Podcast: Building Europe’s Payment Alternative, A conversation with EPI CEO, Martina Weimert
“We want to offer one tool for all payment use cases.” As Europe pushes to build a homegrown alternative to Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal, what will it actually take to win consumer trust and merchant adoption at scale? In our latest podcast, Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI, explains how the digital wallet Wero is expanding […]
The Stablecoin Promise in Cross-Border Payments: Real, but Not Uniform
Of all the use cases where stablecoins have emerged, cross-border payments have the clearest product-market fit. But that fit is not uniform; it is concentrated in specific corridors, specific transaction types, and operating models. Cross-border payments remain one of the most friction-laden, expensive, and opaque segments of global finance. Businesses wait three to ten days […]
Flagship Market Monitor: Credit Issuing Q1 2026
Credit products are being repositioned as the front end of broader financial and commercial platforms, as issuers and fintechs compete less on headline rewards and more on the ecosystem around the card, including travel, lifestyle, expense tooling, and increasingly AI. Q1 2026 brought a wave of premiumization: higher fees anchored to richer benefits, non-traditional spend […]
Q1 2026 SaaS+Fintech Earnings Observations
SaaS and fintech equities have rallied over the past month yet remain laggards to the broader market over the past year. Despite the choppy stock performance, the fundamentals tell a story of continued strength. Average revenue growth accelerated slightly, and gross profit margins continued to expand in the most recent quarter, marking the 11th straight […]
Executive Interview with Martina Weimert, CEO, EPI: “We want to offer one tool for all payment use cases”
Flagship Advisory Partners’ Executive Interview Series provides readers with exclusive insights from thought leaders in the payments and fintech industry.
This edition spotlights EPI (European Payments Initiative) and its digital wallet, Wero. Flagship Advisory Partners spoke with Martina Weimert, CEO of EPI, to discuss Wero’s geographic expansion, the role of banks in driving Wero adoption, and the broader ambition to build a sovereign pan-European payment alternative.
Executive Interview with Luke Trayfoot, Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, YouLend: “Embedded lending is emerging as the next major frontier in embedded finance.”
Flagship Advisory Partners’ Executive Interview Series provides readers with exclusive insights from thought leaders in the payments and fintech industry.
This edition spotlights YouLend, a leading embedded lending provider operating in 10 markets. Flagship Advisory Partners met with Luke Trayfoot, Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, to discuss how lending delivered through platforms can give SMBs faster, smarter access to credit and help bridge the SMB credit lending gap.
Android is the Clear Winner of the POS Terminal Operating System Wars
Android payment terminals seem to be everywhere nowadays and it shows in the data, Android is set forecasted to become the dominant operating system for payment terminals in 2026. The rapid adoption is driven by the clear advantages Android provides for payment providers and merchants. These advantages boil down to the Android ecosystem being much […]
Sovereignty, Agents, and Stablecoins: Flagship’s Takeaways from Money20/20 Europe 2026
Flagship Advisory Partners recently attended Money20/20 Europe 2026 in Amsterdam, the premier annual gathering for the fintech and payments sector. Through discussions with established market leaders and disruptive startups alike, our team gained firsthand perspectives on the innovations and trends redefining the future of payments. Flagship’s Key Industry Takeaways 1. Fintech: Familiar Themes Amid Cautious […]
Executive Interview with Miriam Wohlfarth, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Banxware and Martin Brinckmann, Head of Small and Medium Corporates at HVB/UniCredit
Miriam Wohlfarth Martin Brinckmann Flagship Advisory Partners’ Executive Interview Series provides readers with exclusive insights from thought leaders in the payments and fintech industry. This edition spotlights Miriam Wohlfarth, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Banxware, and Martin Brinckmann, Head of Small and Medium Corporates at HVB/UniCredit. Photo credit: Miriam Wohlfarth, Martin Brinckmann
Non-USD Stablecoins Remain Niche and Highly Context-Specific
Although non-USD stablecoins remain a niche segment, regulatory developments are reshaping the digital money landscape in Europe. MiCA, together with evolving frameworks in the UK and Switzerland, is reducing uncertainty around stablecoins and tokenized deposits, enabling greater participation from banks, payment providers, and fintechs. This regulatory clarity is driving innovation across payments, settlement, custody, and […]