Manchester continues to be a hub for fintech firms but more needs to be done to 鈥榖ridge the north-south divide.鈥
That鈥檚 according to chair of Emerging Payments Association (EPA), a commercial membership association for the payments industry.
Andrea Dunlop said she hopes to 鈥榖ridge the gap that we all hear in the news about the north-south divide鈥, as it held its first networking event for fintech firms in Manchester.
The CEO of merchant acquiring company Paysafe and chair of EPA, said: 鈥淲e try and work together to benefit the whole of the country and not just portions of the country and you can see that the types of companies that are here in Manchester and what difference that鈥檚 making and how its making the scene incredibly exciting.
Ms Dunlop said there was a 鈥渓ot of buzz鈥 in Manchester鈥檚 fintech community due to the region being a 鈥渞eal hub of e-commerce鈥.
She said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit of a hub of retail and I think that in itself is attracting fintech players.
鈥淭he closer you are to your clients the better the collaboration and the better the experience for those merchants and, more importantly, the better experience for consumers because ultimately it鈥檚 about giving the experience to consumers.鈥
More than 60 fintech firms, including Manchester-based unicorn Arro Money and payment provider Klarna, attended the networking event co-hosted by EPA and PR agency for the fintech, payments and e-commerce sectors, SkyParlour.
Asim Muhammad, co-founder and director or Arro Money, said: 鈥淭he most important benefit of being based in Manchester is that people work with a lot of energy, enthusiasm and happiness and they鈥檙e not tired from the commute, that they sometimes struggle with in London.
鈥淚f you start a fintech company in Manchester you鈥檙e going to get support and there are venture capitalists that I see day in day out based in Manchester that would love to fund new firms.鈥
He added: 鈥淢anchester is becoming an ecosystem that is attracting new talent and new money.鈥
The event also heard from Rachael Eyre, business development manager at Manchester鈥檚 inward investment agency MIDAS, who is responsible for attracting fintech companies to the region and supporting them in their growth.
Ms Eyre told the M.E.N the key to attracting fintech companies is market opportunities which Manchester provides thanks to聽 its strong financial services sector, with banks including Barclays and RBS having 鈥渉uge operations in the city鈥.
鈥淵ou also have others sectors like e-commerce, so Klarna is a good example of a company that has come to Manchester. They鈥檙e big unicorn companies who want to access Greater Manchester鈥檚 e-commerce expertise as well as other industries like cybersecurity and SME market as well.鈥
Ms Eyre said the 鈥渄epth of the talent pool鈥 in Manchester and across the north west, as well as access to a huge consumer markets were the main selling points for fintech companies looking to invest in Manchester.
She added: 鈥淲e quote about 30 to 40 per cent cost savings against London, but more people are choosing Manchester because of the talent pool, skills and opportunities rather than costs.鈥
Ms Dunlop said there will 鈥渄efinitely鈥 be more EPA networking events for fintech firms in Manchester.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really overwhelmed by how many people have come tonight. Considering this is our first event and we haven鈥檛 really pushed it I think it shows you so much has changed and there is an appetite for people wanting to network and support each other.鈥
