The financial services industry is in the midst of a transformation. Changes in customer preferences, increased regulation, as well as a growing focus on sustainability, digitalisation and globalisation, are some of the drivers of this paradigm shift. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a clear accelerator of all these trends. The role of Fintech and new technologies has been key in recent months, and their development has accelerated exponentially. Processes that could have taken years to develop, due to the crisis, have ended up taking months. Fintechs have demonstrated their agility in adopting new technologies and testing new, more flexible and efficient business models. In addition, these technology companies, in contrast with traditional banking, focus on specialisation as a differential value. This allows them to understand the needs of users and better adapt supply to demand. 

In addition to these accelerated changes other visible trends will eventually lead to further ones such as the development of digital assets and, in particular, of currencies issued by central banks, the exploitation of opportunities arising from the introduction of new regulatory frameworks, and European initiatives in this field. 

In this dossier we feature the Fintech and digital ecosystem of the financial services industry in Spain and Luxembourg, highlighting the main stakeholders, programmes and activities developed in both countries, as well as the vision of industry experts on trends expected in the coming years.