The UK’s fintech sector has long been a poster child for innovation, attracting billions in investment and helping establish London as a global hub for financial technology. But behind the glossy headlines lies a growing concern: a struggle to hold onto the very thing that fuels all that innovation, talent.
And in a post-Brexit world, that talent is harder to bring in, and even harder to keep.
In the digitized industry, where the next big adventure can come from anywhere, UK fintechs are rising increasingly, which is countering a very analogue barrier, which is borders.
A Digital Industry, Stuck Behind Physical Borders
In a world where the next breakthrough in finance could come from a bedroom in Bangalore or a coffee shop in Buenos Aires, fintech is inherently global. Ideas travel fast. People? Not so much.
While UK fintechs continue to scale and innovate, many are being slowed down by an increasingly analogue barrier: immigration policy. The UK’s post-Brexit immigration framework was supposed to streamline the system and attract “high-skilled” workers. But in practice, it’s become an administrative quagmire—complex, costly, and difficult to navigate, especially for early-stage startups with limited resources.
Talent Shortages Meet Skyrocketing Demand
Before Brexit, startups could freely hire talent from across the EU. Now, every overseas hire means navigating sponsorships, visa fees, legal paperwork, and long waiting periods. For new fintech firms balancing burn rates and product sprints, this isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a dealbreaker.
And while demand for skilled roles—cybersecurity analysts, developers, data scientists, compliance officers—continues to surge, local talent simply can’t fill the gap. Many of these roles are officially listed on the UK’s shortage occupation list, and yet the visa process remains inconsistent and unpredictable.
This has raised major problems for fintech to look out for not only customers across the ocean, but also to hire staff remotely in Eastern Europe, South Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Once a temporary fix during COVID-19 peaked, remote hiring became a long-term strategy for those who simply can’t afford to prolong their visa decision any further.
Why Remote Is More Than a Trend
As hiring locally becomes harder, many fintechs are expanding their recruitment beyond UK borders, turning temporary pandemic-era solutions into permanent strategies. Remote hiring is no longer just a workaround; it’s a competitive edge. It allows them to build truly diverse, international teams, something which sets the expectation bar in the eyes of consumers.
Some firms, like Revolut and Wise, are already operating as borderless businesses, with distributed teams and international offices to circumvent UK immigration barriers. Others are going a step further by incorporating overseas to make hiring easier, raising a provocative question: will the next wave of “British” fintechs even be built in Britain?
A Risk to the UK’s Fintech Edge
The UK government has ambitions to position the country as “the world’s most open and dynamic financial centre.” But that vision feels increasingly at odds with current immigration policies. Considering if the top talent seems to go somewhere else, or never make it there in the first place, those ambitions may fall flat.
To stay globally competitive, the UK needs immigration policies that reflect the pace and nature of modern tech. That means faster processing, lower costs for scale-ups, and clearer paths for international graduates and entrepreneurs to stay and contribute.
Conclusion: Fintech Moves Fast, Policy Must Catch Up
The global race of fintech is already underway, and a talent that is already fueled by the UK wants to stay at the forefront. It needs to remove certain barriers before startups decide that it’s easier to make the future somewhere else.