UK Prime Minister David Cameron has given his nod to an ambitious manifesto presented by the industry think tank Innovative Finance, focused at making UK the world leader in the fintech sector by 2020.
The manifesto sets ambitious goals of attracting $8bn of investment and for UK to become the global home of 25 top financial technology companies based on IPO, global market share or valuation, and help in creation of 100,000 jobs by 2020.
Currently, the UK fintech sector generates £20bn of GDP and employs 135,000 people and investment in UK FinTech more than doubled last year to $623m, according to Accenture.
A portion of the manifesto reads,
“Our vision for 2020 is for the UK to be the most investment-friendly environment for fintech globally, attracting $4 billion of venture investment and $4 billion of institutional investment in corporate venture funds, accelerators and innovation programs. This is up from a UK total of $623 million in 2014.”
Speaking at a fintech summit with participation of UK startups in Malaysia this week, Cameron confidently backed the manifesto saying that “This government wants the UK to be the leading finTech centre in the world, that’s why, at the summer Budget, we appointed a Special Envoy for this fast growing sector. I’m pleased that Innovate Finance’s manifesto has set such ambitious goals including the creation of 100,000 jobs. This will ensure we are a world leader in the development of financial services technologies.”
It must be noted that London has become the leading financial innovation hub in recent times and has seen an emergence of high-potential Bitcoin and blockchain startups. London realizes that the next wave of investments will most probably be in the fintech sector, and therefore, plans to welcome that funding with open arms.
UK Chancellor George Osborne has openly expressed his intentions of involving Bitcoin and the blockchain technology in order to boost the nation’s productivity. And with the PM’s weight behind the fintech innovation, exponential growth in Bitcoin technology cannot be ruled out.