Nordic fintech could lead the world
Summary
The challenges aren’t insurmountable, and the legislation governing all aspects of them is ongoing at the time of writing; data protection issues being the most recent to have been largely resolved. This uncertain legislative headwind for UK-based firms has given a welcome boost to fintech companies still headquartered within the EU, since they can operate across all member states with fewer hurdles to jump than their UK competitors. One reason for the Nordics’ fintech growth is that residents and citizens of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Denmark tend to be digitally savvy on the whole, with some of the highest percentages of new technology adoption and mobile banking usage in the world. Grants, tax-breaks, well-educated potential employees, high-speed networks, a good standard of living: all of these contribute to an appealing ecosystem for fintech and open banking firms looking for a place to settle and grow. Traditional financial services are the epitome of staid and unchanging (occasional global credit crunch events notwithstanding) and therefore they are ripe for change – or at least the fintech firms believe so.