Edinburgh-based DirectID has been announced as the Department for International Trade’s (DIT) new Scottish Fintech Champion.

Confirmed at a Board of Trade meeting in Wales yesterday (Monday 28th), DirectID was named alongside the Welsh Fintech Champion, Yoello.

DirectID was among the UK’s earliest open banking pioneers, and provides advanced open banking data for credit & risk decision-makers in 46 countries.

In January this year, the Edinburgh-based company secured $3 million in funding from Hong Kong-based venture capital firm, QBN Capital.

The investment has enabled DirectID to accelerate international expansion and pursue ambitious growth plans.

Commenting on the announcement, DirectID CEO & Founder James Varga said: “I was incredibly humbled and excited when I was invited to help champion exporting in the Fintech sector.

“DirectID now powers some of the world’s biggest brands in North America, Europe and Asia to scale, drive efficiencies, manage risk, and create fairer outcomes for their customers.

“Whether it’s working with other industry figures to promote the UK as a place to do business, or sharing knowledge of our experience exporting to multi-national organisations, I’m proud to be supporting the growth of the £11 billion UK fintech economy.”

Fintech Champions

DIT established the Fintech Champions scheme to support the UK’s burgeoning fintech industry.

Each champion is tasked with working alongside other industry leaders to elevate the UK’s status as a global fintech hub.

Fintech champions are also asked to help promote expansion around the world and support businesses to scale up and up-skill by providing one-to-one sector-specific advice.

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Commenting on the announcement, Minister for Exports Andrew Bowie said: “Fintech is already worth billions to the UK economy, and we’re keen to see the industry continue to grow over the coming years.

“With these two companies joining the fintech Champions programme, we now have expertise supporting businesses across all four nations who want to scale up their operations.

“Both are leaders in the industry and will do a fantastic job promoting the UK’s place as a global fintech hub.”

The UK is already a world leader in fintech, owning more than 10% of the global market share and is forecast to grow dramatically to £380 billion by 2030.

Additionally Britain secures 11% of all global investment into the sector, attracting nearly half of all investment in Europe.

Innovate Finance estimates total investment into British fintechs jumped more than 217% to $11.6bn in 2021.

With an increasing number of fintech firms exporting globally from the UK, DIT is helping the sector take advantage of our global trade links, ultimately creating more jobs and driving further investment into all corners of the country.

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