If we truly value diversity, fintech needs to do much more

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.

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