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

Northern Ireland’s largest price comparison site, CompareNI.com, 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 CompareNI survey found over three-quarters of students, (81%)*, haven’t considered a career in fintech, entry-level pay is estimated to be 60% higher than the average graduate starting salary.**

The fintech sector in Northern Ireland currently employs 7,000 people across 74 fintech firms, contributing an estimated £392 million to the economy, with the potential to create thousands of jobs and generate over £25 million*** in foreign direct investment in a matter of years – with a reputation for a wealth of benefits, development opportunities and lucrative salaries.

With this in mind, CompareNI.com’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 short 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 CompareNI.com – to help support the candidate with recruitment and give them a feel for the fintech industry.

Ian Wilson, Managing Director at CompareNI.com comments:  “2023 was an exciting year for local fintech, amidst inflation challenges grew potential for innovation and development.

“Our expertise is in aggregator technology, we create all sorts of comparison solutions – one of our most popular platforms is our price comparison site CompareNI.com, a tool customers can use to compare and find better products for less.

“The current cost-of-living crisis has shown us just how valuable this is to customers, as our volumes doubled across 2023 as people hunted to cut costs.  Fintech businesses like ours that work to find real people real savings should see a lot of potential in 2024 – opening doors for them to support the next generation of fintech recruits.

“Personally, I studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering here in Belfast so I wanted this scholarship to show young people, who come from all sorts of studies, that fintech thrives on a diverse range of skills and talents, making for an innovative and lucrative career, no matter what their passion.”

Professor Daniel Broby, Chair of Financial Technology at Ulster University said: “Northern Ireland has established itself as a significant FinTech centre worldwide attracting some of the world’s top financial services companies and providing the highest concentration of FinTech employment in the United Kingdom. Having a continual flow of diverse talent into this thriving sector is key for future growth and prosperity. The CompareNI Scholarship presents an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of FinTech and its exciting career opportunities to individuals from all educational backgrounds. We extend our wholehearted support to CompareNI for their dedication in recognising and rewarding the brightest student minds in FinTech in both Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom.”

As a leading fintech employer, CompareNI’s 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.

To show support for students, the CompareNI.com scholarship is offering one student a £1000 bursary plus the opportunity for work experience, entries close 30 April 2024, full details of how to apply are available here. 

References:

*CompareNI.com’s findings are based on a randomised survey of 300 students across Northern Ireland, which represents a margin of error of approximately 5% at a 95% confidence level.

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

***https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/88d7b9d3-a82b-443b-bb0e-b397a490dd77/downloads/3%20Year%20Strategy%20and%20Roadmap%20for%20Fintech%20in%20NI%20.pdf?ver=1666597375704