Lithuanian central bank sees surging trasactions amid pandemic; Supervision creates challenge after dirty-cash scandals nearby
Lithuania, the European Union’s fastest-growing fintech hub, is
seeing an “evolutionary” shift away from traditional banks with surging
transactions for e-money and payment companies.
The Baltic country, whose financial industry is dominated by Nordic lenders like SEB Bankas AB and Swedbank AB,
joined the global push to shakeup traditional banking four years ago by
offering simplified, fast licensing covering all 27 EU members.
The initiative has taken off: Lithuania ranks
fourth in the world for fintech ecosystems. Outgoing Central bank
Governor Vitas Vasiliauskas said fintech transactions gained a larger
share last year, though he acknowledges money-laundering risks after
scandals in neighboring Latvia and Estonia involving illicit cash from
the former Soviet Union.
The ecosystem for fintech is there, which means we can
expect some changes in competition for financial services,”
Vasiliauskas, who also sits on the European Central Bank’s Governing
Council, said this week in an interview. “We need additional time for
bigger changes because fintechs have to grow stronger. But in the field
of payments, from year to year, we see an evolutionary decreasing role
of the banking sector and an increase for fintechs.”
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