Accelerating the Unicorn Landscape in UK Fintech (Boston Consulting Group)

Summary

• Fintechs deliver more than 68% of SME lending across the UK.p.2
• Challenger and specialist lenders increased their share of SME lending from around 40% in 2012 to 68% in 2025.p.5
• The report draws on interviews with 20 of the UK's most significant fintech founders and CEOs.p.2
• Starling serves 4.6 million accounts and holds £12.1 billion of customer deposits.p.4
• SMEs make up 99.9% of all businesses, or 5.7 million firms, and employ 16.9 million people.p.5
• OakNorth has provided over $20 billion in lending, supporting the creation of more than 70,000 jobs.p.5

Key insights

1. The report proposes four calls to action, including fixing the capital gap and rebuilding market access.p.4
2. Closer alignment with Europe creates an opportunity for fintechs that lost passporting access to a market of more than 450 million consumers.p.4
3. Zilch has processed over £5 billion of purchases and Epos Now has enabled £30 billion in gross transaction value.p.4
4. Allica's lending has supported 118,000 jobs and contributed £8.4 billion to UK GDP.p.5
5. Over the past decade, the UK has secured more fintech investment than any country bar the US.p.2