FinTech Scotland CEO announced

Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse, said Mr Ingledew, an influential advocate of making financial services more open, creative and inclusive to all through new innovative technologies, will take on a crucial role in asserting Scotland’s capability as a leading and thriving FinTech environment.

A key focus for the FinTech Scotland team will be to bring together a number of key drivers for the sector to build a thriving FinTech ecosystem to benefit all, including: the ideas and creativity of entrepreneurs and innovators; the resources and experience of the established financial sector; the economic and social objectives of the public sector; the innovation environment of accelerators and incubators; the capital of investors, people development by skills agencies; and the research and development from the universities.

 Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, Paul Wheelhouse, said:

“I warmly welcome Stephen Ingledew’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer, as this is a very significant milestone in the establishment of FinTech Scotland. Stephen will play a crucial role in cementing Scotland’s position as a world-leader in FinTech, building on our established strengths in both financial services and technology.

“Our Programme for Government committed £250,000 to support the establishment of Fintech Scotland - split between the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise - with additional contributions from the University of Edinburgh and from established companies in the financial sector.

“The Scottish Government, together with industry and academic partners, will now work  closely with Fintech Scotland to unlock what look to be significant economic benefits of a thriving fintech sector.”

FinTech Scotland CEO Stephen Ingledew said:

“I am delighted to be given the opportunity to lead FinTech Scotland and help assert our capability as a leading and thriving FinTech environment. I am very much looking forward to engaging with the diverse range of stakeholders in the ecosystem and building on the valuable progress made by the SFE FinTech Steering Committee.

“The fusion of financial services and technology can deliver the economic benefits of growth and productivity, and the social benefits of employment opportunities and better consumer outcomes. Scotland has a proud heritage of creating these benefits from the combination of financial services and technology, however, the new innovations in this digital and data driven age along with changing consumer and business expectations are presenting fresh opportunities to further develop the sustainable economic and social benefits.

Danny Cusick, director at Scottish Enterprise, said,

“We’re delighted to welcome Stephen to FinTech Scotland as he brings tremendous experience, insight and leadership. As home to the most important UK financial centre outside of London and one of Europe’s foremost data centres, and with a proven track record in servicing global markets, Scotland has strong heritage and world-class capabilities in banking, financial technology and data-driven innovation. 

"With our partners, we aim to harness these attributes and create an effective fintech ecosystem to drive Scotland’s economic success.  We look forward to working alongside Stephen to encourage the growth of Scotland’s fintech companies and inspire global fintech companies to locate in Scotland.”                                                  

Scottish Financial Enterprise Chief Executive, Graeme Jones said:

“We are thrilled at the appointment of Mr Ingledew, who is set to take FinTech Scotland to the next level. We’re proud of what has been achieved in such a short space of time and would like to thank our members for their valuable contribution to our FinTech Strategic Initiative.”

Background

• Open appointment process led by Scottish Enterprise, with panel members drawn from industry and academia
• Funding for FinTech Scotland will include contributions from Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise totalling £250,000 over the next two years.
• Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and University of Edinburgh jointly funded production of a business plan to clearly establish the work required to develop Scotland as a FinTech centre and to identify the funding requirements to support that programme.
• In April 2017 the Global FinTech Hub Federation (GFHF) ranked Edinburgh as joint 15th in a review of 44 international centres.