‘Centre of gravity is shifting’: UK fintech hiring to switch focus from neobanks
UK fintech is forecast for another hiring surge as the sector matures past the high-growth era of neobanks and focus turns to the rise of software and payments focused firms.
Figures from City recruiter Morgan McKinley forecast fintech hiring to rise 14 per cent in 2026, which follows on from a whopping 28 per cent growth in 2025.
London is expected to take the lion share of this at around 71 per cent.
Mark Astbury, a director at Morgan McKinley, said: “This is not a slowdown in momentum, but a reorientation of where growth is occurring.”
He added growth was becoming “increasingly concentrated in IT infrastructure and engineering roles” with firms prioritising scalability and cloud-native architecture over product expansion.
Technology maintained its stronghold as the top engine for recruitment, with IT vacancies expected to rise over 13 per cent.
Infrastructure particularly leads this, with a climb of 31 per cent. In contrast, IT support roles are expected to dwindle to nine per cent from 17 per in the previous years as more companies turn to automation.
UK fintech faces a shift
Payments firms and platforms tailored towards small businesses were cited as “increasingly outperforming” the digital banks.
Software and technology provider Radius is forecast to hire by over 42 per cent, whilst payments firm SumUp is tipped for a 28 per cent rise.
Astbury said the “centre of gravity within fintech is shifting”.
“Payment infrastructure providers and SME-focused platforms are now outpacing consumer neobanks, many of which are beginning to moderate hiring after years of rapid expansion.”
Digital banking stalwarts Starling and Monzo released annual reports within the last week following peer Revolut in March.
Monzo scored a profit haul of £87.3m after customers grew by a quarter. Meanwhile, Starling suffered a slight dip amid a programme of controlled account closures which slowed customer growth and a £20m investment into its software-as-a-service arm.
Revolut posted a 57 per cent surge in group-wide profit to £1.7bn as retail customers expanded by a record 16m