The explosive growth of the global fintech sector continued in the last year, drastically outpacing its incumbent rivals but faced a challenge in cementing its market share.

Fintech firms’ average growth rate was four times faster than that of traditional financial services at an average of 22 per cent in BCG’s Global Fintech Report 2026.

Global revenue secured by the sector came in at half a trillion dollars in 2025.

Europe was a standout performer on the global stage with an average of 24 per cent growth, but much of this was anchored in a strong UK performance that soared ahead of the average revenue increase at 30 per cent.

The report said the region was “supported by neobanks moving into adjacent products and geographies, continued buy-now-pay-later momentum, and a more accommodating regulatory environment.”

A handful of London-based neobanks dropped annual reports in the last few months, revealing staggering rises in income.

Revolut – which secured its long-awaited full-fat UK banking licence in March – pocketed £4.5bn in revenue as retail customers expanded by a record 16m.

BCG’s report said: “In Europe, we expect leading neobanks such as Revolut, N26, and Monzo to continue chipping away at share from incumbents”.

It added regulatory reforms including those to listings “may not transform the market overnight, but they point in the same direction: more deliberate attempts to improve capital market access for growth companies.”

“If these reforms gain traction, they should support an increase in transaction activity and exit options in Europe”.

Fintech deals boom

The report revealed a major uplift in mergers and acquisitions activity with deals volumes jumping to $251bn, up from $184bn the year prior and $105bn in 2023.

Asia led this surge with a 110 per cent year-on-year volume growth in deals.

“A growing share of deal activity is characterised by fintechs acquiring other fintechs,” the report said, in a reversal of incumbents snapping up their digital-native challengers.

In 2025, 659 deals were completed by fintechs against 589 by incumbents.

“That is a signal that the sector’s more mature players are no longer just acquisition targets. They are increasingly acting as consolidators in their own right,” it said.

But on the public market front, the sector still faced an uphill battle. Global fintech IPOs of the last five years have trailed behind the broader financial services sector by 24 percentage points in annual total shareholder returns, according to BCG.

The report pointed to public investors still “asking hard questions about profitability, customer concentration, compliance maturity, and the durability of growth” despite booming revenue streams.

A fleet of UK fintechs are expected to go public in the near-future though questions remain around the final destination where they may land.

Revolut chief Nik Storonsky said in April its public debut was “two years away,” extending the Treasury’s timeline to shore up one of Europe’s most-desired IPO prospects.