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.
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A licence says a regulator authorised a company, not who controls it. European providers with foreign owners, and where that control concentrates.
Europe's summer 2026 licence growth was almost all MiCA - and in Germany it was led by local cooperative banks, not crypto firms. How to read a register count.
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.
The EBA, ESMA and FCA registers rebuilt into one index: Germany has overtaken Lithuania at the top as MiCA authorisations land - and a 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, EURe, EURQ, EURR, EUROP, EURI) as a European, EEA-supervised alternative to US-controlled USDC and USDT. Verified at source.