What does such a rating mean for Lithuania?
The inclusion of three Lithuanian companies in the global fintech list is important not only for the companies themselves but also for Lithuania. The ranking also includes such global financial technology names as Revolut, Stripe, Klarna, PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard. The scale of CNBC itself is also significant – its content reaches more than 450 million people worldwide every month across various platforms.
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Such visibility is beneficial for the entire Lithuanian fintech sector. It increases Lithuania’s recognition and strengthens the reputation of the country’s fintech sector among investors, potential partners, and international financial technology companies.
Lithuania stands out in this list among the Baltic countries. Three Lithuanian companies made it onto the list, while Latvia and Estonia each have two. However, the most important thing is not to surpass neighboring countries but to ensure that the number of such Lithuanian companies grows, that they can grow and successfully compete in international markets.
What is needed for Lithuanian fintech companies to grow?
Over the past decade, Lithuania has done a lot to become an attractive place for fintech companies. However, today attracting a company alone is no longer enough. Our next task is to strengthen the conditions that will allow companies operating here to grow and expand into other markets.
This means we need to look at how many companies operating in Lithuania are increasing revenue, creating new products, expanding teams, and competing in international markets. The more such companies we have, the more often we will see Lithuania’s name in global fintech lists.
A clear and predictable regulatory environment is important for growing fintech companies. Regulation is necessary in the financial sector, but companies need to know under what conditions they will operate in the future. This allows planning investments, developing new products, and expanding teams in Lithuania.
The role of state institutions is also important here. Lithuania has already created a strong fintech ecosystem, so it is important to maintain dialogue between business, regulators, and policymakers. When making decisions, it is important to assess their impact on Lithuania’s competitiveness: whether companies operating here will find it favorable to invest, create new products, expand teams, and grow from Lithuania into other markets.
Another important condition is the ability to create and test new solutions. The fintech sector is changing rapidly: artificial intelligence, instant payments, digital assets, and regulatory technologies are already transforming financial services. It is important for Lithuania not only to adapt to these changes but also to create conditions for companies to develop and test new solutions here.
Finally, we need to think about international growth from the very beginning. The Lithuanian market is small, so fintech companies must expand into other countries to grow. This requires a whole ecosystem – from people with international sales and product development experience to connections with investors, partners, and other European markets.
Lithuania already has much of what fintech companies need to grow. Over more than a decade, we have accumulated financial technology and regulatory expertise, have a strong base of specialists, and a developed fintech ecosystem. One of Lithuania’s advantages is the CENTROlink payment system managed by the Bank of Lithuania, which provides financial institutions access to the SEPA payment infrastructure.
Now it is important to maintain and strengthen these conditions so that fintech companies operating in Lithuania are competitive throughout the European Union.
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