While London is very much the epicentre of the Fintech success story in the country, the UK as a whole has created a strong ecosystem for the sector, spurring innovation in financial technologies. Still, London does rank as the second-highest ecosystem for Fintech in the world, continuing to attract high levels of investment in the sector.

The UK only looks to continue to be a major hub for Fintech. Through the first half of this year alone, the sector secured over $9 billion (£7.8 billion) of investment. This figure dwarfs that of the next-closest on the continent, Germany, where $2.4 billion (£2.1 billion) was secured.

So, with all of this drive in UK Fintech, what can consumers expect to see in the coming years, and how is it already taking hold?

Automation to put banking in the hands of customers

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In the UK, banking is still in somewhat of a state of transition to what many see as the future of personal finances. High street banks, while less many, are still a cornerstone of the industry, open to anyone with any kind of query. What new Fintech companies are doing, however, is challenging the traditional big names to put their services in the hands of customers rather than be less efficient with in-branch appointments and queries.

It’s a gradual process, but the number of services that require a visit to a branch is being reduced, instead becoming more convenient via digital options – particularly apps. Still, this goes beyond having a handy mobile app, as so many key processes are not only being automated for faster banking actions, but such options are becoming key selling points for industry-disrupting Fintech businesses.

For example, switching banks used to be quite a hassle, but now, the automated process can be completed within seven days and with the bonus of requiring minimum input from the consumer. First and foremost, however, it's always important to explore the different types of bank accounts available, in order to get a comprehensive view of the market. Once you've settled on a choice, the rest of the legwork is handled by the providers. When you switch banks, the new provider will automatically get details of your Direct Debits, bills, and standing orders and set them up within the new account for you, along with commissioning the old account holder to close your account once funds have been transferred.

Personalising insurance to custom-fit everyone

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Fintech isn’t only helping with customer-facing banking options; it might just be making the world of insurance better as well. Insurtech, as it’s being called, is evolving insurance into a much more customer-centric sector, utilising artificial intelligence to help personalise plans and even offer custom products. As it develops, Insurtech may even do away with the need for human underwriters.

This part of it could be quite some way away, however. Nevertheless, the opportunity for artificial intelligence to help assess risk and reduce human error is there for all to see. For customers, the service becomes more streamlined and can be tweaked to suit their exact levels of risk. While this will make it more expensive for some, it’ll be cheaper for the greater customer base that’s of lower risk, so insurance will become more accurate.

In the UK, Fintech looks to continue to disrupt core financial sectors, doing so in a way that benefits the customers and drives competition across industries.