Irish companies are making waves in the global fintech space
Ireland is cementing its status as a strategic hub for global financial technology innovation, with home-grown companies such as Stripe, Fenergo and TransferMate leading the way. As financial services evolve at lightning speed, the Republic has quietly become one of the world's most influential fintech hubs. From payment infrastructure to compliance automation, Irish-founded companies are building the financial tools that power global commerce.
Financial technology – or fintech – is the use of innovative technology to transform financial services, from payments and lending to compliance and wealth management.
'It helps blend financial expertise with digital agility to deliver faster, more accessible, and more customer-centric services,' says Fidelma Clarke, partner and payments sector lead for EY Financial Services Ireland The State's fintech ecosystem is thriving for three main reasons, says Clarke: it has a globally connected financial sector, a tech-literate workforce and a progressive regulatory environment. 'It's home to more than 250 indigenous fintech companies and is the European base for big global players such as Stripe, Square, MasterCard and PayPal.
Fidelma Clarke Partner and Payments Sector Lead for EY Financial Services Ireland.
'In addition, Ireland's Common Law framework and EU market access make it a strategic choice for firms scaling across Europe. The Central Bank of Ireland has also increased its fintech-specific supervisory engagement, most recently through the Innovation Hub initiative.' Clarke says several Irish fintechs have emerged as global players, including Stripe, cofounded by Patrick and John Collison. It is now valued at $65 billion and operates in more than 40 countries, offering payments infrastructure for businesses of all sizes.
Fenergo, meanwhile, is a Dublin-based regtech firm that counts BNP Paribas, Santander and ANZ among its clients and supports more than 80 global financial institutions; TransferMate, headquartered in Kilkenny, facilitates cross-border payments in more than 160 countries and partners with firms such as SAP Concur, Wells Fargo, and Allianz; and Global Shares, a Cork-based equity management platform, was acquired by JP Morgan in 2022, signalling strong global demand for its solutions.
'Alongside Ireland-born fintechs, global players like Revolut have also chosen Ireland as a strategic base, reinforcing the country's status as a gateway to the EU fintech market.' The success of these firms stems from their having identified critical industry pain points – from fragmented compliance processes to inefficient cross-border transfers – and built scalable, enterprise-grade technology to solve them, says Clarke.
'For example, Fenergo co-created its platform with a consortium of banks to ensure immediate fit-for-purpose adoption. TransferMate built a proprietary global payments network, bypassing traditional banking rails. Stripe became the 'developer-first' solution for online commerce – now used by Amazon, Shopify, and Salesforce.
'Their success stems from building trusted infrastructure in developing customer-facing products.' The Republic's fintech sector isn't just driven by individual successes; its strength lies in its ecosystem, says Clarke.
'Cross-sector collaboration has been key: initiatives such as the Grand Canal Innovation District, the Fintech Corridor (linking Dublin and Belfast) and Dogpatch Labs' NDRC accelerator have helped create a thriving pipeline of early-stage innovation,' she says.
'Policy alignment is also encouraging, as both ECB president [Christine] Lagarde and European Commission president [Ursula] von der Leyen have called for a targeted, risk-based simplification of EU regulation to support innovation. This presents a leadership opportunity for Ireland to champion innovation while preserving trust and market integrity.' This opportunity has been recognised by Irish governments, with digital finance included as a key theme in the first Finance Strategy Action Plan in 2018, in 2023 and in the most recent Action Plan for 2024, which contained a commitment to assessing the merits and feasibility of establishing a National Fintech Hub, Clarke adds.
We are seeing Ireland's fintech leaders moving up the value chain and making an increasing impact on the shape of the financial services sector, she says.
'Crucially, these firms are not just solving for today, they're anticipating the next evolution of financial infrastructure, from tokenisation to cross-border regulatory convergence.
'Stripe is investing in embedded lending, identity services and AI-powered fraud prevention. TransferMate is expanding into treasury services and integrating with ERP platforms like Oracle NetSuite. Fenergo is applying AI to automate anti-money laundering and client onboarding workflows.'
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