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CFIT boss: ‘Fintech moves fast. We have to move faster’

CFIT CEO
Ezechi Britton MBE, CFIT CEO

Since its launch at the start of the year, the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) has been bolstering its ranks with fintech expertise from the private sector. Now, it’s firmly focused on supporting the fintech growth across the whole UK.

“Fintech moves fast and we have to move faster than that,” said CFIT’s CEO, Ezechi Britton MBE, in an interview with UKTN.

Over the last six months, the organisation has hired Fintech Wales’ Gemma Hallett as head of skills, Ksenia Grant from the University of Edinburgh’s Futures Institute and Fintech Scotland chairman Stephen Ingledew OBE.

In June, it appointed Alex Marsh, former head of Klarna UK, as a non-executive director. Its chair is Charlotte Crosswell OBE, who was previously chair and trustee of Open Banking and CEO of fintech industry body Innovate Finance.

The purpose of CFIT, which launched in February off the back of the Kalifa Review of UK Fintech, is to help the UK be a leader for fintech startups.

It plans to do this through collaboration with sector experts and its key priorities include driving high-skilled job creation, facilitating data sharing and building partnerships between startups and incumbents.

Regional focus

CFIT officially launched in February in Leeds, which is quickly becoming a hub of UK fintech activity and is known as the country’s second centre for banking. For example, in August 2022 the Financial Conduct Authority opened an office in the city.

While CFIT launched in Leeds, it is a remote organisation.

“I’m so pleased that as a virtual organisation, we’ve been able to bring in talent from across the country,” said Britton.

“There’s so much talent across our country, and so many different capabilities and such depth of understanding that it’s just a travesty that we don’t focus more … on those regions as it were.”

CFIT is collaborating with regional bodies – such as FinTech Scotland, FinTech Northern Ireland and FinTech Wales – to draw on their local knowledge.

“Each one of these organisations brings with them a deep understanding of that region’s particular challenges and strengths, as well as the local ecosystem,” Britton said.

He gave the example of FinTech Scotland sharing that proposed workshop dates clashed with a half-term in Scotland.

“It sounds like such a minor thing, but it just makes you realise how focused we are on our own bubbles and how we work,” Britton said.

He added: “It’s so critical to us that we get that deep engagement with those regional bodies and the regional councils.”

Fintech conduit

In July, CFIT announced its founding coalition partners, which included HSBC, IBM, Innovate Finance, Leeds City Council, Lloyds Banking Group, Monzo, and many others.

CFIT is aiming to act as a conduit for these organisations to provide better financial outcomes for SMEs and consumers. Instead of being dragged in various directions, Britton said he wants CFIT to “pull everyone into the middle”.

He added: “We need a space where everyone can play to their key strengths and there are challenges out there that are preventing different organisations or different regions from really excelling.”

By the end of the year, the CFIT CEO says there will be an interim report to publish the findings of its first coalition, with the follow-up planned to commence in March 2024.

Another issue highlighted by the Kalifa Review was the deficit of specialised talent, which is why CFIT brought Hallett on board.

“There are some serious challenges at the moment in our ecosystem, in terms of cost of living, interest rates, and the rest of it but ultimately these are some of the core problems that fintechs there to solve,” Britton said.

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