Top 10 London fintechs: the best firms for salaries and culture
At the tail end of last year, a Dealroom report revealed that London was the premiere destination for fintech funding. It's not just about the big players like Revolut and Starling Bank: the city is a hive for smaller companies looking to do big things.
Here are 10 of the most highly rated fintechs in London and what working there can give you:
TrueLayer
Annoyed at your big banks unsatisfactory tech stack? An engineer-focused employer might be more up your alley, and TrueLayer is one such company. The fintech focuses on payments and data infrastructure for finance, crypto and more.
TrueLayer reviews on Glassdoor sit at 4.5 stars with 100% CEO approval. Recent reviews praise its “good tech stack” and “great community of engineers.” It received an award for innovation in payments in 2019 and hs since appeared on several lists for the best tech companies to work for.
More negative reviews claim that a number of staff have walked out over differences with management. One negative reviewer said the 13” Mac they were given isn’t a good enough spec and that they spent far too much time in meetings.
TrueLayer are hiring 19 roles, 6 of which are in engineering. A senior QA engineer can earn up to £90k a year while a senior engineering manager position has an upper salary limit of £140k.
Form3
Another payments fintech with an impressive tech stack, Form 3 stands out due to its cloud-native, built-from-scratch platform and opportunity to work fully remote.
Glassdoor reviews give Form3 an impressive 4.7 stars. They praise the “best tech” used for their “strong and innovative product.” On the people side, they praise a “transparent exec team” which affords them great autonomy with little micromanagement.
Most criticisms are thrown at the fully remote nature of work. Some quite enjoy it while others find it difficult to socialise with colleagues. Another criticism from one review is that “the relationship between business/product and engineering is not that strong.”
Form3 are currently hiring for 27 roles including a number of senior developer positions. Glassdoor salary information tells us the average yearly salary for a senior software engineer is over £93k.
Checkout.com
London’s biggest payments provider, Checkout.com, slashed its internal valuation at the tail end of 2022. Nonetheless, the fintech decacorn is working hard on expansion and its people love being a part of it.
Greatplacetowork.com put them in the top 50 large companies in London to work for and in the top 25 of the best workplaces for women, tech and wellbeing respectively. They’ve also featured in the top 3 of Glassdoor’s top London fintechs to work for.
More recent reviews on Glassdoor however have been fairly critical. One calls the company “good at fin, poor at tech,” while multiple in the last month complain about work-life balance.
Glassdoor salary information tells us senior engineers at Checkout.com earn a salary over £82k on average.
Capdesk
In September of last year, equity management platform Capdesk was acquired by San Francisco rival Carta. Though the latter does have some positive reviews, it’s the smaller UK based fintech that looks a more enjoyable place to work.
Given its smaller stature, Glassdoor reviews praise the “transparent” and “well liked” executives and founders. They also praise an “inclusive” and “very positive working environment,” particularly when it comes to remote working.
Prior to the acquisition, there were some negative reviews that warned of high staff turnover. Reviews warn that “salaries and perks may be a bit less than what you could get elsewhere.”
Thought Machine
Thought Machine has undergone a lot of growth and development in recent years. Though accusations of yesteryear paint them in a negative light, the cloud banking platform fintech have picked up steam and garnered near-universal internal acclaim in recent years.
A 2020 study from Sifted using Glassdoor reviews had them situated as the number one major fintech for employee satisfaction, with a total score of 4.7 stars. More recently, positive reviews praise the “loads of autonomy” afforded and “excellent treatment of employees.”
Their in-office focused approach may not be ideal for all, but they attempt to compensate with benefits like an in-house barista and “Thought Machine Fridays,” a weekly catered event giving insight into the goings-on of the company.
Glassdoor information tells us that the average total pay for a software engineer is over £86k while a senior engineer would earn £114k on average.
Revolut
Arguably London’s most prominent fintech, Revolut certainly isn’t the fintech for everyone. However, if you value quick career progression and want to come out of a role much better than you came in, Revolut is perfect.
One senior python developer left late last year, calling it a “beautiful place.” A Glassdoor review on Christmas day said it’s “not for the faint-hearted, but an experience of a lifetime.” Though the python developer said he never sacrificed WLB, other reviews disagree, with one highlighting a “significantly aggressive culture.”
Working at Revolut seems less about what you do while there but where it can take you after. Alan Chang joined at 21 left a millionaire aged 28 while to this day younger employees are entrusted with senior “operating principal” roles.
The average software engineer at Revolut earns an £86.5k salary on average whilst senior engineers earn £105k.
Wise
Another of London’s most significant fintech unicorns, money transfer fintech Wise is perhaps London’s most aggressive fintech hirer. Not only are jobs abundant however, they’re highly recommended.
Reviews praise the responsiveness of the company to the work you do where something as simple as “meeting deadlines has a greater impact than at most other places.”
As for culture, one Wise employee on blind appreciates the companies flexibility and casual approach. He says “I been working here a little over 4 months and I haven't seen anyone work beyond half past five.” He does however criticize their codebase which is “kind of a mess.”
Wise has 71 open roles in London, a number of which are available on eFinancialCareers. Their senior roles pay very well; an engineering lead can earn a salary of £130k while a lead finance product manager can earn £140k.
Atom Bank
Though their headquarters is based in the north of England, the challenger bank has a London office and stands out amongst the crowd for its far more laid-back approach to banking.
We’ve written before about them before as one of the rare examples in the finance industry of a four-day working week. Bankers have made moves to Spotify in recent months who offer the same thing meaning that extra day off is clearly valued by a fair few.
The culture when working also seems positive. Reviews on Glassdoor have an average of 4.3 stars and describe the company as “a big family” with a “progressive, can-do attitude.”
Atom’s biggest weakness in the jobs market is simply how few engineering roles are available, though there are a decent number of more traditional finance roles available. A portfolio manager at atom bank makes £80k yearly according to Glassdoor.
Zopa
In December it was estimated that digital bank Zopa had raised their headcount by 27%. Not only were they hiring more, they were paying their people even better, raising their minimum salaries over 20% and giving those earning under £50k yearly a £500 winter bonus.
With that level of expenditure, you might think they wouldn’t want to bring in too many more people, but they currently have 21 available roles across 9 divisions.
Zopa reviews on glassdoor are glowing, with a 4.6 star average and 98% CEO approval. They praise “excellent management” who “really care for staff” with one reviewer claiming to have been promoted twice in two and a half years.
Zopa are hiring a number of senior software roles including two heads of engineering. Glassdoor estimates that the average senior developer at Zopa earns a salary of over £83k.
GoCardless
Another unicorn, payments fintech GoCardless, is continuing its global expansion as it recruits in France, Australia and Latvia. The majority of hiring however is still happening in the English capital.
Reviews on Glassdoor are widely positive, with a 4.2 star score and 99% CEO approval. Tech staff in particular love the “modern” stack and “very friendly” engineering team.
One complaint by a 2023 review was a lack of support for those with special needs, particularly if a condition requires working from home. They did however concede that departments are quite segregated so it may not represent the entire company.
Glassdoor data suggests that the average engineer is paid a £76k salary while an engineering manager can make £128k.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: alex.mcmurray@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance.
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