How Fintechs Scale Across Fragmented European Markets

Finextra and Visa Direct are hosting a webinar tied to Finextra’s 2026 State of Fintech in Europe report to examine how neobanks and fintechs can expand across Europe’s fragmented national markets. The session will focus on practical routes for cross-border growth in payments, wealth and lending and on the operational and regulatory barriers firms face.

Panelists include Olga Ovchinnikova, VP and Head of Visa Direct Europe; Benjamin Kruk, Executive Director and Global Head of Product & Client Solutions at Bitpanda Enterprise; and Liam Gray, Head of Customer Relationships for UK & Europe at Plaid. Scott Hamilton of Finextra will moderate the discussion.

Speakers will identify barriers to expansion such as fragmented national markets, divergent regulatory regimes between EU and non-EU states, and uneven payments and banking infrastructure. The webinar will separate its analysis by segment, noting that neobanks, payments firms, wealth platforms and lenders confront different licensing, compliance and operational requirements when moving beyond home markets.

The session will examine how new technologies change product roadmaps. Topics include the adoption of artificial intelligence, upgrades to payments rails and the growing use of digital assets. Panelists will consider whether these trends speed cross-border launches or increase compliance and integration work.

Technical issues on the agenda include cross-border liquidity management, access to local payment schemes, and data integrations needed to serve multiple jurisdictions. The discussion will cover practical approaches to these technical challenges and how they affect launch timing and cost.

Partnership models will be discussed as routes to market. Speakers will review options such as white-label infrastructure, banking-as-a-service arrangements and joint ventures, and how each model influences control over customer relationships, product differentiation and regulatory exposure.

Regulatory fragmentation will be addressed with examples of market-entry approaches. The report and webinar will outline phased rollouts, use of passporting where available, and targeted acquisitions to obtain local licences and expertise, and will consider how centralised product development can be balanced with local compliance needs.

Organizers will draw on data showing continued investor interest in European fintech and growth projections from Finch Capital that estimate sector size rising from $85.52 billion in 2025 to $94.14 billion in 2026. The session will close with practical considerations for founders and investors, including technology integration priorities, capital planning for multi-jurisdiction operations and methods for managing regulatory requirements.