Financial Technology Lab Heads to London

London has a new forum for shaping innovation in financial technology.

Roughly a dozen banks in the British capital have joined with city officials and Accenture (ACN) to launch the FinTech Innovation Lab, an outlet for testing technologies that can advance London's financial sector and attract technology know-how, Accenture announced Monday.

The lab, which emulates a similar program underway in New York City, brings together officials from the U.K.'s economic development fund, the city's Technology Strategy Board and Accenture with top tech executives from Bank of America, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, RBS, UBS and other firms.

During the 12-week program, entrepreneurs from six start-ups work with senior bank executives who help the entrepreneurs fine-tune their products. The initiative culminates with presentations by the start-ups to venture capitalists and financial industry executives.

"This program can make a big difference to the commercial success of new technologies by bringing innovators and entrepreneurs together with their potential customers," Richard Lumb, group chief executive of financial services at Accenture, said in a news release.

In New York, the FinTech Innovation Lab has helped nearly a dozen technology firms speed development of their products since the program launched in 2010, according to Accenture.

The London lab is open to early- and growth-stage companies that are developing products in such areas as mobile data, analytics, security and social media. Companies can apply to participate in the lab through November 1 at the program's website.

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