Building the financial infrastructure of a digital single market

European fintech has matured from challenger-bank insurgency into full-spectrum financial infrastructure. The continent now hosts over 9,000 fintech companies, from payments giants like Adyen and Klarna to embedded-finance enablers like Mambu, Thought Machine, and Swan. Total VC investment in EU fintech reached EUR 9.4 billion in 2024, recovering from a post-2022 correction and driven by B2B infrastructure deals rather than consumer neobanks.

The regulatory environment is Europe's secret weapon. PSD2 forced open banking into the mainstream, and PSD3 — expected to enter force by 2026 — will extend strong customer authentication to all payment transactions and regulate access to payment-system data. MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) has given the EU the world's first comprehensive crypto licensing framework, pulling compliant projects toward Paris, Dublin, and Frankfurt.

For founders, the EU's passporting regime means a single licence can unlock 27 markets with 450 million consumers. Lithuania has become the go-to jurisdiction for EMI licences (issuing over 140 since 2016), while Luxembourg and Ireland dominate fund administration fintech. The EIC Accelerator has funded dozens of fintech startups, and the InvestEU programme channels EUR 26 billion in guarantees through EIB-backed vehicles that prioritise financial inclusion and SME lending innovation.