Fintech is about progress. As a concept, it represents the modernisation of an old, archaic industry – making services faster, simpler, easier to use.
We often hear of fintech growing at such-and-such rate, with new firms constantly emerging that ‘revolutionise’ the way we shop, spend, save, bank, pay and so on. It is an industry that disrupts; that insists on not only new ways of doing, but new ways of thinking.
And yet, for all its forward-thinking and future-proofing, fintech is struggling when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Less than 30% of the UK’s fintech workforce are women. 17% of senior roles are held by women and just 5% of founders are women.
In an article released earlier this year, Deloitte also noted that early adopters of fintech services are predominantly male. The data is limited, but a picture is emerging of an industry predominantly run by men.
When it comes to ethnic diversity, the industry is mostly White. Just 1% of European start-up founders are Black and BAME business owners find it more difficult to access funding than their White counterparts.