? Cadbury’s? Aston Martin? Or is it Monzo? While the neobank might not yet be a global household name, the British fintech scene is undeniably a success story. Widely recognized as the most valuable segment of the British tech industry, fintech grew out of bedrooms and into boardrooms at an unprecedented pace in the years since the Global Financial Crisis.
While Britain’s largest banks still dominate the financial landscape of the country, outstripping fintech challengers in terms of assets and customer base, U.K. banks have nonetheless shown signs of contraction since the financial crash.
Annual reports across five of the top banks (Barclays, Lloyd’s, HSBC, RBS, Standard Chartered) between 2008 and today demonstrate an overall staffing decrease of around 35%. Meanwhile, data from Dealroom points to a fintech workforce increase of 900% over the same period. Is this correlation or causation? The jury may still be out but understanding the interplay between the two sectors is imperative if we want to predict where financial services in the U.K. are headed over the next couple of decades.
In its early days, fintech’s scope was limited somewhat to a range of niche, backend functions. Today, the sector has a much broader definition, encompassing everything from open finance and neobanks to digital lending platforms.
Consumers have come in droves. Challenger banks like Monzo seem to have everyone brandishing their distinct coral cards.
In 2019, open banking users in the U.K. passed the 1 million mark; in 2023, that number now sits at 7 million. London has been the perfect incubator for all of this. Schemes such as the 2016 FCA Sandbox and the regulatory groundwork for Open Banking have all played a part in forging a strong fintech landscape. With financial institutions, large amounts of capital, and regulators all within reach, fintech founders have gotten increasingly ambitious.
Read the article in full here
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
