Global fintech investment fell to its lowest level since 2017, with just $95.6 billion invested across 4,639 deals in 2024, according to KPMG’s latest Pulse of Fintech report.

It was a particularly difficult year in the UK, where fintech investment dropped by more than 25% year-on-year. Still, the UK accounted for nearly half of all fintech investment across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), where investment fell from $27.6 billion in 2023 to $20.3 billion in 2024.

In the Americas, investment fell to a six-year low of $63.8 billion, dragged down by macroeconomic uncertainty even as Canada set a new domestic record of $9.4 billion.

KPMG attributed the sinking investment to a difficult exit environment, with investors concerned by the lack of sustained exits as well as ongoing market uncertainty and valuations.

However, investment wasn’t muted across all sectors. Payments were a rare beacon for investors, with global investment in the sector increasing to $31 billion (up from $17.2 billion in 2023), including the largest deal of the year — GTCR’s $12.5 billion buyout of a majority stake in US-based payments processing firm Worldpay.

Crypto, too, saw an increase, with global investment in digital assets and cryptocurrencies rising from $8.7 billion in 2023 to $9.1 billion in 2024. It appeared that the sector became more attractive as the year went on, as four of 2024’s five largest crypto deals occurred in the second half of the year.