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Atom Bank recognised as UK’s most innovative FinTech firm in global KPMG rankings

Durham-based Atom Bank has fended off some of the most illustrious names in FinTech to be recognised as one of the UK’s most innovative technology firms in new global rankings revealed by KPMG.

The Fintech 100 list for 2016, published today, ranks the North East challenger bank in sixth place in its ranking of the world’s most innovative FinTech businesses, making it the highest ranked UK company in the list.

In fact, Atom was the only company from the UK to feature in the top 10 and was joined by some of the leading financial technology firms from China, the US and Germany.

Officially launching in April, the bank is the UK’s first digitally-focused challenger bank optimised specifically for mobile, with traditional banking services such as fixed savings, current accounts, and credit and debit cards all planned by the end of the year.

Elsewhere in the list, the UK continued to stake its claim as one of the world’s FinTech hubs with 13 of the 100 businesses hailing from these shores, which is second only to the USA which has 24 businesses on the list.

The likes of Funding Circle and accounting software business Xero all performed strongly, while upstarts such as money transfer service Azimo and scoring platform Credit Kudos put in a strong showing in the list’s ‘Emerging Stars’ table.

However, with the total number of UK businesses on the list falling from 18 last year, the rankings hint that the country’s predominance in the FinTech sphere is coming increasingly under threat from the likes of the China.

Chinese representation rose to eight businesses this year with four of those, including payments platform Ant Financial in the top spot, featuring in the top 10.

Warren Mead, Global co-lead of KPMG’s Fintech practice said that the UK’s policymakers and FinTech innovators would have to work hard over the coming years to maintain the country’s reputation as a Fintech powerhouse.

He commented: “This year’s Fintech 100 shows that the UK continues to be a powerhouse for global Fintech. The UK’s regulatory framework encourages innovation, there is excellent access to capital and skills and London is the world’s leading financial centre.

“But the emergence of China as a market leader, and the increasing globalisation of fintech means that UK policy makers, regulators and the industry will have to continue to work hard to maintain our position.”