Ohio Offers Access to Fintech Future

Ohio may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of fast-paced and high-tech, but it should be when one considers access to talent, partners, and the cost advantage Ohio offers.

Ohio is the ideal place for innovative Fintech and Financial Services companies looking to grow. The state is ranked fifth in the U.S. in the number of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 company headquarters. A high-value IT infrastructure, a multitude of tech-savvy millennials and access to a wide array of global leaders across many industries explain why Financial Services is the second largest private sector in Ohio.

With such a strong foundation in Financial Services and a superb IT ecosystem, Ohio is becoming a hot spot for growing Fintech companies.

On Oct. 17, Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched its three newest data centers in Ohio to provide cloud computing and storage services.

Vantiv, a leading provider of payment processing services and related technology located near Cincinnati, is supporting Apple Pay on the web by allowing online merchants to offer single-touch checkout for customers.

Stockholm-based Klarna chose to build its North American headquarters in Ohio, citing talent and the concentration of retail and logistics partners among the main drivers for its decision.

Those are just a few examples of Fintech companies that benefit from the Ohio advantage, which offers easy access to partners, customers and talent, all with a substantially lower cost of doing business.

Huntington Bank, Nationwide Insurance, Progressive and Key Bank all are headquartered here. Ohio is strategically located in the Eastern Time Zone, and nearly three-fourths of the North American Financial Services industry is within a two-hour flight. This convenient advantage allows companies to make the most of working hours around the world. Ohio’s financial and insurance industries employ more than 200,000 Ohioans – 45,000 more than the City of London and three-fourths that of NYC. In Ohio, you have access to top talent at half the cost of NYC Metro and San Francisco wages.

For the first time, our team, along with our economic development partners at Columbus 2020, TeamNEO and REDI Cincinnati, will share Ohio’s Financial Services story at Money20/20 next week in Las Vegas. A premier Fintech event, Money20/20 attracts more than 10,000 stakeholders defining the future of how we spend, borrow and manage money. It will be an incredible opportunity to develop partnerships with companies of all sizes.

Our message to all of them will be the same: Ohio offers access to the Fintech future! Whether you are a company looking to startup or scale-up, there are extensive resources to support your growth in Ohio.

Going to Money20/20? Let’s talk. Visit us at Booth 1028 and learn how Ohio can propel the future of Fintech.