The appetite of UK financial services firms to collaborate with FinTech businesses remains strong despite Brexit concerns, a new report has suggested.

The ABC of FinTech, produced by law firm Mayer Brown, indicates that such appetite is expected to continue over the next three years.

In the survey of more than 70 UK-led financial services companies, 100 per cent expect to purchase a product or commission work from a FinTech company during this period.

Increased cost saving, the delivery of new products and services, and customer services improvements were cited by those surveyed as the greatest benefits to working with FinTech firms.

Mark Prinsley, head of the intellectual property and IT group in London at Mayer Brown, said: “Larger financial services firms are having to get more flexible with their models. They have shown a willingness to invest in, or at least expose themselves to new types of business that they would not have considered even a few years ago.”

Regulatory complexity was cited as the biggest barrier to FinTech progress by financial services and FinTech respondents alike, however there was a clear difference of opinion on what the ideal regulatory environment should look like.

Sixty per cent of FinTech companies preferred self-regulation and limited regulatory oversight. Meanwhile, more than 76 per cent of financial services respondents opted for clear regulatory oversight with some self-regulation.

The survey also revealed that collaboration between the two sectors has led to few outright acquisitions of FinTech companies by financial services firms. Of the 50 UK-led FinTech companies surveyed, more than half favoured acquisition by a financial services firm as their exit strategy, however more than two-thirds (67 per cent) of financial services respondents stated that they are likely to make no FinTech acquisitions in the next three years.

Share Story: