We are excited to announce the launch of the Fintech Pledge, developed by the Fintech Delivery Panel with support from HM Treasury (HMT). The aim of the pledge is to accelerate the growth of the UK’s fintech sector by enabling enhanced collaboration between banks and leading fintech firms.

John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury comments: “The UK is already the best place in the world to start and grow a Fintech, and we’re committed to that remaining the case as our economy bounces back. So I welcome the Fintech Pledge from some of our leading banks and look forward to more firms becoming signatories.”

Eileen Burbidge, Chair of the Fintech Delivery Panel and Partner, Passion Capital comments: “It’s brilliant to see the collaboration and efforts of the Fintech Delivery Panel lead to this fantastic commitment, helping fintechs scale their businesses by partnering more effectively with banks. The Fintech Pledge, with the support of HM Treasury and the five largest banks in the UK, will support transparent and efficient collaboration, ensuring that the UK continues to lead the world in fintech innovation and sector growth.”

We're pleased to support the Fintech Pledge, which will enhance the UK’s position as the best place in the world to start and grow a fintech.

5 leading UK banks have already signed up – putting partnerships with fintechs at the core of their business.https://t.co/OgkkjyRxRt

— HM Treasury (@hmtreasury) September 14, 2020

A world-first initiative

The Fintech Pledge will set globally leading standards for the establishment of efficient and transparent commercial partnerships between banks and fintech firms.

From today, banks will have the opportunity to volunteer as signatories to the pledge, with five major banks – Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and Santander –  already volunteered as early signatories through their involvement as members of the Fintech Delivery Panel.

The pledge formalises the continued work of banks to evolve and improve their processes and engagement with the fintech sector. Increasingly, tech start-up companies and banks are looking to partner with each other to drive better consumer and client outcomes. Furthermore, commercial partnerships with banks are an important factor in the growth and scaling capabilities of fintechs, making increased collaboration through the pledge key to creating an environment that enables a globally competitive and world-leading fintech ecosystem.

We’ve signed the world’s first Fintech Pledge launched by @TechNation and supported by @hmtreasury to grow the financial technology sector by boosting collaboration between banks and tech start-ups. https://t.co/xHtnjnIlcI#fintech

— HSBC (@HSBC) September 15, 2020

Victoria Roberts, Director of Fintech Delivery Panel at Tech Nation, comments: “Building partnerships with established institutions is a fantastic route for fintechs to drive positive change in finance, be it underpinning new customer solutions or transforming regulatory reporting. The Fintech Pledge provides a welcome clarity, setting out clear commitments of what fintechs can expect and how best to create productive collaborations.”

“We’re excited to embark on this next phase of the Fintech Delivery Panel, welcoming new members as we launch the Fintech Pledge to underpin productive partnerships. Panel 2.0, supported by HM Treasury and powered by Tech Nation, has an important role to play bringing together fintechs, incumbents, investors and policymakers to create an innovative environment for fintech to flourish.”

The principles

• To provide clear guidance to technology firms on how the onboarding process works through a dedicated online landing page
• To provide clarity to tech start-up firms on their progress through the onboarding process
• To provide a named contact, guidance and feedback
• To encourage good practice and improvement
• To commit to implementing this process 6 months from signing the pledge, and providing bi-annual feedback in the first year

Read the pledge in full

Supporting UK fintech

The launch of the Fintech Pledge continues the important work already undertaken to support the UK fintech ecosystem, including in open banking and in pioneering regulatory innovations such as the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory sandbox. While the UK’s fintech sector is already a global leader, and is a strategically important sub-sector for the UK economy, the pledge will help to ensure that the UK remains the best place to start and scale a fintech company.

Fintech Delivery Panel 2.0

The Fintech Delivery Panel is also pleased to welcome new members. Established in 2017 by Tech Nation at the request of HM Treasury, the panel is made up of leaders in UK fintech as well as the 5 largest banks in the UK. The new members include representatives from Monzo, Transferwise, OakNorth and Atom Bank, as the panel moves to chapter 2.0, tackling new objectives alongside existing work, including looking at the challenges and opportunities presented by COVID-19, and the UK’s Exit from the EU.

We are also looking forward to announcing the new cohort for Tech Nation’s Fintech 3.0, our growth programme for scaling tech companies in the fintech space, which this year has been expanded to include insurtechs.

If you are a fintech interested in joining Fintech 4.0, register your interest here.

Source: Tech Nation