Which British fintech companies are making a splash on the global stage? Courtesy of the new Forbes Fintech 50 list, we can provide an answer to that – or at least a partial one.

Forbes reporters spoke to hundreds of startups, CEOs, business founders and industry experts in order to establish which fintech businesses are really getting people excited. To make the list, a business had to have operations in the US – which clearly rules out quite a number of British fintechs – and most were American businesses. However, three London-based companies have made a sufficient impact on the other side of the Atlantic to make the list.

The three British fintech stars, Forbes’ exercise reveals, are:

Algomi

The company’s honeycomb bond-trading information system helps buyers see which banks hold inventory of bonds they want to buy—information that, surprisingly, isn’t now readily available.

 

TransferWise

This company, increasingly well-known in the UK, chops the high fees that individuals and small businesses pay for international money transfers by (invisibly to customers) matching buyers and sellers of each currency.

WorldRemit

A phone app for money transfers to developing world companies, WorldRemit typically charges 2% to 3% on a $200 transfer, compared with the 8% charge typically levied by existing providers in this market

An honourable mention should also go to Adyen, a business that has invented a payment platform to bypass rickety old infrastructure to power global e-commerce across six continents for companies such as Facebook, Uber, Airbnb, Alipay and Spotify. The only other non US company on the list, Adyen hails from Amsterdam.

However, outside of the US, it’s the UK’s fintech sector alone that makes any sort of impression on the Forbes list, reflecting the continuing dominance of the London startup scene in particular in Europe’s fintech sector.

By some estimates, the UK’s fintech sector is now worth £20bn a year to the country’s economy, with around 135,000 people employed in the sector. Innovate Finance, one of the trade bodies that serves the sector, is hoping that it will attract $8bn worth of venture and corporate capital a year by 2020.

That will depend on more big success stories emerging. TransferWise, one of the three Forbes choices, is already acknowledged as a precious “unicorn” company – a fast-growing business worth more than £1bn. In Funding Circle, the UK has another one.

With backing from Government and the regulatory authorities – which have done their best to facilitate innovation – as well as leading banks, including Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC, and other investors, there is every reason to be hopeful more unicorns will spring from the crowd.

 

Read more Fintech Investment Reviews here.