FinTech envoys for Scotland appointed

Two new envoys have been appointed by the UK Government to build regional and national networks to help Scotland take advantage of the UK FinTech boom.

On a visit to Edinburgh today, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury Simon Kirby will announce David Ferguson, CEO of Nucleus, and Louise Smith, head of design in personal and business banking at the Royal Bank of Scotland, as Scotland’s FinTech tsars.

One of the highest growing parts of the UK economy, FinTech contributed £6.6 billion to GDP in 2015 and employs more than 61,000 people.

The sector encompasses innovation in financial services including e-banking, payment technologies, peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, digital currencies like bitcoin, and ‘robo’ advice – automated investment advice delivered using algorithms.

Scotland has a number of large FinTech firms, such as Nucleus, LendingCrowd, The ID Company and Float.

In a statement ahead of today’s announcement, Westminster officials said that introducing two FinTech envoys will help to “build a broader, supportive ecosystem that will support the overall growth of the sector”.

It added: “As the founder of Scotland’s most successful FinTech company and the executive with the knowledge of how banks undertake digital transformation, David Ferguson and Louise Smith are well placed to propel Scotland’s ecosystem in to its next phase. Scotland’s FinTech sector is brimming with commercial opportunity. After London, Scotland turns out the most FinTech related graduates in the UK- 12% of the annual pool of 97,000 graduates. Edinburgh University is the largest informatics school in Europe and 35 per cent of all technology spin-out companies in the UK come from Scotland’s educational institutions.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby said: “I’m delighted that David and Louise have agreed to become the government’s FinTech envoys for Scotland. Their in-depth knowledge of the industry and excellent reputations make them the right people to drive forward positive change and allow Scottish FinTech to flourish.

FinTech envoy David Ferguson said: “It is a great privilege to have been picked to help support the continued growth of FinTech in the UK. Over 10 years ago we embarked on our mission to challenge the established industry. With technology and transparency at the heart of our thinking, we’ve been fortunate enough to become a successful and profitable player in what we now call FinTech.

“One of the hardest things to get right is balancing the responsibilities of looking after people’s money with the agility of the tech sector while also making money and I’m very excited to see how we can help others strike the right balance over the coming years.”

Louise Smith said: “I’m honoured to take on the joint role of envoy for Scottish FinTech with David and incredibly excited about developing Scotland as a FinTech Centre of Excellence.

“I’ve been involved with FinTech and Digital related activities for over 10 years and more recently with specific focus here in Scotland. I have seen first-hand the great work that it has achieved in putting Scotland on the global technology map, we have such a vibrant and talented community who are working on the very latest ideas, games, apps, systems and design.”

“Our financial services sector makes a crucial contribution to our economy and together we will work hard to ensure it continues as the hub for both Europe and the rest of the world.”