The former UK chief of Klarna has joined the board of the Treasury-backed Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) as the group looks to spur an “aggressive” push for the UK’s fintech sector.
Alex Marsh, who stepped down from his role with Klarna last month after four and a half years, will join the CFIT board alongside Fintech Scotland chair Stephen Ingledew as its first non-executive directors.
Marsh stepped back from Klarna in May to spend more time with his family and is now pursuing a “portfolio” career of roles.
Speaking with City A.M., he said ramping up the flow of talent into the UK fintech sector was top of the agenda in the new position.
“I think there’s so much untapped potential of individuals from different [backgrounds], whether it’s socio-economic, gender, age, race, ethnicity,” he said. “There’s so much talent there which we’re not tapping into.”
CFIT said in a statement the two NED appointments will “strengthen [its] governance” as it looks to build new “coalitions” of experts from finance, technology, academia and policy.
CFIT launched earlier this year after a £5m seed funding injection from the government. The body was one of the key recommendations of the Treasury-commissioned Kalifa Review of the country’s fintech sector in 2020.
The group has struck a number of partnerships with universities and fintech firms around the country to try and ramp up the flow of talent into the sector in the UK.
CFIT Chair Charlotte Crosswell told City A.M. yesterday the group was now looking to boost the “export of fintech goods and services” rather than just setting regulatory standards globally.
“I think we’re really good at exporting our thought leadership and showing others what to do,” she said. “But now is our opportunity, through the work we’re doing at CFIT, to really push forward aggressively.”
