Ministers appoint financial technology industry envoys
New government envoys have been appointed to drive growth in the financial technology industry in Scotland.
New government envoys have been appointed to drive growth in the financial technology industry in Scotland.
Louise Smith, head of design in personal and business banking at the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Nucleus chief executive officer David Ferguson have been appointed as the new UK Government FinTech envoys for Scotland.
Financial technology (FinTech) includes e-banking, payment technologies, peer-to-peer lending, crowdfunding, digital currencies like bitcoin and robo'' advice - automated investment advice delivered using algorithms.
The booming sector contributed ÂŁ6.6 billion to GDP in 2015 and employs more than 61,000 people. Economic Secretary to the Treasury Simon Kirby will formally announce the appointments on a visit to Edinburgh on Thursday.
He will also attend a roundtable discussion on Brexit hosted by Scottish Financial Enterprise, the representative body for Scotland's financial services industry.
Mr Kirby said: The financial services sector in Scotland has gone from strength to strength and I'm delighted to be here in Edinburgh meeting some of the people driving this success.
Listening closely to the views of Scottish financial services on the potential impact and opportunities offered by us leaving the EU is very important to the UK Government.
Our financial-services sector makes a crucial contribution to our economy and together we will work hard to ensure it continues as the hub for both Europe and the rest of the world.
I'm delighted that David and Louise have agreed to become the government's FinTech envoys for Scotland.
Their in-depth knowledge of the industry and excellent reputations make them the right people to drive forward positive change and allow Scottish FinTech to flourish.''