Good afternoon,
News that Investor Cash Management will locate its headquarters in Wilmington is yet another sign that fintech is more than a techie buzzword.
ICM could employ upwards of 400 in building a platform that will combine an FDIC-insured bank account with investment vehicles from mutual fund companies.
The technology is already available to the Delaware State University community.
ICM already has a staff of 30 in Wilmington.
Delaware is positioning itself as a fintech leader, not the easiest thing to do given the stiff competition from California’s Silicon Valley and other tech centers.
Northern Delaware’s built-in advantage is a financial services workforce increasingly focused on technology.
Banking giants like Capital One and JPMorgan Chase have accounted for the bulk of local fintech employment. However, signs point to other players, like ICM, tapping into a deep pool of talent. talent, while bringing an entrepreneurial mindset.
None of this means that more traditional financial services jobs are going away.
Late this week, Citi announced that its internal auditing operation would split 100 new jobs between Wilmington and Jacksonville, FL.
Giants like Citi face a growing workload in complying with regulations that came out of the 2008-2009 financial crisis and monitoring issues such as building a more diverse workforce.
It wasn’t long ago that some in the gloom and doom crowd were predicting that Delaware would lose many of its financial services jobs, due to rising costs and a less favorable business climate.
In the end, a strong workforce made the difference.
Enjoy your weekend and watch those mall parking lots. –Doug Rainey, chief content officer.
