Demystifying CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies)
Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) have emerged as a pivotal topic at the intersection of finance, technology, and policy. As traditional forms of currency give way to digital alternatives, central banks worldwide are exploring the potential of CBDCs to revolutionize how we conduct financial transactions, manage monetary policy, and safeguard economic stability. The article attempts […]
PSPs Expanding To Banking: Is it worth it?
Over the past few years, several major payment service providers (PSPs) have expanded their product sets by introducing banking solutions such as cards, credit, and business accounts. In this article, we analyze the banking offerings of select PSPs across Europe and the U.S., listed in Figure 1. Banking products present a natural cross-selling opportunity for […]
Opportunities for Banks in Fintech
We advise viewing the slides via the “PDF” icon button. General Observations Banks have not become the commoditized utilities that many feared, but they are clearly losing out on many growth opportunities in payments and fintech. Nevertheless, banks do have strong capabilities that can help them compete and many opportunities to win in payments […]
Highlights from Railsr’s Bankruptcy Document and Lessons Learned
The struggles of Railsr, a former fintech unicorn that raised $187 million and was one of Europe’s most visible Banking as a Service (“BaaS”) providers, have been well documented. Once valued at $1 billion in 2021, Railsr was sold in a prepackaged bankruptcy to a consortium of investors and management for $500,000 plus up to […]
Implications of the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse for Fintechs
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) is the latest blow for fintech in what is shaping up to be a very tough year. We won’t recap the entire SVB story, but a brief look at SVB’s investor relations materials is instructive for the industry as a whole: a significant spike in funding from investors […]
Framing the Fintech Geo Expansion Opportunity in the US-Europe Corridor
US-to-Europe and Europe-to-US are popular corridors for fintechs seeking to expand geographically due to the huge size of the markets, regulatory uniformity with the region, cultural similarities, and market maturity levels. Roughly half of the top 50 European fintechs have expanded to the US, and Europe is typically the first stop for U.S. fintechs looking […]
Top Neobanks in Europe and North America: State of Current Growth, 2022
Neobanks continue to be an important driver of innovation in financial services. In this article, we compare the offerings of the top neobanks in Europe and North America and investigate how they have evolved since our prior research last year.
Flagship Advisory Partners Analysis of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “Buy Now, Pay Later: Market Trends and Consumer Impacts Report” 2022
Recent data published by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau illustrates how the U.S. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) landscape is changing based on consumer behavior and shifting economics. In this article, we analyze their findings and present our key takeaways. We advise downloading the slides via the “Download Article PDF” button in the […]
Infographic: Breakdown of the European Fintech Landscape, 2022
General Observations As of Oct. 2022, there are over 3,300 active fintechs in Europe (vs. 4,200+ in the US) More than 70% of all European fintechs specialize in investments, lending, and payment services; most B2B fintechs focus on addressing white space in the SME merchant segment Cross-border payments and spend management fintechs are up and […]
Infographic: Traditional vs. Neobank Product Sets in North America
INFOGRAPHIC: Traditional vs. Neobank Product Sets in North America Contact Rom Mascetti at Rom@FlagshipAP.com or Erik Howell at Erik@FlagshipAP.com for comments or questions.