Accelerating growth in Scotland’s financial services sector

EY’s new report “Accelerating growth in Scotland’s financial services sector” is a growth playbook for one of Scotland’s most important industries. Developed by EY and based on a September 2024 survey and in‑depth interviews with senior leaders across banking, insurance, asset‑management and fintech, the study runs each insight through EY’s Financial Services Accelerant Framework to model where the greatest levers for expansion lie.

What it says about Scotland’s financial services economy

The report states that if Scotland can pull the right “accelerators”, gross value‑added (GVA) could be 21 % higher by 2028, adding 16,000 jobs and lifting average annual growth to roughly 4 % well above the historic 2 –3 % trend.

EY’s recommendations focus on a three year policy sprint: visa reform to attract global talent, narrowing tax differentials with the rest of the UK, bolstering digital and physical infrastructure, and targeted R&D funding, especially for fintech innovation.

Fintech

Fintech is one of three key growth sectors identified in the report (alongside green & sustainable finance and asset management). Scotland already hosts a thriving fintech cluster spanning payments, Open Finance, WealthTech and RegTech, recognised internationally as an industrial cluster.

Sector leaders see talent as the decisive variable. Demographics and labour supply rank as the No. 1 factor in creating a globally competitive hub, with regulatory clarity in second place.

FinTech Scotland’s CEO Nicola Anderson, who contributed in the report said :

“Scotland’s industry‑wide innovation strategy for fintech and financial services is set out in the FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap… The University of Edinburgh, for example, has more AI expertise than anywhere else in Europe and has a history of AI expertise in other sectors.”

Read the full report