Findexable ranks cities based on clusters or communities of FinTech companies. It has created a Global FinTech Index (GFI) in partnership with Crunchbase. Country and city rankings are calculated from a total score across three ‘units’ of metrics. They comprise the quantity and quality of companies in the ecosystem and the business environment of the location.

For quantity, clearly the more the merrier. Start-ups thrive on network effects, hence co-working spaces, accelerators, FinTech sector events and meetups — including a FinTech festival — are important. A financial centre is probably at an advantage because FinTechs need supporting organisations providing facilities to help the flow of connections and capital across the marketplace.

For the quality equation, the GFI assesses and estimates the impact of individual companies in a location relative to one another. FinTech unicorns have a big impact on the quality metrics as they impact the development and success of the wider ecosystem by inspiring other FinTech innovators and encouraging more venture capital to flow. The presence of major industry gatherings, ‘gateway’ FinTech events and the ability to scale the ecosystem are also important aspects of quality. 

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For the environment, the index developers used global measures like the World Bank’s Doing Business Report to gauge the ease, and attractiveness, of a specific location based on levels of local ‘red tape’ and technology infrastructure. Singapore ranked fourth in the cities ranking, and third in the countries ranking.

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FinTech Rankings - THE EDGE SINGAPORE