Barclays opens London fintech hub

Barclays has made a firm commitment to its fintech efforts by launching an innovation suite in London, built as a co-working space to encourage businesses in the sector to develop ideas.

Called 'Rise', the space in Shoreditch is a multicultural office, bringing together various fintech companies from around the world in one place so they can bounce ideas off each other and perhaps make a success of their plans.

The suite also houses Barclays corporate clients and other fintech experts to help further the financial organisation's customer and business opportunities.

"We believe that technology must be a core competency of a global financial institution, and we intend to be a leader in the industry," Barclays Group chief executive, Jes Staley, said.

"Fintech startups are at the front of the technology wave that is changing our industry. Through Rise, we glean important insights; we can actively experiment with emerging technologies, and we can spot early trends and new markets as they form. This allows our employees, customers and clients to do things faster, better and at lower cost."

More than 40 fintech businesses will take part in the Rise London initiative, which forms part of the company's wider efforts in the fintech space. The company has already set up similar startup initiatives in New York, Manchester, Mumbai, Cape Town, Vilnius, London and Tel Aviv, comprising the Barclays Accelerator powered by Techstars.

"Our vibrant community taps into the agile and disruptive nature of these ventures," Michael Harte, group head of innovation at Barclays, said.

"By matching fintechs with the business challenges that we face as a diversified financial services firm, we drive customer and shareholder value. For us, the more vibrant we make the fintech community, the greater the value contribution to customers and shareholders as well as to the financial services sector as a whole."