Final call for student scholarship as UK leading fintech hunts for talent

One of the UK’s largest price comparison sites, Quotezone.co.uk, is calling for all students in higher education to consider applying for its latest bursary opportunity before entries close in April.

The rapid growth of all things digital is no surprise over the last four years, spurred on by lockdown and a surge in the work from home infrastructure – providing real potential for a new generation of digitally savvy graduates entering the growing world of fintech.

Although a recent Quotezone survey found over three-quarters of students haven’t considered a career in fintech, entry-level pay is estimated to be 60% higher than the average graduate starting salary.*

The UK fintech sector is the top-ranking investment destination in Europe, with £3 billion venture capital attracted in 2020.  Accounting for 11% of the global industry and home to an estimated 2,500 firms, the UK fintech industry currently employs 76,500 people and is set to grow to 105,500 by 2030 – with a reputation for a wealth of benefits, development opportunities and lucrative salaries.**

With this in mind, Quotezone.co.uk’s student scholarship project, now in its fourth year, is designed to raise awareness of the wide range of career opportunities available within the fintech sector.

The application process for the scholarship involves submitting a blog or vlog post discussing any benefits and barriers they believe university education currently has as well as any barriers to pursuing a career in the fintech sector – to help shed some light on these important issues.

The winner of the scholarship will receive a £1000 bursary which can be used to help ease some study costs, or even course materials and living expenses.  The winner will also get the option to take part in industry related work experience at Quotezone.co.uk – to help support the candidate with recruitment and give them a feel for the fintech industry.

Greg Wilson, Founder and CEO of Quotezone.co.uk, comments:  “2023 was a challenging year for many fintech companies as inflation reduced opportunities but it also produced potential in new and exciting areas of growth. 

“For example, our expertise is in aggregator technology, we create all sorts of comparison solutions – one of our most popular platforms is our price comparison site Quotezone.co.uk, where consumers can compare products and find themselves savings.

“This has never been more important given the current cost-of-living crisis and potential recession, our volumes have more than doubled across 2023 as people hunt to cut costs.  Fintech businesses like ours that have customer interests and savings as their top priority should see a lot of potential in 2024 and opportunities to invest in the next generation of fintech recruits.

“Personally, I studied Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering and started my career as an Aircraft Stress Engineer, so we wanted this scholarship to be a vehicle that shows young people, who come from all sorts of studies, that there are vast opportunities in fintech that are both fascinating and lucrative.” 

As a leading fintech employer, Quotezones parent company Seopa has been continuously investing in growth and recruitment, with new fintech roles readily available.  The company has been recognised with six Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards, and has been awarded a Deloitte Best Managed Company Award each year for the past seven years – now a Platinum Standard Best Managed Company since 2023.

Last year’s student scholarship winner was Aayushi Sharma from the University of Glasgow, who wrote an insightful blog on how fintech is disrupting traditional financial services.

To show support for students across the UK, the Quotezone.co.uk scholarship is offering two students a £1000 bursary each plus the opportunity for work experience, entries close 30 April 2024, full details of how to apply are available here. Students in Northern Ireland can apply here. 

References:

*https://uk.talent.com/salary?job=fintech#:~:text=The%20average%20fintech%20salary%20in,to%20%C2%A381%2C124%20per%20year.

**https://www.great.gov.uk/international/content/investment/sectors/fintech/