FinTech Scotland
FinTech Scotland is the cluster management organization for financial technology in Scotland and was established in 2018. It connects more than 250 fintech firms of all sizes with established financial firms, universities, government bodies, citizen groups and regulators. The organization works for long-term economic growth and for financial inclusion through fintech innovation.
FinTech Scotland supports the firms of the cluster with research and innovation programs, skills development and introductions to banks, insurers and technology companies. The organization is based at the University of Edinburgh, and every year it runs the FinTech Scotland Festival with events in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
FinTech Scotland Festival
The FinTech Scotland Festival is a week of events in Edinburgh and Glasgow and reached its ninth edition in 2026. That edition ran from 30 September to 7 October 2026 and covered inclusive innovation and financial wellbeing as well as AI, quantum computing, tokenization and climate finance. FinTech Scotland counts 21 events and more than 1,500 attendees for the festival week.
One event of the 2026 edition took participants to an Ingenico site in Dalgety Bay in Fife. A delegation from the InsurTech Corridor in Hartford, Connecticut, came to Edinburgh to meet Scottish technology firms.
Strategic partners and members
More than 250 fintech firms of all sizes belong to the cluster around FinTech Scotland. The strategic partners include the banks Barclays, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest, TSB and Virgin Money and the asset managers abrdn, Baillie Gifford and BlackRock. The payment network Mastercard is a partner, as are technology and advisory firms such as Atos, BT, Cisco, Fujitsu, Deloitte, EY and PwC.
The Financial Conduct Authority, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International support the cluster as partners. Four universities take part, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Glasgow, the University of Strathclyde and Edinburgh Napier University.
Research roadmap and innovation labs
The research roadmap of FinTech Scotland groups its work into four themes: open finance data, climate finance, payments and transactions, and financial regulation. The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab is an industry-led research and innovation program that uses new technology for UK and global financial regulation. Its calls have covered AI and compliance, the Consumer Duty, financial crime, ESG and operational resilience, and selected fintechs can pitch for up to 50,000 pounds to develop their solutions.
The current phase of the lab runs until 2029 with up to five calls, among them a challenge on responsible AI with Barclays, BlackRock, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest and Sopra Steria. FinTech Scotland also runs the Finance and Health Lab and innovation labs together with its partners.
Upcoming fintech and finance events in Europe
Chief executive, chair and team
Aleks Tomczyk is the chief executive of FinTech Scotland and served on its board before taking the role. Stephen Ingledew chairs the organization, which he led as chief executive for almost three years before he became executive chair in November 2020. Stephen Ingledew also sits on the board of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology of the UK Government.
The team includes Clare Reid as strategic innovation director, Duncan Martin as ecosystem engagement lead and Sam Evans as lead of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab.
Address in Edinburgh
The address of FinTech Scotland is Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, at the University of Edinburgh. FinTech Scotland trades through Edinburgh Innovations Limited, a company of the university that is registered in Scotland under number SC148048. The events of the cluster and its festival take place in both Edinburgh and Glasgow.
FinTech Scotland and Finance Loop
The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab of FinTech Scotland works on AI in compliance, financial crime and operational resilience, which are also questions that banks and fintechs in Germany and Europe bring to Finance Loop. Finance Loop brings people from banks, fintechs and supervisors together at its events on regtech and AI in finance.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.