Britain’s fintech crown is under assault

LESS THAN a decade ago Michael Kent and his fellow entrepreneurs were regulars in Downing Street. David Cameron, then prime minister, and George Osborne, his chancellor, were big cheerleaders of the tech wizards that power financial services, to whom they offered tax incentives, a friendly legislative agenda and a sympathetic ear. That, however, “fell away after the Brexit vote”, says Mr Kent, who chairs Azimo, a cross-border payments firm he founded in 2012. Like the financial industry at large, fintech lost out to fish in negotiations with the EU, and got no mention in Britain’s free-trade deal with the bloc.

Given Britain’s record in fintech, that is odd. In just a decade London has grown into a fintech hub that is second only to San Francisco. The sector, worth £110bn ($152bn) globally, is expected to triple in size by 2030. Britain has a 10% share; last year it received more fintech investment than the next three European countries combined. Yet its early lead risks being eroded, says Christian Faes of Fintech Founders, a network of entrepreneurs. From Australia and Singapore to France and the UAE, other countries are eyeing its business. They have been visiting the offices of LendInvest, a digital mortgage lender he co-founded, to persuade it to relocate.