Technology and consulting major Accenture and 16 other leading banks have invited applications for the Fourth Annual Fintech Innovation Lab London. Earlier, there were 15 banks which supported Fintech Innovation Lab London, but now, Societe Generale has become the 16th.
Other leading names are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide, RBS, Santander and UBS.
The competition is open to fintech entrepreneurs that are developing disruptive new products, services and technologies. The last day to fill the application is September 18, 2015.
While the competition is indeed making ripple in the Bitcoin world with several enthusiasts of this community hoping for a repeat of the Accenture’s FinTech Innovation Lab Asia Pacific 2015 in which Hong Kong-based Bitcoin remittance platform BitSpark was selected, it also showcases the prowess of London as the next ‘it’ destination for Bitcoin.
The spotlight over London is also due to the favorable outlook of powerful political circles over the new technologies. Not too long back Prime Minister of UK David Cameron had given his nod to an ambitious manifesto presented by the industry think tank Innovative Finance which was focused on making UK the world leader in the fintech sector by 2020. Such positive outlook certainly evokes hope for the digital currencies like Bitcoin as they are sure to gain from the measure.
Indeed due to such positive statements today London has seen quite a number of high-potential Bitcoin and blockchain startups which is sure to boost its image in the Bitcoin community. The statement by UK Chancellor George Osborne and his vocal support to Bitcoin and the blockchain technology in order to boost the nation’s productivity, is certainly a positive move and the Bitcoin community will surely be looking up to London with curiosity.
