EU🇪🇺: “Key Players in the EU Payments Market — 2026” (continued)

EU🇪🇺: “Key Players in the EU Payments Market — 2026” (continued)

We continue reading the report from the European Payments Association (PA EU) together with Deloitte and The Paypers (part 1, part 2). A brief overview of local trends and key players across European regions and countries.

📌 Central and Eastern Europe

📎 Romania🇷🇴: mobile e-commerce, fintech and Open Banking are growing rapidly. Instant payments and BNPL are also expanding, while international PSPs compete with local solutions. Smartphones are the main channel for online payments. 🗝 Key players: eMAG, Revolut, TBI Pay and Leanpay.

📎 Bulgaria🇧🇬: the shift toward instant payments and digital wallets is accelerating. One of the country's leading national solutions is Blink P2P, which enables bank-to-bank transfers using a phone number 24/7. 🗝 Key players: BORICA/Blink, Paynetics, EasyPay, iCard, MyPOS and Revolut.

📎 Slovenia🇸🇮: the local Flik P2P payment solution continues to expand. Despite the ongoing digitalization of payments, cash remains relevant. 🗝 Key players: Flik and banks.

📎 Slovakia🇸🇰: cash remains widely used, although all card transactions are contactless. Since 2026, merchants have been required to offer at least one cashless payment method. 🗝 Key players: banks, Visa and Mastercard.

📎 Hungary🇭🇺: GIROInstant is the country's main instant-payment operator. Mobile wallets, instant payments and digital banking are gaining ground. 🗝 Key players: TP/SimplePay and Revolut.

📎 Poland🇵🇱: one of the region's leading markets in terms of payments innovation. The market combines well-developed banking infrastructure with strong fintech solutions and established mobile payment methods. The main national alternative to cards is BLIK, which supports P2P, POS and e-commerce payments. 🗝 Key players: BLIK, PayU and Przelewy24.

📎 Austria🇦🇹: the combination of cash and contactless payments remains relevant. The market is gradually moving toward instant payments and greater European integration through Wero. 🗝 Key players: Erste, Raiffeisen and Bank Austria.

📎 Czechia🇨🇿: contactless card payments are widespread, while mobile payments continue to grow. Open Banking and services provided by international PSPs are also expanding. 🗝 Key players: GPE, ČSOB Gateway, Adyen, Stripe and Mollie.

📎 Croatia🇭🇷: mobile wallets and fintechs are gaining ground, while embedded finance models for small businesses are developing. 🗝 Key players: local solutions KEKS Pay and Aircash.

📌 Baltic States

📎 Estonia🇪🇪: a mature digital environment with well-developed instant payments, Open Banking and fintech. The market is strongly oriented toward electronic channels and international digital services. 🗝 Key players: banks and fintechs.

📎 Latvia🇱🇻: a high level of cashless payment adoption. The banking sector is dominated by Scandinavian groups, while fintech, digital lending, blockchain and mobile solutions continue to expand. 🗝 Key players: Swedbank, SEB, and fintechs/PSPs.

📎 Lithuania🇱🇹: one of the EU's leading fintech hubs. The market is strongly focused on regulatory compliance, while instant payments and Open Banking continue to grow. 🗝 Key players: CENTROlink, Neopay, Noda, Montonio and international BaaS providers.

📌 Northern Europe

📎 Denmark🇩🇰: one of Europe's most digitalized payments markets. Nine out of ten POS payments are made electronically. Cards, digital wallets and A2A payments dominate, while cash plays a limited role. 🗝 Key players: Danske Bank, MobilePay and international card schemes.

📎 Finland🇫🇮: debit cards account for 66% of POS transaction value. In e-commerce, digital wallets account for 35%, A2A payments for 27% and BNPL for 19%. Pay by Bank through Tink/Vipps MobilePay is also developing rapidly. 🗝 Key players: Nordea, OP, Siirto and Trustly.

📎 Sweden🇸🇪: the most cashless market in Europe. Mobile wallets, instant payments and digital-first banking solutions play a leading role. 🗝 Key players: Swish, banks and fintechs.

#news #Europe #background

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