A rich array of innovative companies and initiatives will be showcased at this year’s fintech festival in Scotland, which gets underway this week.

For the next four weeks, Scotland will be the stage of more than 50 events bringing alive the impact of fintech leaders and capabilities which are shaping many elements of the emerging digital economy.

The festival, organised under the umbrella of Fintech Scotland, is in its fourth year and will build on the impactful platform of previous years in demonstrating how financial innovation is supporting citizens, business, regulators and government build towards economic and social recovery after the pandemic.

This year’s festival is even more diverse with a broad range of innovation themes and participants form fintech entrepreneurs, large global enterprises, universities, the public sector and the regulator, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is hosting half a dozen events on topics such as cryptocurrency, sustainability and the regulatory sandbox.

The festival has a significant global reach with participation organised with fintech innovators in the USA, Europe, Australia working in conjunction with Scottish Development International and UK Govt Department of International Trade.

The formal kick off was the Fintech Summit, a hybrid online and in person event held at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh on Thursday, organised by Digit.

The festival will conclude on the 14th of October with an all-day in person UK-wide FinTech Conference at the University of Strathclyde Technology & Innovation Centre organised by Canongate Publishing and The Times.

This high-profile event hosted by Fintech Scotland, well bring together speakers from across the UK fintech centres in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as presentations from UK Government and Scottish Government Ministers and Ron Kalifa, the author of the Treasury’s recently commissioned Fintech Review.

Nicola Anderson, CEO at FinTech Scotland said: “We’re looking forward to connecting with colleagues as we welcome the return of some face-to-face events as well as a variety of digital and virtual events. The range of topics, contributions and organisations taking part really demonstrates the breadth, expertise and diversity that drives fintech innovation in Scotland.”

Fiona MacKinnon, responsible for business events at VisitScotland said: “We’re delighted to once again support the FinTech Scotland Festival. It’s an opportunity to come together to learn, connect and collaborate both virtually and face to face. This year we’re extending a warm welcome to delegates from over 30 countries and look forward to learning from a global community and sharing our own knowledge and expertise.”