Savills World Research reports that New York, London, and Singapore account for almost 10% of the financial sector’s contribution to global GDP, according to Oxford Economics, and rank as first, second and fourth respectively on Savills’ FinTech index.
New York tops the index and is also home to the world’s largest stock exchange. With its intense demand for FinTech innovation and the vast capital base investors have in one place, the city performs particularly well for its tech environment and deep talent pool.
London follows as second on the index and is also Europe’s top FinTech hub. The UK capital is home to the largest number of FinTech companies in the world and saw the highest number of VC deals between 2019 and 2022.
Singapore comes in as fourth and is establishing itself as Asia’s FinTech hub. The city-state plays host to the world’s largest FinTech festival and saw the highest level of VC investment in FinTech from 2019 to 2022 at USD$34bn. Singapore also provides global regulatory stability – the Monetary Authority of Singapore has eight agreements with regulators across the world.
San Francisco and Silicon Valley, which are third and fifth on the index, are testament to how tech hubs have used FinTech to disrupt the financial industry. These cities are home to PayPal, Stripe, Credit Karma, and other revolutionary FinTech start-ups. Technology has allowed cities across the world to level the playing field in the game of finance, which has led to a diversification of hubs away from historically traditional financial centres.
Despite 87% of consumers in China using at least one FinTech service according to EY, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hangzhou all sit in the middle of the index. This is, in part, due to recent tightening of Chinese government policy regarding the reach of tech companies. China’s FinTech scene is also unique in its competitiveness with a few large companies such as Ang Group and Tencent dominating it. This, in turn, is reflected in comparatively lower VC funding levels among start-ups.
Although US cities such as Boston, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta and Charlotte take positions nine through thirteen on the index, they are able to leverage on North America being the world’s largest economy and provide start-ups opportunities to secure big clients with smaller running costs. Having lower office rents than the cities at the top of the index, they have the cost advantage which enables them to push cheaper products or spend more on developing products.
FinTech businesses disrupt workplace trends on top of the financial industry. In a bid to attract top talent, FinTech businesses were early adopters of flexible working, promoting well-being in the office and prioritising digital equality. These occupiers also put particular emphasis on collaborative spaces in the office, pushing workplaces into the future.
Ashley Swan, Executive Director, Commercial Leasing: “FinTech businesses have been a boon to the flexible workspace sector and continue to occupy a significant number of desks in Singapore. The collaborative and flexible nature of the spaces speak to the FinTech culture and their “start-up” ethos, allowing firms to remain agile as they grow, not only in Singapore, but the region. In addition, regular activities and events organised by operators lends to Fintech employee’s well—being and work life balance.
While some, more established FinTech companies may move on to more traditional office space, a large majority grow within flexible workspace to take advantage of the FinTech inherent ecosystem that has been cultivated over time as well as the growing network of flex space across the region.”
Charlotte Rushton, Analyst, Savills World Research: “As a regional financial centre as well as a hub for technology, Singapore has rightly earned its fourth-place position within our FinTech index. Cities which do well in the index have strong and resilient fundamentals in terms of their lifestyle factors, demographics, and business environments. These factors, plus the strength of its finance and technology sectors, make Singapore a regional, and world, leader in the fintech space.”
The methodology of the Savills 2023 Tech Cities Index ranks the cities by measuring their business environment, tech environment, city buzz & wellness, talent pool, and its strength and depth across different tech sub sectors which includes Industrial Tech, Life Sciences & Health Tech, FinTech, E-Commerce among others.
For further information, please contact:
Charlotte Rushton, Analyst, Savills World Research
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7016 3883 | charlotte.rushton@savills.com
Jacke Chye, Head of Marketing and Communications, Savills Singapore
Tel: +65 9678 6761 | Jacke.Chye@savills.com.sg