69% of business leaders to increase FinTech investment over the next couple of years

February 24, 2021

Over two-thirds (69%) of business leaders are expecting their company to increase their investment in FinTech during 2021 and 2022, according to a report from cybersecurity company ESET.

Furthermore, 80% are adopting a cybersecurity-first approach when investing into new technology.

The desire to increase investment into security technology comes after 76% of senior managers in the UK state Covid-19 increased the need for improved security of finances.

These stats come from ESET’s survey of 1,200 senior managers in a variety of industries across the UK, US, Japan and Mexico. Its focus was on attitudes towards FinTech and threats post-pandemic.

One of the other findings in the report is that 65% of senior managers believe cybercrime will be a bigger or equal threat to the security of business’ finances in the next six months than another lockdown.

The size of the business impacted this opinion. Companies with over 1,000 employees were more fearful of cybercrime, while those with under 50 employees saw a lockdown as a bigger threat.

As for the focus of investing post-pandemic, 28% will put securing data as one of their key priorities. Other focuses will be improving efficiencies (34%) and reducing costs (32%).

Furthermore, 54% of respondents said they would invest into payment/credit card fraud detection, 52% will seek encryption tools and 50% will back multifactor/two-factor authentication.

ESET cybersecurity specialist Jake Moore said, “The UK has one of the highest costs of cybercrime in the world and ransomware is on the rise. With much of the UK in a struggling economic situation, it is more important than ever that businesses and their finances are protected with the very best in cybersecurity solutions.”

He added, “Business leaders in the UK are recognising that becoming cyber-resilient is not just about protecting data but also protecting the financial prosperity of the business. They are becoming increasingly willing to invest strategically in order to protect themselves from potential threats.”