International trade secretary Liam Fox has announced two new FinTech bridge programs with Australia and Hong Kong.

The initiatives, which have been established in partnership with HM Treasury (HMT) and build upon existing frameworks, have selected 20 high-achieving UK startups and established FinTechs to reduce barriers faced as they undertake their international expansion.

Launched in 2016 by HMT, the Department for International Trade (DIT) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Fintech Bridges set out a bilateral agreement between the UK and priority markets with the aim of facilitating trade flows, reducing frictions to international growth and increasing access to capital opportunities.

The firms selected to form the UK’s FinTech Bridge with Australia are Crowd2Fund, a business finance crowd funding platform; Disberse, a regulated institution for aid money built on distributed ledger technology (DLT); Fractal, an automated small business finance firm; Pirkx, an employee health and financial well-being firm; Recordsure, an artificial intelligence customer experience RegTech platform; Smart Pension, a digital pensions platform; Thyngs, an Internet of Things e-commerce firm; TradingHub, a financial services tool; and TrueLayer, an Open Banking API provider.

The following firms will were chosen to participate in the Hong Kong FinTech bridge: AI analytics firm Amplyfi; InsurTech firm Artificial Labs; risk management firm ComplyAdvantage; digital infrastructure firm Delio; secure instant messaging platform Novastone; Digital ID firm Onfido; digital banking card issuing firm Paymentology; funding platform Seedrs; business lending platform Trade Ledger; and cross-border payments firm TransferWise.

The programs will run for 10 months from March to November 2019. Participants will visit Australia and Hong Kong and receive tailored support from DIT, including mentoring and networking advice.

Fox also launched a ‘state of the nation’ report outlining key figures on the future of the UK FinTech industry.

“With the UK accounting for 11 per cent of the global FinTech industry and employing over 75,000 people in the UK, DIT will continue to support fintech and build upon initiatives and policy frameworks, such as the FinTech Bridge Programs for reaching key markets and ensuring we remain at the forefront of the industry,” he stated.

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