With 70% of all U.S. transactions handled by payment processing firms located in the state, Georgia is a national leader in Fintech. Further, the nickname “Transaction Alley” is fitting, considering that more than 60% of all payment processing companies in the U.S. call Georgia home.

The State of Georgia’s diverse workforce, low cost of living, and business-friendly environment draws in small startups and big corporations alike. The state’s fintech ecosystem is comprised of more than 200 companies, including notable Fortune 500 companies such as Equifax, Fiserv, Global Payments, Intercontinental Exchange, NCR, Capital One, Visa, and Microsoft.

The fintech industry in Georgia employs over 42,000 people, and, it’s expected to grow by an additional 5,000 by 2024. When it comes to the payment processing sector, the state has taken a proactive approach, partnering with the industry to ensure that fintech companies can easily hire the talent they need to meet the expected near-tripling of card transactions by the end of the decade.

Recent Fintech Developments Coming Out of Georgia

Due to its emphasis on cultivating a strong tech talent pipeline, the state continues to attract investments from major fintech companies.

For example, Governor Brian Kemp shared last year that Visa would be opening a new hub in Midtown Atlanta. A world leader in digital payments, Visa’s expansion is expected to create 1,000 jobs in the region when the new office opens.

Governor Kemp also announced that cloud communications provider Ringover would be opening its first U.S. office in Atlanta, making it yet another company looking to solidify its presence in the U.S. market by joining Atlanta’s FinTech ecosystem.

In early 2021, Atlanta was designated “La French Tech” hub, making it part of a global network of French startups and amplifying the region’s visibility as a hotspot for tech talent and investment.

Investments like these mean fintech was a top job-gain sector for Georgia economic development projects in FY22: fintech projects created $32 million in investment and more than 1,200 new jobs.

Establishing a Talent Pipeline to Support Georgia’s Fintech Sector

Recognizing that fintech companies depend on recruiting, training, and retaining quality talent, the State of Georgia is committed to providing the sector access to a diverse workforce with specifically sought-after skill sets. In addition to the more than 96,030 students who graduate each year from the 80 accredited public and private colleges and universities across the state, fintech companies in Georgia can recruit talent with the technical and financial skills needed thanks to the following three organizations:

Georgia Institute of Technology’s (Georgia Tech) Financial Service Innovation Lab acts as a platform to connect faculty and students with the financial services industry and fintech professionals. Its vision is to become a hub for finance education, research, and industry in the Southeast.

Georgia State University’s FinTech Lab is one of the first university fintech labs in the country. The lab provides an applied, experiential environment where students, faculty, and corporate partners can experiment with technologies transforming financial services, insurance, and real estate.

The University System of Georgia’s Georgia Fintech Academy is a first-of-its-kind in the world collaboration, which started in 2019 between Georgia’s fintech industry and the 26 public institutions of the University System of Georgia ensures the region has a strong pipeline of fintech talent. The academy allows students to access specialized educational experiences in banking, information security, data analytics, financial technologies, and payments. Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business in Atlanta serves as its physical hub.

Investments in fintech-related education are not just limited to the university level. The University System of Georgia has partnered with the Georgia Department of Education to create a FinTech Career Pathway program for high school students. The pathway aligns to USG’s associates-level fintech degree program and will expand options for students looking to enter the industry upon graduation.

The work being done at these institutions helps ensure that fintech companies in the state have easy access to a pipeline of talent with the technical and financial skills they seek.

The State of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) work to create a partnership with fintech companies and create an environment where their businesses can thrive. Members of the GDEcD Global Commerce Team will be attending one of the nation’s largest fintech conferences, Money20/20, to gain more insight into how to support the state’s growing fintech field.

For more information about Georgia’s fintech sector, please contact us.