The FinTech industry has a problem with harassment, but now the Fintech For All Charter has moved to do something about it.
Harassment reporting platform InChorus, community support body Innovate Finance, the industry community Fintech Alliance and tech community Level39 led the initiative with the support of the Financial Conduct Authority. The project is funded by Revolut.
The initiative comes on the back of an InChorus survey that revealed that 85% of all harassment in the sector was gender-based and that 84% of the victims had been subject to it more than once.
“FinTech is the crown jewel of UK tech and we need to ensure that diversity and inclusion are an integral part of the sector’s culture from the start,” Charlotte Crosswell, chief executive of Innovate Finance, told City A.M., which broke the story.
“We are delighted to support the FinTech For All Charter and would encourage all FinTech organisations to sign up in order to create an environment which normalises inclusion and eradicates harassment.”
InChorus first announced the project in February this year.
“We want to help create a ‘speak up’ culture across FinTech,” the company said in a statement. “Because when employees feel empowered to speak up about problematic behaviours, we end a silence that harms individuals, companies, and the sector at large.”
The sector has come under intense scrutiny over the past few years, with the #MeToo movement and growing calls to oppose toxic cultures and gender pay disparity driving the conversation.
The InChorus survey showed that two-thirds of people in the sector wanted their organisation to introduce training to prevent harassment and that more than half the workers hoped that the industry could introduce a set of employment standards empowering the industry to tackle the issue.
Currencycloud and Checkout.com as well as investors Augmentum VC, Outward VC and Anthemis are among the organisations that have signed the charter. Consultancy PwC and industry bodies Fintech Circle and UKBAA have also signed up.
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