CFIT appoints Alex Marsh to board

The former head of Klarna UK joins as independent non-executive director alongside the chairman of Fintech Scotland, Stephen Ingledew.

The Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) has appointed Alex Marsh and Stephen Ingledew OBE as independent non-executive directors.

CFIT launched in the first quarter of the year and was set up following the Kalifa Review in 2021 to help position the UK as a global leader in financial innovation. 

Ezechi Britton MBE, founder of financial well-being fintech Neyber, was appointed the first CEO of the organisation earlier this year.

Stepping down as Open Banking trustee at the end of last year, Charlotte Crosswell OBE is chair of the organisation, which sits between the government, regulators and the industry.

Marsh who is the former head of Klarna UK having recently left the BNPL giant after four and a half years, will be responsible for chairing the finance, audit and risk committee at CFIT.

Ingledew is chairman of Fintech Scotland and co-founder of the Fintech National Network.

At CFIT he will set up and chair the remuneration and nomination committee.

“[Marsh and Ingledew’s] joint experience is incredibly relevant for us as we embark on work to support the growth and development of the UK fintech sector,” Crosswell said.

“Alex brings significant experience of working within start-ups and scale-ups, understands the barriers they face and has great financial and risk management expertise, which is crucial to us as a publicly funded body.”

“Stephen’s experience in setting up and driving national fintech coalitions is invaluable to us. His four-decade long career facilitating collaborations across all UK regional fintech clusters will be instrumental in shaping our operating model going forward.”

According to CFIT, the appointment of non-executive directors will strengthen its governance as it embarks on bringing together “time-limited ‘coalitions’ of experts from finance, technology, academia and policy”, the first of which will focus on the opportunities of open finance.

“I am very excited to be part of the team and fully support CFIT’s mission to bring together the best minds from the ecosystem across the UK and help to drive better outcomes for consumers and SMEs in the UK,” Marsh said.

“My experience in scaling up the UK arm of payments disruptor Klarna will bring significant benefits to the CFIT team and first hand, deep understanding of what is needed to help unblock barriers for growth for financial technology firms.”