Fintech – UK Finance Labour Market Trends Report
Fintech Hiring Tilts Towards Infrastructure and Compliance
Key findings include:
- UK fintech vacancies are forecast to rise by close to 14% in 2026, with London’s share of hiring increasing from nearly 67% to roughly 71%.
- AML Risk & Compliance vacancies are projected to grow close to 28%, while Credit Analyst hiring is forecast to rise nearly 46%.
- IT Infrastructure roles are expected to climb close to 31%, underlining growing investment in resilience, cloud systems and payments architecture.
- Payments and crypto-focused firms are expanding rapidly, while several digital banks are beginning to retrench after years of aggressive scaling.
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London tightens its hold on fintech
Britain’s fintech labour market continues to expand despite an increasingly unsettled macroeconomic backdrop. Vacancies are forecast to rise by close to 14% in 2026, following a sharper 28% increase the previous year. London remains overwhelmingly dominant. Hiring in the capital is projected to grow by just over 14%, lifting its share of national fintech vacancies from nearly 67% in 2024 to around 71% this year. Early-month data suggests the momentum is not merely seasonal. Q1 hiring stood more than 13% above the same period in 2025, while vacancies in London were running nearly 17% higher. The market is becoming less speculative and more structurally entrenched.
Compliance spending grows more selective
The compliance boom that followed the post-pandemic fintech expansion is beginning to mature. Risk & Compliance vacancies are forecast to dip by around 4% in 2026 after rising by close to 22% the year before, while banking-related hiring is expected to fall by just over 8%. Yet beneath the softer headline numbers, demand is shifting rather than disappearing. AML Risk & Compliance vacancies are projected to rise by nearly 28%, while Credit Analyst hiring is forecast to surge by nearly 46%, reflecting growing scrutiny of digital lending and stablecoin regulation. Meanwhile, recruitment in Financial Crime and Credit Risk is expected to retreat sharply after the exceptional expansion recorded in 2025.
Infrastructure replaces support at scale
Technology remains fintech’s principal engine of recruitment growth. IT vacancies are forecast to rise just over 13% in 2026, extending the strong gains already recorded last year. London continues to absorb the vast majority of this demand, with vacancies in the capital expected to rise close to 18%, compared with growth of under 1% elsewhere in Britain. The composition of hiring is equally revealing. IT Development & Engineering vacancies are forecast to increase nearly 19%, while IT Infrastructure roles are projected to climb close to 31%, the fastest growth among major functions. By contrast, IT Support continues to contract as automation, outsourced delivery and cloud-based systems steadily displace traditional support structures.
Payments firms pull ahead of neobanks
The centre of gravity within British fintech is shifting away from consumer neobanks towards payments infrastructure and SME-focused platforms. Radius is forecast to increase hiring by more than 42%, following a near-doubling last year, while SumUp Payments is projected to rise by close to 28% after a remarkable 211% surge in 2025. Ebury and Wise also remain firmly in expansion territory. Crypto-linked firms are growing even faster. Payward, the operator of Kraken, is expected to increase vacancies by nearly 91% as firms prepare for the FCA’s evolving cryptoasset framework. Meanwhile, several digital banks, including Starling and Monzo, are beginning to scale back recruitment after years of aggressive expansion.
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