How European fintechs can scale: barriers and playbooks

Finextra and Visa Direct will host an online webinar examining how fintech firms can scale across European national markets, confront regulatory barriers and choose expansion playbooks. The session draws on material from Finextra’s upcoming 2026 State of Fintech in Europe report, produced with Visa Direct. The date and registration details are available from the organizers.

Organizers say the webinar will bring industry leaders together to discuss practical steps for expanding beyond a single country. The program will cover strategies for neobanks and fintechs in payments, wealth and lending, and the role of partnerships and new technologies in expansion plans.

Finch Capital projects the European fintech sector will grow from $85.52 billion in 2025 to $94.14 billion in 2026. Finextra’s report notes the sector has continued to attract capital during recent periods of market uncertainty.

Speakers plan to address the main obstacles to cross-border growth: a patchwork of national markets with different rules, a mix of regulatory approaches across countries, and uneven infrastructure that affects payments and data flows. The discussion will examine how those factors create different conditions for neobanks, payments providers, wealth platforms and lenders when they try to scale.

The webinar will also look at recent technology trends shaping expansion choices. Panelists will consider how advances in artificial intelligence, upgrades to payments infrastructure and wider use of digital assets are changing product design and operations, and whether firms can turn those technical changes into multi-jurisdictional growth.

A central topic will be the choice of expansion playbook: concentrating growth in a single market to gain depth, or launching rapidly across borders. The session will review how product mix, capital availability and local market conditions influence those decisions. Speakers will discuss how partnerships with banks, card networks, payment processors and local service providers can speed market entry and address compliance and infrastructure gaps.

Olga Ovchinnikova, vice president and head of Visa Direct Europe, will appear on the panel. Scott Hamilton, global payments and liquidity expert and contributing editor at Finextra, will moderate. The event is part of Finextra’s wider work on the 2026 State of Fintech in Europe report and will focus on regulatory alignment, local partnerships and operational choices for firms moving beyond their initial markets.