The new City minister has launched a census of all the UK's fintech firms and vowed ministers “will not rest on our laurels” in transforming financial services in the UK and promoting open banking.
Regulators have announced a new vision for open banking, which aims to help people and businesses see all their financial information in one place so they can take better control of their money.
Andrew Griffith told industry leaders at the Innovate Finance Global Summit event in London: “Let me be clear because I know some folk have been worried: this will be the year of delivery on the next generation of open banking."
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He added: “Our plan is ambitious but achievable.”
Mr Griffith also unveiled the census, launched today in collaboration with the City of London and Innovate Finance.
It will run for five weeks and aim to reach all 2,500 fintech firms in the UK, asking for feedback about the challenges they face, the support they need and the international markets they would like to break into.
London leads the UK fintech scene but the Department for Business and Trade is also promoting other hubs including Manchester, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Bristol, Belfast and Cardiff.
Mr Griffith also mentioned the collapse of the US’s Silicon Valley Bank last month, with its UK arm bought by banking giant HSBC for £1. The rescue deal followed a weekend of talks during which other financial firms, such as UK lender Oaknorth Bank, put forward offers.
He said: “I know many of you in this room were directly affected by the potential collapse of SVB UK and I’m glad we were able to act decisively to secure an outcome where we able to protect your capital and ensure continuity of banking services.
“Government isn’t perfect but I hope that when the chips were down, we demonstrated the benefits of being a sovereign nation with the ability and the agility to make its own decisions fast.”
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