Cash is Still King in Europe, but Declining Rapidly
While industry narratives often downplay the role of cash, cash remains a significant payment method at the European point-of-sale (POS). However, European policy initiatives present a unique contrast with concerted governmental efforts to reduce cash usage.
Recent Public Market Meltdown of North American B2B Payments SaaS & Fintechs
Recent public market meltdown of North American B2B payments SaaS & fintechs likely to accelerate a wave of public-to-private M&A (along with other fintech domains). Market fundamentals, growth outlook, and opportunity for value creation in the sector remain healthy in the long term.
SaaS Embedded Finance Survey Results Part 1: Maturity Roadmap
Flagship recently completed a survey of 100+ North American SaaS platforms on their embedded finance businesses. We will be sharing key insights in a series of infographics. The first of the series focuses on embedded finance maturity. ‹ › General Commentary & Highlights Embedded finance takes years to perfect: There is a clear correlation between time […]
Q4 2024 SaaS Earnings Observations
Despite macro-economic headwinds and stock pricing pressure, large SaaS platforms have succeeded in continuing to drive top-line revenue growth while embarking on a transition to profitability. ‹ ›
Mercado Libre Ecosystem-powered Growth
Overview of Mercado Libre, a global example of how to successfully integrate fintech with commerce. From a marketplace to $100 billion fintech giant, Mercado Libre exemplifies how platform-driven expansion and embedded finance can transform digital businesses, providing a compelling blueprint for global growth.
Ubiquitous Open Banking: Select Global Markets
Open banking enables secure data sharing between banks and third parties, facilitating payments and information access. Beyond UK/Europe (initial markets), we now see other regions at the cusp of open banking adoption, driven by both regulatory and market forces. We advise viewing the slides via the “PDF” icon button. ‹ › General Commentary & Highlights […]
Wero: The European Challenger Digital Wallet
AI’s Impact on Payments & Fintech, Part 3: Operating Efficiencies
Part 3: Operating Efficiencies is the 3rd installment of Flagship’s multi-part series assessing the potential impacts of AI on payments and fintech. Read Part 1 & Part 2
NYC Event: The Embedded Finance Opportunity, January 2025
On 23 January 2025, we had the pleasure of co-hosting a live event in collaboration with UBS at their New York office, on the trending topic of Beyond Payment: The Embedded Finance Opportunity. Watch the highlights and a peak into the insightful discussions that took place in the aftermovie below.
Issuer Processing Competition Intensifies But Banks Remain Cautious
General Commentary & Highlights Press releases are a proxy for market activity levels. While an imperfect measure, fintech providers typically make a press release for large or interesting events. Next-gen issuer processors activity levels continue to be high Traditional processors show wide variance in announcements Announcements from the sampled processors focused on home markets in […]