Here are the best countries to develop your fintech career in
Best countries where you can develop your fintech career. Source: pixabay.com
Fintech specialists have opportunities to prosper in all corners of the world. The global market is growing and is expected to be valued at $310 billion by year’s end. However, some countries value fintech professionals better than others. Those fintech hubs have supportive legislation, huge capital funding from both angel and corporate investors, a range of unserved financial areas, and numerous drawbacks of legacy banking institutions.
USA
Based on 2021 data, over 26,000 fintech organisations exist worldwide. Almost 9,000 of them are in the US. The country hosts some of the largest and most established fintech organisations along with hundreds of the newly-emerging startups with strong growth potential. Surely, there’s a need for highly-qualified talent in this sphere. Right now, the US national job listing sites offer around 26,000 opportunities to develop your fintech career. Due to changing business models and the increasing emphasis on enhanced customer interaction to boost revenue, fintech businesses in the US get generous investments annually. The top destinations for fintech professionals are New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles.
China
China has the highest number of fintech users, with about 87% of the digitally active population using technology to manage their finances. The country’s impressive strides in fintech along with rapid international expansion form an especially distinctive finance industry. The country’s economy is largely cashless, which provides fintech companies with a great playing field. Fintech and insurtech are fast-growing industries in China. The number and diversity of available roles are creating opportunities for skilled professionals across a wide range of fintech businesses including banking, insurance, wealth management and payment services. China has also been the world’s leading fintech investor since 2018. In 2018, China’s fintech investment reached $25.5 billion, a 900% growth year-on-year, accounting for over 50% of the global total.
Lithuania
Last year, Lithuania’s fintech industry witnessed record funding volumes and strong revenue growth. The workforce in the sector is also quickly expanding. The number of employees in Lithuanian fintech companies grew 48% compared to 2020. The corporate teams are growing to keep up with the growing demand for their products and services. This year, 12% of the Fintech Landscape in Lithuania survey respondents expected to expand their operations by nearly doubling their headcount and hiring between 30 to 100 new employees.
UK
According to KPMG’s latest report, UK fintech investment increased from $5.2 billion in 2020 to a “staggering” $37.3 billion (￡27.5 billion) last year. Fintechs remain strategically important for the UK’s economic growth prospects. Strong investment flow drives healthy competition and increased innovation search. London is home to over 2,500 fintech companies, more than any other European city. Effective policy, forward-thinking regulations and active investments continue to build and scale British fintech firms. Overall, three million people, or 9% of the UK workforce, are employed in the tech industry. With generous investments, new hires are adding up. Besides London, high growth fintech hubs are situated in Manchester and Leeds, while emerging clusters include Cambridge and Reading.
Netherlands
The Netherlands has a high adoption rate for tech innovation both among businesses and individuals. The country boasts excellent connectivity and digital infrastructure with great speed, capacity and availability. It also houses multiple research institutions making breakthroughs in innovation that are fueling fintech. The Netherlands is one of the biggest fintech nations in the EU, with an open and transparent regulatory system, an educated multilingual talent pool, a powerful infrastructure and a tight network of entrepreneurs and business leaders. Furthermore, Dutch financial services are setting future-thinking trends with their blossoming green finance and regtech sectors. The country is very dedicated to sustainability. One out of seven individual investors in the Netherlands holds a green bond or a share in a green fund. Therefore, eco-conscious fintech professionals here would be glad to participate in developing green finance products such as green loans, green mortgages and green funds.
Germany
Germany is home to a growing number of fintechs. Roughly 10% of all new start-ups in Germany are fintech companies. The German FinTech market is the fourth biggest FinTech market in the world and the second-largest in Europe. The market’s largest segment is digital payments. The top five fintech categories that registered growth in the number of active startups in Germany between 2018 and late 2020 were: investment, accounting, finance, InsurTech and PropTech. Artificial intelligence and blockchain solutions are also common points of focus. Despite the strict national regulation which may set back some entrepreneurs, the country has a Digital Hub Initiative, a country-wide network to strengthen the German start-up ecosystem.
India
India is amongst the fastest growing fintech markets in the world. It has over 6,600 fintech startups registered. Among them, there are 17 unicorns. Over the last two years, there has been a massive adoption of digital payment systems in the country due to the growing availability of smartphones, increased internet access, and high-speed connectivity. At the same time, the traditional banking system in India has a few solid inefficiencies which fintech innovators can find solutions to. National digital initiatives and government actions such as the implementation of demonetization and GST have also created a substantial growth opportunity for fintech projects all over the country. India’s public open-API infrastructure is heavily leveraged by fintechs to reduce costs and address diverse issues.
Israel
In 2021, Israeli high tech saw a funding boom. Investments in the industry reached more than $25 billion, 2? times the amount from 2020, with fintech being the leading segment. Around 600 different fintech companies are operating in the country. Though Israel has a complex regulation system, the government has established an intergovernmental team comprised of all financial regulators to create a regulatory sandbox and facilitate the safe assimilation of innovative financial technologies into the Israeli economy. The country’s fintech ecosystem is also supported by two fintech accelerator programmes and the national sector association FinTech-Aviv.
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