The world leading fintech centres have relatively strong cluster qualities, such as a high quality of and close geographic proximity between public administration and the authorities, finance and venture capital, innovative and entrepreneurial environments / accelerators, as well as educational institutions. 

It is difficult to find objective criteria for what the strongest fintech centres are. Based on Deloitte’s aggregated index method for fintech centres released in 2017, we have highlighted five strong centres and three centres that have significant potential and are highly relevant to the Norwegian environments:

London

London is described as the strongest fintech centre in the world, and it comes as no surprise then to see that venture capital, the authorities, technology companies and educational institutions are in the immediate proximity of each other in the city. The centre receives a top score for regulation, close proximity to customers, access to expertise and support from the authorities. Foreign startups and the innovation culture scored very high. 

The centre has seven very good accelerators and has, for example, brought forth companies such as Worldpay, Currency Cloud and World First. Specialisation in the centre is diverse, but it mainly focuses on innovation in the areas of capital market services, asset management, neobanking and consumer banking services and foreign exchange. 

Singapore

Singapore is also a city that is defined by a close proximity between the public sector, educational institutions, financial services and the technology industry. The centre receives a top score for regulation, availability of expertise and support from the authorities, and it scores very high for foreign startups, close proximity to customers and innovation culture. 

There are over 20 very good accelerators established at the centre, and it has brought forth companies like Dragon Wealth and Crowdonomic. The centre also has several specialisations, including investment services, access and control, data security, asset management and robotic consulting. 

New York

New York City is the world leader for financial services and has managed to attract a solid fintech environment. There is thus close contact between capital and fintech businesses. The centre receives a top score for proximity to customers, innovation culture and support from the authorities. Access to expertise is very good, while regulation is okay. The opportunities for foreign startups are poor. 

New York has four very good and established accelerators and has brought forth fintech companies such as Oscar and Kickstarter. The centre has many of the same specialisations as London, but it has also focused on block chain and ledger technology. 

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley is known as the largest innovative fintech environment in the world. The city has, as a reflection of New York, managed to attract venture capital that finds its way to potential fintech entrepreneurs through the accelerators. The centre receives a top score for foreign startups and proximity to customers. It also scores very high on innovative culture and good access to expertise. Regulation and support from the authorities, however, scored rather poorly. 

There are seven established accelerators in Silicon Valley. Many large and established technology companies have come from this centre, including fintech companies Paypal, Coinbase and SoFi. The specialisations at the centre include investment services, consumer banking services, financial crime prevention and mitigation, online handling and data services. 

Chicago

Chicago is a large financial centre like New York City. The city also has some of the most recognised educational institutions in the world. Thus, there is also a close proximity between fintech startups and venture capital, as well as between the expertise of students and academia. The centre scored very well on support from the authorities, access to expertise and proximity to customers. It scored well on innovation culture, but rather poorly on regulation and foreign startups. 

There are four accelerators in Chicago that are the most prominent. In addition, the centre has produced companies such as Avant, Morningstar and Braintree. Like many of the other stronger fintech centres, Chicago has specialised in investment services, capital market services and asset management, as well as risk analysis and management, the stock market and exchange services. 

 

Stockholm

Stockholm has established itself as a strong centre in Europe and attracts the second highest fintech investments per capita. Stockholm is a relatively new fintech centre and is thus not directly regulated and has relatively little support from the authorities. This results in a somewhat poor score for these indicators. The city has, however, good access to expertise and graduates and a historically strong innovation culture. The centre scored very high for proximity to customers. 

The city has four well-established accelerators and has produced leading companies such as Klarna and iZettle. The centre has specialised in alternative financing, anti-financial crime systems, telematics, private financial management and, like many other centres, investment services. 

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is a centre that is internationally recognised for its technology talents and strong innovation culture, and it exports a lot of expertise to other fintech centres. The centre is also internationally oriented in terms of product development. Support from the authorities, innovation culture and proximity to customers scored very high. Access to expertise scored well, regulation scored okay, but access for foreign startups is poor. 

The centre has five strong and recognised accelerators and has introduced fintech companies such as Payoneer, Etoro and Riskified. The centre has specialised in data security, automated consulting, Know Your Customer systems, analysis and anti-financial crime systems. 

Amsterdam

Amsterdam has a strong environment for entrepreneurs, has several clusters for the development of technology and has had several study programmes for technological innovation over a long period of time. The centre therefore scored well for regulation and okay for support from the authorities. In addition, access for foreign startups and the proximity to customers are very good, and the innovation culture and access to expertise scored well. 

The centre has five accelerators and has produced companies such as Adyen, GlobalCollect and Flow Traders. Amsterdam has specialised in access and control systems, data security, liquidity management, E-commerce, cash flow control.