Over the past three years, new tech roles in banks have increased by 46%, reports Adam McCulloch for Personnel Today, referencing a
report by global recruiter Robert Walters and market analysis firm Vacancysoft.
According to McCulloch, the report also emphasises how the Covid-19 pandemic has given fintech firms the chance to prove their worth, and pushed banks to move their operations towards digital platforms. McCulloch quotes Tom Chambers, senior manager, technology, at Robert Walters, who points out that customers have also been pushed towards digital. "With the most at risk to Covid-19 also being the ones who traditionally were the most reliant on counter services, the societal challenge will be to help the elderly use banking services online – where their motivation is that they simply don't have a choice."
Retail banking was changing before Covid-19. The report states adoption rates of online banking in the UK were at an all-time high of 73% in 2019. Banks have had to grow their tech teams at an even faster pace than fintech firms, according to Ben Litvinoff, business director at Robert Walters, quoted in the article. Tech vacancies in overall job roles advertised for banks have increased by 7% over the past three years, making up 30% of overall jobs, while the same roles have decreased by 2% in fintech firms, McCulloch writes. Chambers is quoted as saying this is due to Brexit-led challenges and regulation.
Personnel Today article
Go westAlso in the UK, an article by Finextra features a
report that claims the West Midlands could become a major fintech hub. The report, according to the article, finds more than 7,625 financial services and tech-sector firms are already active in the region, and more than 120 fintech businesses. The fintech sector is reportedly delivering an estimated gross value added (GVA) of £411.7m per annum, which equates to 6.2% of total UK fintech GVA.
A large pool of university graduates and its proximity to London makes the area an attractive fintech hub, according to the report. "The fintech ecosystem could also get a boost from the news that HSBC has chosen the region as home to its UK retail bank," the article says. "This is complemented by the move last year from The Investment Association to establish a fintech hub, called the Engine Room, at Wesleyan in Birmingham."
Finextra article
Women for fintechElsewhere, women-focused fintech start-ups are being given an opportunity to make a difference, according to an article for Techpoint.Africa by Oluwanifemi Kolawole. A programme run by US-based investment firm Women's World Banking titled Fintech Innovation Challenge 2020 is aimed at identifying fintech innovations that provide unbanked and underserved women with access to financial services, and applications have recently opened to start-ups in emerging markets.
Eligibility depends on the start-ups' ability to prove their inclusiveness through the presence of women on both the senior management team and board of directors. "Start-ups that are not currently focused on unbanked women will also have to express their intentions to include the said segment in the future," Kolawole explains. The start-ups can apply under two categories, she writes:
- Solutions that enable unbanked and underserved women to build resilience through convenient, secure, and reliable access to safety nets (i.e. funds for emergencies) to help mitigate against global shocks.
- Solutions that enable unbanked and underserved women to expand their income-generating activities to build their business and household income and support economic recovery after global shocks.
Two finalists will have the opportunity to present their solutions on global stages, Kolawole reports, currently scheduled in October and November 2020.
Applications are open until 15 June 2020.
Techpoint.Africa article
How do you think fintech can help serve an unbanked population? Leave your comments below.