Devie Mohan, Fintech Industry Analyst, on Brexit’s impact on the future of Fintech

In the wake of the Brexit vote to Leave, we asked London based FemTechLeaders to share their thoughts on the impact the results of the referendum will have on Fintech and Banking. This ongoing series includes extended interviews from those featured in American Banker, amongst others.

Devie Mohan, Fintech Industry Analyst and Market Strategist

London, United Kingdom

@devie_mohan | LinkedIn Profile

What do you think the short term and long term consequences for Fintech will be in the UK after the leave vote?

Short to medium term:
If immigration rules get stricter (it depends on the negotiation with EU in the next 6 months), we will lose the ability to have easy access to specialised and relevant skills in fintech. A lot of the UK based fintech startups have founders from EU as well as development centres in Eastern Europe. This model will get affected, and future EU entrepreneurs may choose to go to Frankfurt/Berlin/Stockholm/Amsterdam instead of London.

Long term:
UK will need to develop a set of regulations that take care of EU regulations as well, in order to avoid conflict and complexity.

How will the Leave vote affect the relationship between banks and fintech, and the appetite for collaboration?

The collaboration models would not change, I would imagine, but it will be more difficult over time for EU-based startups to compete with UK-based startups to work with banks as the regulation requirements and banking system models in UK vs EU can develop in different speeds/directions. But hopefully this will be addressed.

What is the best/worst thing about the result of the referendum?

There is no good thing as far as I can see.

The worst thing is that this is the beginning of the end of the EU and the UK as we know it. Gibraltar, Scotland, N Ireland and London who overwhelmingly voted Remain now feel like outsiders in the UK. All of them are looking for ways to join the EU. It is likely the EU will split up in the long term as well, increasing complexities of trade.

A lot of Femtech leaders in the UK are EU immigrants. What does this result mean to you personally if you are an immigrant?

I am not an EU immigrant, but as someone who is an immigrant and still holds a non-UK passport, this is almost disastrous. This means travelling to the EU will get more difficult with complex visa processes and shorter time frames when I can stay/work in the EU. As someone who had to go through the notoriously bad and long immigration process in the UK, my heart goes out to all EU citizens who may have to go through a similar process if they don’t smooth it out. Entrepreneurship in the UK by non-citizens is exceptionally hard and the only way to become an entrepreneur is by living here for 5+ years and becoming a Permanent Resident (which is what I did) or by marrying a UK citizen. We are making it very difficult for young entrepreneurs in EU by having this process.

The first thing I have done this week is to file for my UK passport, which I should have done ages ago, but never felt the need to!

What do you think will be the effect on London as the leading Fintech hub?

London will surely see an impact. The British schooling system does not produce entrepreneurs and we need to find a way to bring non-UK citizens to start fintech businesses in London. We need to find a way to let EU citizens in for short term work (like accelerator programmes). We need to figure out regulatory compatibility. We need to compete with the likes of Frankfurt and Paris who will now have several new banking jobs and with startups who can compete in a much larger market.

 

Devie is a fintech industry advisor and analyst based in London. She is also the founder of a fintech research and collective mentoring firm that supports fintech startups, investment groups and fintech communities with advice and data. She speaks and writes extensively on fintech and digital banking and is a columnist with several publications including BankNXT and Banking Technology. She is actively involved in the fintech community and has been listed in City AM’s FinTech Powerlist and in Innotribe’s FinTech Power Women list.