Insights - data-driven analysis of European fintech infrastructure
Original analysis built on our verified catalogue and the official EBA, ESMA and FCA registers - licensing, sovereignty and the market structure behind Europe's fintech rails. Subscribe via RSS.
Source-verified coverage of 21 IBAN country codes - the UK leads with 17, Lithuania 9; Poland, Austria and Portugal have zero dedicated issuers. Only 15 verified IBAN sponsors document SEPA Direct Debit, where IBAN discrimination actually bites.
Register data from EBA, ESMA and the FCA: 998 PIs, 422 EMIs, 279 MiCA CASPs, 129 AISPs and 735 UK firms. Lithuania is the e-money capital, 39% of licences never passport, and Google, Amazon, Meta and Stripe all hold EU licences - licence is not sovereignty.
The card scheme is American, but the card body, chip and personalisation are made in Europe - IDEMIA, Giesecke+Devrient, Thales, Austriacard, Paragon ID. A rare layer where Europe leads.
Regulated euro stablecoins under MiCA (EURCV, EUROe, EURe, EURQ, EURR, EUROP, EURI) as a European, EEA-supervised alternative to US-controlled USDC and USDT. Verified at source.