A project to develop a 10-year roadmap to support and expand Wales’ emerging fintech sector has received a six-figure City Deal investment boost.
Not-for-profit organisation FinTech Wales, has received £250,000 in seed funding from the £1.2bn City Deal for the Cardiff Capital Region, which is made up of the ten local authorities of south east Wales.
FinTech Wales is seeking the help of more than 150 companies who play a key role in fintech and financial services to help plot the roadmap, which will define the next decade of technology and skills development needed to expand the sector.
The seed funding will finance a nine-month programme to identify the building blocks required to grow the sector not just in the Cardiff Capital Region, but the rest of Wales. The work will also look at how to build strategic fintech hubs in Cardiff, Bridgend, and Cwmbran.
Gavin Powell, general secretary of FinTech Wales, said: “As a not-for-profit membership organisation we are thrilled that Cardiff Capital Region has awarded us this funding, allowing us to further support our members, as well as helping us plot an environment where Fintech and financial services businesses have a secure foundation in Wales.”
“This funding will now help us achieve its ambition of creating a collaborative and clear roadmap for the development of this sector in Wales. It’s arguably one of the most important pieces of work FinTech Wales has done to date and will secure Wales’ place as a globally competitive place for finech business.
“We are very focused on creating the right conditions in which to innovate and grow, where all the actors and organisations have both a responsibility and role to play as a part of a wider connected and interdependent system.
"It’s very much the quality of this environment that will make Wales stand out globally. This coordinated approach demonstrates how progressive we are in this field and how we are at the forefront of locations for companies to start and scale operations and build resilience in this sector.”
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Kellie Beirne, director of the Cardiff Capital region City Deal, said: “I am delighted that we are able to support fintech Wales. The sector has a significant role to play in helping the economic recovery from Covid-19, not just in financial services, but also in its ability to make a transformational contribution to other sectors and initiatives such as net zero carbon, green economy, energy, and transport.
“This allocation represents the largest seed funding award provided by the Cardiff Capital Region to date and evidences the importance of the sector within our economic and industrial plan. It also bears testament to the commitment of Fintech Wales and its corporate members to push forwards with developments that will be transformative for Wales and the region.”
Founded in 2019 as a not-for-profit, FinTech Wales has established an advisory board of 20 people including representation from firms such as Credas, Confused.com, Admiral, Principality Building Society and Capital Law.
FinTech Wales member Matt Wintle, who is head of change, at Admiral Group, said: “I fully support the creation of a fintech roadmap, we should be immensely proud of the fintech community in South Wales.
We have some great companies enjoying huge success largely powered by their technology capabilities. We now have a wonderful opportunity to be proactive in our development of the sector and the talent which supports it.
"I see every reason Wales can be a centre of technology excellence in areas such as analytics and digital, if we can just be a little more organised and forward thinking, and to shout about how proud we are of what we already achieve.”