The FCA is launching a discussion to look at the benefits and drawbacks to the involvement of BigTech companies in the financial services industry.

BigTech firms have the potential to expand and change financial markets quickly and the FCA believes that they could increase competition, lower prices and increased efficiency.

However, the regulator also warned that over the long term, BigTech could also exploit market power and pose competition risks if they gain a significant amount of market share.

The FCA has published a paper looking at the role of BigTech in financial services and is inviting responses until mid-January 2023.


Commenting on the role of BigTech in financial services, Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the FCA, said: "In recent years, BigTech’s entry into financial services, in the UK and elsewhere, has demonstrated their potential to disrupt established markets, drive innovation and reduce costs for consumers. Across the world, we’ve seen the capability of BigTech to offer transformative new products in areas such as payments, deposits and consumer credit.”

He added: "We want to make sure that these benefits are fully realised while, at the same time, ensuring good consumer and market outcomes. This is vital when we consider the role of BigTech firms in the provision of key technological infrastructure like cloud services.”

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