Belfast’s standing as a centre for fintech was enhanced this week when DailyPay, a New York-based payments company, upped its investment in the city.
DailyPay first opened an office in the Northern Irish capital back in 2021 and plans to further expand its regional centre with a £24m investment, planning to create 292 new jobs.
The company already has 100 jobs in place in Belfast, and has commenced recruitment efforts for the planned 292 positions which, according to the BBC, will have an average annual salary of £42,000 a year.
Founded in 2015, DailyPay is a on-demand pay solution provider with its primary offering being enabling employees to access pay packets ahead of payday.
Although based in New York, the company has identified Northern Ireland as an ideal springboard for growth. This is perhaps due to Northern Ireland’s significant access to both the UK market and the EU single market.
Ed Zaval, DailyPay Chief Customer Officer, said: “Northern Ireland offers a highly attractive investment location as it has a well educated workforce, a cost competitive business environment and excellent support from Invest NI.”
The investment comes as the UK fintech sector continues to grow. Fostering growth of this sector, and technology innovation in general, has been earmarked as a key objective for the UK government.
PM Rishi Suank, an economist by education and trade, is a vocal supporter of developing Britain’s fintech sector, including cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled a $500m investment package in tech, in particular AI, in last year’s Autumn budget.
As a focal point for not just the UK’s finance centre but also the global industry, London is understandably the lead British city for fintech. However, other cities have emerged as having a high profile in the world of fintech.
This includes the UK’s second largest city Birmingham, traditional industrial hub Manchester and Yorkshire’s largest city Leeds, which has some of the highest salaries outside the capital.
Other provincial centres include Scottish capital Edinburgh and largest city Glasgow, Welsh capital Cardiff, the English cities of Bristol, Cambridge, Brighton, Oxford and Newcastle – and Belfast.
Speaking to Payment Expert for the SBC Leaders magazine last year, Nick Reid, Head of Strategic Growth, Europe at BankiFi, and CEO and Co-Founder of Zumo, Nick Jones, provided the local fintech perspective from their respective cities of Manchester and Edinburgh.
The activities of companies such as DailyPay in Northern Ireland, Zumo in Scotland and BankiFi in Northern England show that the UK’s fintech sector is active across the length and breadth of the country, beyond the skyscrapers of London.
