Ireland as Europe’s Premier Fintech Hub

Ireland’s Fintech Foundations & Future Growth

Ireland is a leading Fintech hub in Europe and a location of choice for companies in this sector. The only English-speaking country in the EU, Ireland offers EU market access, a highly skilled and well-educated workforce complemented by the mobility of inward talent from other EU countries, as well as the freedom of movement with the UK. These factors were, and continue to be, some of the most important for Financial Services firms looking at locations for EU operations and regulation and have been the basis for the growth of the sector in Ireland.

Ireland has a long history with the Financial Services sector with its origins dating back to the creation of the Irish Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Dublin’s Docklands in the late 1980s. When it was established, the IFSC focused on traditional areas of the sector, but over time, the development of Financial Services across the country has made Ireland an importantlocation for the wider sector and in many company’s growth strategies who have established operations and activities there. The presence of large-scale Financial Services firms in Ireland such as Barclays, HSBC, AON, Fidelity, Citi, Northern Trust and Legal and General are important in showcasing the breadth of the wider sector which has developed there and continues to grow and expand.

The rise of Fintech in Ireland, like in every location, was driven by the need for the Financial Services sector to adapt to the changing environment that was hungry for innovation and redefinition in a tech savvy world. The development and implementation of newer and moreagile technologies, new operating models, AI and greater use of tools such as Machine Learning have brought about significant change and Ireland has adapted well. Dedicated initiatives and investment in areas like collaboration with academia, research centres, talent development and upskilling and the further development regional locations were all central to the preparedness of the Financial Services sector for this evolution and ensured there was a place for the Fintech sector to thrive in Ireland. The proof of this success can be seen in the Fintech landscape that has grown in Ireland with several well-known firms in this space such as Stripe, Mastercard, PayPal, Revolut, Global Payments, Paysafe, Elavon, Clearstream, North and Ministry Brands having established operations in Ireland.

There are several factors which have driven this when looking at Ireland including but not limited to the availability of well-trained talent, pro-active Government agencies such as IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland in supporting Irish and multinational companies, a pro-business Government and the presence of a well-regarded regulator in the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). The operating environment in Ireland has been key in the success of the Fintech sector’s growth and development there and has made Ireland an attractive location for firms operating in this space.

Ireland’s Position in the Future of Fintech

Fintech is one of the fastest growing verticals of Financial Services and its success in Ireland is visible through the large-scale presence of companies who have established operationsthere. Many of these firms are UK headquartered and have chosen Ireland as their EU hub such as Paysend, Paymentsense (Dojo), Ramp Network, Paytrix, Seedrs, Freemarket and True Layer. The presence of these companies, and many others, is a testament to the capability in Ireland to support their growth and, more broadly, the further development of the Fintech sector there. New opportunities in areas of digital banking will continue to emerge. The rise of the digital bank in recent years has been a turning point for the sector driving evaluation of existing models, online services and UX and will be a key driver for this sector going forward.

The growth of the Fintech sector will continue to be seen in Ireland which has established itself as a leading centre for Fintech in Europe. For many of the Fintech, and indeed payments firms who established a presence in Ireland, this was often initially centred around regulatory needs, particularly post-Brexit. However, for many of these firms, they have seen the opportunity to grow these sites adding new functions and capabilities and taking on new activities to support group strategy needs and ambitions in areas such as RD&I, operations, multilingual services and technology support. The ability to do this in Ireland has made these sites strategic hubs within group level operations and has helped build a strong and well-defined value proposition for other companies considering Ireland.

The Fintech sector, like all verticals of Financial Services, is subject to regulation for many functions and services. The Irish regulator, the CBI, is a well-regarded and robust regulator with a strong reputation. The most commonly sought authorisations for Fintech and Paymentsfirms are Payments Institution (PI) Licences and Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licences. The Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR) is a newer EU regulation, effective as of 1st January 2025, and provides regulation for uniform rules for crypto-assets, issuers, and service providers operating there and focuses on investor protection, market integrity, and financial stability by regulating stablecoins, utility tokens, and crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). Several firms have sought and been granted authorisation under MiCAR in Ireland by the CBI including Kraken, Paysafe and Ramp Network.

The future for Fintech is likely to focus on innovation in payments, AI, digital banking, digital assets and crypto as well as the further development of the supporting infrastructure, talent pipelines and will be underpinned by regulation. Ireland is a well-positioned location of choice for Fintech firms and has the proven capability and track record for success.