- Helsinki 5th in fintech hub rankings in Nordic and Baltic region
- Finland in top 10 European fintech countries and 14th globally
- Eight of the World’s top financial centres drop out of new listing of top 20 fintech hubs
HELSINKI, 4 DECEMBER 2019: Finland is ranked in the top 20 countries globally for fintech and 9th place in Europe, ahead of countries such as France, Italy, Ireland, Russia and Denmark. The Global Fintech Index City Rankings 2020, a new league table that identifies emerging fintech hubs and trends in more than 230 cities across 65 countries, places Finland’s capital city Helsinki in 60th position and fifth in the Nordic and Baltic region.
Top of the league tableis the San Francisco Bay area, followed by London, New York and Singapore. Many of the cities which traditionally top the lists of leading financial centres are conspicuously absent from the new league table that identifies emerging hubs, fintech companies and trends. Financial giants such as Frankfurt, Shanghai and Zurich have been replaced by cities including Vilnius, Bangalore and Sao Paulo.
Neighbouring Lithuania, a country with a population of about a third of that of London, lies fourth in the global list thanks to its active encouragement of fintech companies and regulatory approach.
By country and region, the USA and the rest of the Americas form the biggest single area by number of fintech hubs. At the same time Europe’s diversity of centres (both old and new), its commitment to progressive regulation, and to ensure that rules are applied evenly, contribute to its position as the region with the second highest number of hubs globally.
The Global Fintech Index City Rankings 2020 incorporates data from our global partners including StartupBlink, Crunchbase, and SEMrush, together with a consortium of regional partners such as Helsinki Fintech Farm.
Simon Hardie, CEO and Founder of Findexable – the company behind the Global Fintech Index City Rankings 2020 – explained: “This is the inspiration of thousands of hours of interviews, surveys and internet searches – and the product of four months of algorithm development to create, for the very first time, a fully global ranking of fintech countries and cities.
“The rankings in the report are proof of how much, and how fast, the world is changing.”
Fintech is the electricity of the global digital economy – making connections and finding the path of least resistance to make it easier and cheaper to transact. For more people, in more parts of the world, than was ever possible before.
For the purpose of the Global Fintech Index City Rankings 2020 algorithm, fintech is any business that applies a technologically enabled innovation specifically geared for the provision or distribution of financial services.
The country and city rankings are calculated from a total score comprised of a combination of three metrics:
- Quantity – Size of fintech ecosystem and supporting structures – number of fintechs, fintech hubs, co-working spaces, accelerators, global influencers and population (countries only)
- Quality – Impact/performance – size and growth of fintechs (eg number of unicorns), investment, events, value generation, international collaboration, website ranking
- Environment – ease of doing business, critical mass, regulatory environment – regulatory interventions to improve competitive environment, incentives for start-ups, internet censorship, payment portals, fintech courses.
Simon Hardie added: “The rankings are evidence of a worldwide de-coupling between the financial strength and the commercial domination of traditional financial centres. Financial wealth is no guarantee of a city’s status as a fintech hub. You might call this the rise of non-traditional finance.
“There are some common features of winning fintech hubs around the world. Fintech-friendly regulations incentivise entrepreneurship and encourage investment. A strong talent pool is also key to fintech success together with an ecosystem where people can connect easily.”
Download the Global Fintech Index City Rankings 2020:
https://findexable.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Findexable_Global-Fintech-Rankings-2020exSFA.pdf
CONTACT DETAILS
For further information on Findexable and the Global Fintech Index City Rankings 2020
Denise Gee
MD Findexable
Email: [email protected] or Tel: +44 (0)779 376 8109
EDITORS NOTES
ABOUT FINDEXABLE
A Global Index
The Global Fintech Index (GFI) by Findexable is the first global, real-time, objective ranking of all cities where there is a fintech cluster. The rankings are determined and updated using our proprietary algorithm. It is digital and real-time. It uses open data & data sharing to create a continuously updated index.
A global mission
The GFI is designed to highlight opportunities and drive transparency across the ecosystem. We are on a mission to help financial institutions, governments and investors understand how innovation is evolving, where to invest, and what it takes to build a thriving fintech ecosystem.
ABOUT HELSINKI FINTECH FARM
Fintech Farm is your trusted partner in digital finance innovation.
We offer insights, matchmaking services, events & training, consulting and innovation programs and serve both startups and corporates. We are the bridge between the new and the old, the unknown and the known.
Operating from Finland, we serve companies within Finland, companies coming to Finland, and also companies looking to scale outside of Finland.
We offer customized services, annual memberships and individual events. We maintain the Finnish Fintech Landscape mapping and an extensive database that covers over 170+ Finnish Fintech companies.
