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Fintech now employs more people than the pension industry

“Fintech is growing rapidly, and Finansforbundet’s commitment to the development of new types of financial jobs helps secure future jobs”, says the CBS professor.

29. Aug 2022
3 min

Fintech companies established in Denmark currently employ nearly 4,300 employees.

The industry, which combines finance and technology, has thus overtaken the approximately 4,000 employees in the pension industry (minus Danish Labour Market Supplementary Pension). This is what Børsen tells us, based on figures from Copenhagen Fintech and Forsikring & Pension.

The fintech industry is estimated to employ 5,000 employees by the end of 2023. 

At CBS in Copenhagen, Professor Jan Damsgaard is not surprised by the positive development:

“It stems from the fact that a unique innovation environment has been created in Copenhagen Fintech. An environment where the individual banks are not at war with each other and where employees who have worked for a competitor are not excluded”.

“This helps ensure future opportunities for Danish banks and fintech companies on a global market – instead of being outcompeted and swallowed up”.
- Jan Damsgaard, professor at CBS

Jan Damsgaard also highlights Finansforbundet’s commitment in Copenhagen Fintech, which was established in 2015:

“They have made the right choice and embraced fintech rather than try to keep the development from coming to life. “This helps ensure future opportunities for Danish banks and fintech companies on a global market – instead of being outcompeted and swallowed up”.

Things don’t happen by themselves

“Things don’t happen by themselves, but if you want to, you can change your conditions over a short period of time. This was what was wanted, and it was done”, says Jan Damsgaard, who compares efforts for new forms of financial jobs with the recipe for successful sports teams:

“Many people think, for example, that Norwegians have a natural talent for winter sports, but Norway actually did poorly at the Winter Olympics in the past. That changed when a dedicated environment was created, which has since led to a shower of medals for Norwegian athletes”.

In addition to being an active partner in Copenhagen Fintech, earlier this year Finansforbundet invested DKK 75 million in the Upfin venture fund, which focuses exclusively on investment in fintech.

Understanding of business opportunities

Denmark has several advantages that also have a positive impact on job development within fintech, notes Jan Damsgaard:

“We have a very equal society. There is no fear of contact between people of different status. This is of great importance for collaborations on development and innovation. And we also have a special sense for commercial matters in Denmark. Recently I was in Israel, which is very strong when it comes to technology, but they do not have the same understanding of commercial business opportunities as we see in Danish fintech”.

With skill – and a little luck - established Danish financial companies can come to play a major role in the European market for modern financial solutions”, the CBS professor predicts.

Still, it’s not all sun and clear skies when it comes to future prospects:

“The big tech giants such as Apple, Google and Meta are challenging both the traditional banks and the fintech companies. The same applies to new banking and payment solutions that are free of charge to users. This will force other financial companies to slim down their business. But then it’s an advantage to have a strong fintech industry that can predict what’s to come and find new paths to build business models on once the existing ones are cut off”, says Jan Damsgaard.

Another challenge for fintech in Denmark is a glaring lack of IT people and challenges in paying IT professionals from abroad so that they can get a work permit.

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