The 2020 Budget on 11 March announced an investigation into UK FinTech as well as increased support for growing enterprise in the UK.

A review will be undertaken of the UK’s FinTech sector, led by Ron Kalifa OBE. This aims to identify what can be done, by both government and industry, to support growth and competitiveness and “ensure the UK maintains its global leadership in this vital sector”.

The government will also convene a summit to support SMEs by looking into how more options for funding can be found. The summit will look at how more data can be made accessible to make it easier for businesses to “shop around”.

The Fintech Delivery Panel will also have funding extended. This is a team of industry experts set up by Tech Nation at the request of HM Treasury to develop collaborations that “impact domestic FinTech startups and accelerate their time to market”.

The government also says it will “tour” regions and nations of the UK to showcase its diverse range of FinTech firms. This is part of a remit to promote FinTech growth across the UK, not just in London’s financial services sector.

As well as all this FinTech development, however, the government has also committed to protecting cash. It will ensure the UK’s cash infrastructure is “sustainable long term” – though there hasn’t been much detail on this yet, shops and post offices have already been encouraged to offer cashback with purchases.

Government announces winners of £2mn Affordable Credit Challenge Fund

In Wednesday’s budget, the government also announced the winners of a £2mn fund to benefit consumers.

This reiterates the government’s commitment to improving access to credit for consumers, especially since in the past many have been forced toward high interest payday lenders.

The Affordable Credit Challenge Fund aims to promote the development of innovative technology solutions to help consumers find out what affordable options are available to them in terms of credit.

The fund is “designed to harness the UK’s world-leading FinTech expertise to develop tech solutions to the challenges faced by the affordable lending sector, making it easier and quicker to access their products”.

The winners of the fund include:

• Fair for You, with EML and Lending Metrics.
• Police Credit Union with Credit Kudos.
• Capital Credit Union with Nivo and Soar.

These will each receive £200,000 to help develop and scale their solutions.