Following the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement yesterday, industry stakeholders have been left unsatisfied.
Reeves’ 30-plus-minute speech covered many bases, such as increased defence spending, putting more money in people’s pockets and a crackdown on tax avoidance. However, many stakeholders were left with more questions than answers when it came to the world of payments and fintech.
Silvija Krupena, Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit at RedCompass Labs, told Payment Expert that she was “disappointed” that there was no mention of the UK fraud epidemic.
Fraud in the UK currently accounts for 40% of all crime, and since Reeves’ Autumn Budget last October, there has been a lot of debate around the topic in the payments sector.
Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud had a particularly devastating impact on the UK last year, with the Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) establishing new reimbursement rules last November to help combat the threat.
However, while these rules soften the blow for victims, they aren’t having much of an impact on general fraud numbers.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) mentioned fraud in its five-year plan, which was published earlier this week. However, with the topic missing from Reeves’ speech, Krupena warns of a “fragmented and reactive response” – a major criticism of the government from financial institutions over the past few years.
“This week, the FCA outlined steps to disrupt financial crime, from regulatory enforcement to working with firms developing technology that strengthens fraud prevention,” she added.
“While it looks good on paper, we’ll have to see how it is executed. We also need clarity on the government’s role in all of this, without their intervention efforts will only go so far.”
Jonathan Frost, Director of Global Advisory at BioCatch, was also left disappointed about fraud being left out of the Spring Statement, stating that there were hopes the Chancellor would “build on the FCA’s commitment to tackle financial crime as a key priority”.
Despite no mention of the issue in the statement, Frost pointed out that action is likely to come from the Home Office. He noted that Fraud Minister David Hanson announced yesterday at the Global Anti-Scams Alliance summit that a new fraud strategy will be published later this year.
“This can’t come soon enough,” Frost said. “Proposals will cover data sharing, international cooperation, public awareness, victim support and evolving threats including AI. He also revealed plans for a Global Fraud Summit in early 2026, hosted in the UK by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and Interpol.”
Growth – the number one priority
Unsurprisingly, growth was a prominent theme in the Chancellor’s speech. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has emphasised the need to revitalise the economy since taking office and recently took action to significantly reform how the government works to achieve this goal.
However, Reeves’ speech noted that this year’s growth forecast has been halved – welcome news to the opposition benches.
In the past, Starmer has highlighted payments and fintech as two key areas for catalysing growth in the UK, and Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, has reminded him of that statement.
“Today’s spring statement highlights more than ever that Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves must go further and faster on policies to boost UK growth and competitiveness. With the growth forecast for this year halved, this is more critical than ever,” she said.
“Fintech is an engine of the UK economy, claiming 21 of the UK’s 40 unicorn companies. The UK consistently receives more investment into fintech than anywhere else in the world bar the US. And it is these fintech firms which are helping the rest of the economy grow by providing 60% of all small business loans across the country.”
While fintech has the potential to “turbocharge the economy”, in the words of Hirt, there is a concern that the nation’s global position in this sector is declining. This worry comes as investment in the space dropped last year, perhaps a product of the “unstable” world that Reeves referred to in her speech numerous times.
In a bid to attract investment and thus repair the economy, Hirt stated that the government must take bold action in three key areas: unlock investment; create tech-positive regulators focused on growth and competitiveness; and develop a UK Tech Stack that provides the building blocks for growth.
Hirt explained that the UK risks being overtaken in other areas too, including AI, stablecoin, digital verification and Open Finance.
“We have seen little progress since the Kalifa Review of UK fintech identified these as priorities for regulatory development four years ago,” she explained.
“We need full backing of a globally competitive UK Tech Stack that will grow new UK financial markets, support our fintech unicorns, strengthen UK financial infrastructure resilience, and unlock productivity across the economy.
“Rachel Reeves rightly said that growth is her number one mission. We now need to go further and faster in pursuit of this.”
