The European fintech and banking industry must not follow Trump’s US in cancelling workforce equality programmes and must instead continue to enforce diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), according to Wincie Wong, co-founder of Tech She Can.
During a session on women in fintech at Finovate Europe last week, Wang reflected on the direction of travel in the US, where President Donald Trump is pushing for workforce diversity programmes to be terminated.
On regaining the US presidency, Trump called for an end to DEI programmes, which he described as “dangerous, demeaning and immoral”. Businesses in the US, including internet giant Meta, are closing DEI programmes as a result.
But fintech businesses in Europe and the UK will gain an advantage if they stick to the diversity programmes they have in place, according to Wong.
“This is a major issue, as many major banks, mainly in the US, are responding directly to the president. I am an American and this is an issue I am paying very close attention to.”
She said the companies cancelling programmes were probably not committed to them in the first place and just saw them as a “box-ticking” exercise rather than a way to increase productivity.
“Those companies that get it understand it’s about creating pathways for people who couldn’t always demonstrate their intelligence and thoughts. We know that, in the UK, if we close the gender skills gap, we can add billions of pounds to the economy.
Hope for Europe
She told Computer Weekly: “Europe has already made a clear stance that it doesn’t want to follow this line of thought. I think it’s very positive in Europe.
The former head of workforce technical capability Digital X at NatWest said Europe can take a different approach and gain an advantage.
“D&I when done correctly, embraced intentionally, yields better innovation and better products. It has been proven over and over again. Continuing to take a stand on it, to enforce all the policies we have in the EU and UK, can only be positive for productivity.”
She said Europe has taken a different path to data protection and artificial intelligence regulation and has, as a result, been “ahead of the game”.
Maria Scott, founder and CEO of Taina Technology, which helps financial services companies meet their tax regulatory requirements through automation technology, said: “It has been proven beyond any doubt that more diverse organisations and boards create more value and contribute to a safer, more inclusive world for all. The data is clear on this.”
She added that she hopes “modern society” will not allow such a step backwards “into the dark ages” and risk losing all the progress made in making organisations more inclusive and fairer.
“Clearly, everything has to be done on the merits and not as a box-ticking exercise. Anything that is done purely for box-ticking or reporting is pointless to begin with and will fizzle out eventually,” said Scott. “This is about substantive inclusion and fairness. It is about recognising our biases, promoting role models, changing mindsets for the sake of a happier, more inclusive and fairer world for our children.”
Female founders already held back
There have also been worrying signs recently that women are discriminated against when it comes to seeking investment in their fintech startups. A survey by industry body Innovate Finance found that women behind fintechs still face discrimination when seeking investment, despite the issue having been an industry talking point for years.
Innovate Finance’s numbers unearthed the worrying detail that investment in fintechs led by women dropped by twice as much as the UK average in 2024. It reported that women-led fintechs experienced a sharp decline in investment of 78%, more than double the 37% market-wide fall, which it said underscores “the need for more inclusive funding practices”.
Total investment in fintechs founded by women, according to Innovate Finance, was just under £100m, about 3.3% of the total.
