Ireland

Ireland is one of the few European countries without a domestic real-time bank transfer scheme, and the fintechs are rushing to fill that gap.

Many countries are positioning themselves as a destination for fintechs seeking EU-wide licenses as the U.K. leaves the EU. Following Brexit, U.K. electronic money and payments institution licenses across the EU won’t be passportable across the EU.

Mastercard will expand its European Technology Hub in Dublin over the next three to five years, as the card network plans to create more than 1,500 tech jobs at the site.

The U.K.’s departure from the European Union is still causing lots of headaches for financial technology companies, but there’s now enough clarity to work with. And that often means operating from a new address.

Just four months after receiving an e-money license from Central Bank of Ireland, fintech startup Soldo has raised €54 million ($60.5 million U.S.) to help fund its relocation from the U.K. into Ireland ahead of the possible Brexit split.

Stripe has updated its products and made an acquisition to prep for new security standards it says will impact more than 300 million people, potentially giving Stripe the same kind of influence over European merchant technology that it enjoys in the U.S.

Ten weeks remain until Great Britain is set to leave the European Union, but the chaos of the entire Brexit process brought much of the British credit union industry's regulatory priorities to a halt.

TransferMate, a cross-border B2B payments provider based in Ireland, has announced plans to buy Devisenwerk, a Swiss foreign exchange firm, to expand its capabilities and geographic reach.

Earlier this year, the Central Bank of Ireland announced plans to launch a fintech innovation hub, with the intention of engaging with all firms that are delivering innovation across the financial services sector, says Billy Hanley, senior development adviser for Enterprise Ireland.

TransferMate, a cross-border B2B payments service, has received a $25 million investment from ING Group N.V. to accelerate its global expansion.