Welcome to The Circuit series. Meet our next interviewee:
In 2021, the Kalifa Review was published as an examination of both the impressive growth of the burgeoning British fintech sector and an appeal to policymakers and the industry to keep the momentum growing.
Back then UK fintech was an exciting and promising industry of the future, today it is a cornerstone of the entire nation’s economy and global standing.
As part of the now legendary review, the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) was established, bringing together academics, regulators and finance industry figures to work across sectors to ensure the UK’s most valuable tech sector could continue to thrive.
In an exclusive interview with UKTN, Anna Wallace, the chief executive of CFIT discussed the progress of the UK fintech ecosystem since the landmark review, what innovations could lie ahead and how we can tackle some of finance’s biggest problems.
What is the importance of bodies like CFIT in supporting UK fintech?
Bodies like CFIT play a critical role because many of the biggest barriers to innovation in financial services are systemic – they sit across sectors, involve multiple stakeholders, and cannot be solved by any single organisation acting alone.
What makes CFIT distinctive is our ability to convene the right combination of industry, government, regulators and technology experts, and to focus that collective expertise on solving specific, high-impact challenges.
Just as importantly, we are not a forum for discussion alone – we are structured to deliver tangible outputs, whether that is a minimum viable product, a tested framework, or a policy solution that creates a clear pathway to implementation.
Our work on Digital Company ID is a strong example of that in practice, but we are increasingly applying this model beyond financial services.
Through our Open Property coalition, we are bringing together stakeholders from across finance, property and technology to address inefficiencies in the homebuying process – an issue that affects millions of people and businesses across the UK.
That ability to operate across sectors, while maintaining a focus on delivery, is where we add the most value. As we look forward, we are excited to work with partners to catalyse financial innovation for a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
How do you view the progress of UK fintech since the landmark Kalifa Review?
The Kalifa Review set an important foundation for the UK fintech ecosystem, and much of the progress we have seen over the past five years builds directly on those principles.
We have seen stronger collaboration between government, industry and the wider ecosystem to tackle systemic challenges – whether that is in Open Finance, improving SME access to credit, or developing the foundations for Corporate Digital Verification. At CFIT, our coalitions have been designed to turn those ambitions into practical outcomes.
There has also been a shift in how fintech is perceived. It is no longer just a standalone sector, but an enabler of transformation across the wider economy. Our Open Property coalition reflects that evolution, and we expect to see more cross-sector applications of fintech in the years ahead.
That said, challenges remain. The UK needs to continue to keep pace with international competitors, respond to rapid technological change – particularly in areas like AI – and ensure that innovation translates into real-world adoption.
The core principles of the Kalifa Review remain highly relevant, but delivery now needs to be faster, more coordinated and more outcome-focused.
Looking ahead, agility and partnership will be key. The pace of change means we cannot predict every development, but we can ensure we are connected across the ecosystem and ready to respond.
At CFIT, that is reflected in the themes we are exploring for future work – from tokenisation and wealthtech infrastructure to agentic AI – all areas where collaboration will be essential to unlocking progress.
How can SMEs’ access to funding be improved?
Improving SMEs’ access to funding is both a long-standing challenge and a significant economic opportunity for the UK.
The barriers are well understood – fragmented data, limited visibility of financial performance, and inefficiencies in how lenders assess risk – but addressing them requires coordinated action between industry and government. No single intervention will solve the problem in isolation.
At CFIT, we are actively working with partners across the ecosystem to address this through our SME Finance coalition.
The focus is on how better use of data, improved infrastructure, and more effective collaboration can help SMEs present a clearer picture of their financial position and access a broader range of funding options.
We will be publishing the outputs of this work in May, which will set out practical recommendations and solutions to help close the SME funding gap and support growth across the UK economy.
Payment fraud has reached overwhelming levels what can the industry do to rectify this?
The scale and sophistication of fraud has increased significantly in recent years, with criminal networks now operating in highly organised, technology-enabled ways.
This is no longer a series of isolated incidents – it is a systemic challenge that requires a systemic response.
A key issue is the fragmentation of identity and data across the ecosystem. Where information cannot be securely shared or verified, fraudsters are able to exploit those gaps.
This is exactly the challenge we have been addressing through our Digital Company ID coalition. By developing Corporate Digital Verification, supported by interoperable infrastructure and clear governance frameworks, we are laying the foundations for a more secure and trusted system.
The coalition has demonstrated both the technical feasibility and commercial viability of this approach, and the next step is implementation.
If we can embed trusted digital identity into core financial processes – from onboarding to payments – we can move from a reactive approach to fraud towards a more proactive and preventative model.
What recent innovations in finance are not getting the attention they deserve?
One of the most under-appreciated opportunities in financial innovation is not new products, but the point where proven innovation fails to scale. The constraint is rarely technology – it is coordination.
The real prize lies in collaborative investment at this stage of the lifecycle – whether through shared infrastructure or the development of common standards that enable multiple players to build and compete.
Areas like financial crime utilities, SME data frameworks, or digitised capital markets infrastructure all demonstrate this dynamic: strong underlying innovation, but limited progress beyond pilots.
What we see consistently is a gap between successful proof-of-concept and market-wide adoption, driven by first-mover disadvantage, regulatory uncertainty and fragmented incentives.
CFIT exists to bridge that gap – bringing industry, regulators and government together to de-risk and scale these opportunities. If we get this right, the upside is significant: lower system costs, faster adoption, and a more competitive and innovative UK financial system.
