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HiTALENT HOTSPOTSNON-TECHNICAL SKILLS HOTSPOTS:Non-technical skills hotspots% of fintechtalent poolYOY GrowthRegulatory compliance 56.7%7.10%KYC 51.9%8.60%Fraud Investigations 42.8%9.9%Customer Experience 33.4%8.40%Risk Management 25.8%13.7%Regulatory complianceAs regulated entities, fintechs are required to adhere to the same,if not more stringent, guidelines and decrees by regulators astraditional financial services firms. An ability to meet regulatoryrequirements is integral to starting and operating a successfulfintech. As regulations continue to change and become morestringent, experienced regulatory compliance professionals willbecome increasingly valuable to the sector.KYCFirms having an understanding of who they are transacting with,and on behalf of, is critical to ensuring transactions are compliantwith rules and regulations set out by regulators. As an increasingnumber of customers engage fintech firms, there is a directneed to increase the ability to on-board them in an efficient andcompliant manner. This is accelerating recruitment of complianceprofessionals that can perform KYC checks to limit a firm’slikelihood of being involved in any illegal activity.1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural Shift4. Fintech: Here to StayFraud investigationsAI and machine learning capabilities have given rise to a breadthof financial transactions online, and with it, an alarming increase infinancial crime. While AI is helping fintech firms detect fraudulentactivity, specialists in fraud investigation with experience in leadingintricate payment investigations are helping fintechs to improve theirfraud response and boost their fraud prevention strategies.Customer experienceAs the fintech sector becomes overwhelmed with new productsentering the market at a rapid pace, those best placed to succeedwill be the fintechs with clear points of differentiation. As productsoffered become less differentiated, the need grows to acquire newcustomers via strong reviews, CRM, and customer experience, asdoes the requirement for specialists within this area.Risk ManagementAs fintechs continue become more engrained and adoptionrates increase, the need to have robust risk structures in placeis essential. The balance of providing a fast, fluid and responsiveservice to compete in the fintech space, with robust risk controlswill continue to be a challenge. As a result, professionals that canmanage enterprise risk in a prudent manner will ensure the ongoingsuccess of a business.Highest growth in demand:Regulatory compliance 56.7% YOY growth5. Spotlight: The Unicorns6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

HiTECHNOLOGY HOTSPOTS:UX and UI DesignFintech has continued to challenge the banking industry with itsupper hand in providing ease of use and simple, stylised userapplications. No matter how good the tech is behind the scenes, afintech product propels in value due to firms’ continued investmentin UX & UI Design talent. This is evidenced by the rapid growth ofUX ( 52.3%) and UI ( 40.4%) design skills within the industry.Technology skills hotspots% of fintechtalent poolYOY GrowthUX Design 52.3%7.8%UI Design 40.4%8.1%Product Management 15.8% YOY growthProduct ManagementDemand for product management skills remains steady ( 15%YOY growth) as fintechs at points of scale require product ownersor managers with the right balance of technical know-how,stakeholder management capability and strong customer mindset.Role to watch:Chief Product OfficerAs fintechs continue to scale their product teams, a growingnumber are hiring a Chief Product Officer (CPO) to head upthis function, acting as the organisational ‘bridge’ between thetechnology and the customer interface.1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural Shift4. Fintech: Here to Stay5. Spotlight: The Unicorns6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

HiData Scientists and Machine Learning EngineersLeveraging big data is becoming increasingly key to both the fintechand banking sectors as customer behaviour continues to evolveand become further segmented. With this, adopting MachineLearning and developing predictive analytics enable paymentsproviders to make strides in areas such as understanding customerspending patterns, automating fraud detection and customisingproduct offerings.With this trend, we’re seeing banks and fintechs race to hire datascientists – demand is increasing by 71.2% annually within thefintech space, and 78% in the banking sector.Technology skills hotspots% of fintechtalent poolYOY GrowthNatural Language Processing (NLP) 53.0%9.6%Computer Vision 85.9%6.6%Machine Learning 59.4%9.4%Software EngineersThe financial services space continues the ongoing battle to hire thebest engineers in the constant push for improvements in availabilityof services, reduction of latency and real-time updates. In particular,we’re witnessing exceptional growth ( 81.7%) of ReactJS talent,and DevOps professionals ( 56.5%). More generally, a continuedfocus on the use of APIs, Micro Services engineering, Containersand Cloud platforms are expected to be in force across thedevelopment space.1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural Shift4. Fintech: Here to StayTechnology skills hotspotsYOY Growth% of fintechtalent poolQA 46.6%6.3%DevOps 56.5%6.7%React.js 81.7%7.3%SQL 35.3%20.4%InfoSecFinancial service providers have been forced to make majorchanges to their cybersecurity programs and protocols in orderto manage the transition to remote working, leading to a spike ofactivity in the InfoSec space. This trend shows no signs of slowingdown as fintechs respond to cybersecurity threats post-pandemicwith Information Security ( 63.9%) and Cloud Computing ( 41.3%)on a strong annual growth trajectory.As businesses continue to invest in cybersecurity softwareand adopt new platforms, there will be a heavy emphasis onCloud skills, security engineering and site reliability engineering.Professionals involved in security orchestration with strong SIEMskills such as Splunk will be highly valuable, as well as AWScontainer security and micro service security architecture.Technology skills hotspots5. Spotlight: The UnicornsYOY Growth% of fintechtalent poolInformation Security 63.9%6.2%Cloud Computing 41.3%13.4%AWS 51.1%9.1%6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

Tom Chambers, Senior Manager - Technology (London)“Recruitment within fintech talent hotspots shows no signsof stalling as fintechs look to hire talent within ever-tightertechnology candidate pools. With the recruitment interests offintechs and banking converging in the tech space, competitivesalary packages and generous bonuses will be essential to lurelimited pools of UK talent.”1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural Shift4. Fintech: Here to Stay5. Spotlight: The Unicorns6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

THE FUTURE: BLURRING THE LINESTRADITIONAL BANKING VACANCIES35003000The way in which people engage with technology hasresulted in banks altering their business processes,including a change to internal operations.250020001500In the past five years alone, banks have raced againstthe clock to create smartphone friendly apps, whichprovide the same level of service and accessibility assome of the popular fintech platforms.10005000201720182019Banking Operations VacanciesJob trends: BankingAs this happens, the number of people employed intraditional roles within the banking sector will continueto fall, whilst tech vacancies will continue to holdstrong. Already, total employment in the industry hasfallen in the UK by nearly 100,000 in the last five years.BANKING TECH VACANCIES1400012000Focusing on vacancies within financial services &banks over the last three years, the more traditionaljob roles have declined by -42%, whilst tech vacancieshave increased by 46%. It is important to note,however, that the decline in traditional roles refersmostly to those jobs that can be easily automated ing Tech Vacancies1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural Shift4. Fintech: Here to Stay5. Spotlight: The Unicorns6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

Dan Simmonite. Business Director at Robert Walters“Fintechs were not initially seen as direct ‘competition’ to traditional banks –with their products and services differing vastly.However, over the past 12-18 months we’ve seen fintechs apply for bankinglicenses so they can expand their offering to include overdrafts, guaranteedeposits, and offer the ability to set-up direct debits.Whilst fintechs creep into traditional banking territory, and financial servicescontinue to embed technology into their processes, the sectors stand tobecome indistinguishable in the next year.”1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural Shift4. Fintech: Here to Stay5. Spotlight: The Unicorns6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

KEY FINDINGS1GOVERNMENT SUPPORT OPENS DOORS FORFINTECHS3Unlike traditional banking, hiring for tech roles within fintechhas slowed down in the past year as the sector switcheshiring to legal, regulatory change, and risk roles in order toprepare for a post-Brexit Europe.Banks came under criticism for their customer-facingresponse to the Covid-19 outbreak, with calls for thefinancial services industry to work more closely with fintechcounterparts to better utilise data and improve customerservices.Perhaps the most drastic change for fintechs wasgovernments swift action to ‘shake-up’ traditional lendingand allow fintech companies to be an official loan providerfor the government bailout scheme - introducing fintechs tothe masses.2LOCKDOWN MEASURES FORCE PERMANENTCHANGEOver the past decade, the adoption rate of online bankinghas increased from 32% to an all-time high of 73%. Whilstthe tide was certainly turning, enforced high street bankclosures and cashless payments have dictated that eventhose most reluctant to change must adopt new ways ofbanking and processing payments.BREXIT REMAINS A CONCERNWith the nature of fintech being truly digital – and thereforemuch easier to roll-out internationally – fintechs are nowrealising the task at hand to be compliant with sectorregulations internationally.4REGIONALISATION VS LONDONIt seems traditional banks are taking advantage of the talentpool and cost savings available in regions outside of London– with job creation within banks for tech roles increasing by50% in the last three years. This jump in recruitment hasresulted in the emergence of ‘tech hubs’ in Birmingham,Manchester, and Leeds – mirroring what we see in London’sShoreditch.On the other hand, UK fintechs continue to recruit techprofessionals in London, tactfully locating their operationsfor better access to VC investment.Where banks have been slower in creating smartphonefriendly apps, fintechs are now in a position to take marketshare.1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural Shift4. Fintech: Here to Stay5. Spotlight: The Unicorns6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

5A HIVE OF INVESTMENTLondon has done a stellar job in proving its ROI when itcomes to VC funding and investment. The capital nowattracts the most amount of VC funding in Europe for itsfintech firms and is second in the world only to the USA.The current climate is like nothing we’ve seen before sofintechs should be mindful of their balance books. VCs willconsider fintechs that are rapidly running out of capital asleaving themselves too exposed to external factors. Whilstconfidence for investment has been high up until this point,we can expect VCs to be cautious throughout the rest of2020.6THE LICENCE TO COMPETEWith several fintechs playing an active role in thegovernment bailout scheme, as well as obtaining licencesto be able to deliver traditional banking services such asdirect debits and overdrafts, traditional banks will nowhave to view these once small ‘challenger brands’ asserious competitors who are taking bites at several marketsegments – from Generation Z and Millennials, to SMEs andentrepreneurs.1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural Shift4. Fintech: Here to Stay5. Spotlight: The Unicorns6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural Shift4. Fintech: Here to Stay5. Spotlight: The Unicorns6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

ABOUT THE PARTNERSRobert WaltersRobert Walters is a global, specialist professional recruitment consultancy. Operating across31 countries, with offices in fintech hubs London, , New York, San Francisco, Singapore,Barcelona and Amsterdam organisations rely on us to find high quality professionals for arange of specialist roles. Leaders in technology and financial services recruitment, we placecandidates on a permanent, contract and interim basis in organisations ranging from thelargest corporates world-wide, through to SMEs and start-ups.Tom Chambers, Senior Manager – Technology, Robert Walterse: tom.chambers@robertwalters.comt: 44 20 7509 8863www.robertwalters.co.uk t-waltersVacancysoftVacancysoft is a subscription-based data publisher for the Recruitment Industry. Establishedin 2006, we now have thousands of subscribers worldwide, clients range from FTSE listedbusinesses to industry specialists, whereby we optimise new client generation, key accountmanagement and business strategy. 44 20 7193 6850www.vacancysoft.com 1. Key Statistics2. Covid-19: Current Climate3. Banking: A Cultural oft-llp4. Fintech: Here to Stay5. Spotlight: The Unicorns6. Talent Hotspots7. Future: Blurring the Lines8. Key Findings

AUSTRALIABELGIUMBRAZILCANADACHILECZECH REPUBLICFRANCEGERMANYHONG KONGINDIAINDONESIAIRELANDJAPANLUXEMBOURGMAINLAND CHINAMALAYSIAMEXICONETHERLANDSNEW ZEALANDPHILIPPINESPORTUGALSINGAPORESOUTH AFRICASOUTH www.robertwalters.co.uk

FINTECH: ALL PROFESSIONAL VACANCIES VS TECH VACANCIES 2017 48% 2018 2019 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 All Professional Vacancies Tech Vacancies 50% 46% FINTECH: HERE TO STAY Tom Chambers, Senior Manager - Technology (London) “When looking at the slight slowdown in tech roles within