According to the Cetif Fintech Outlook survey, the payments sector continues to drive the market (8 percent), followed by neo banks (+6 percent), regtech (+3 percent) and lending (+3 percent).
"In the payments sector alongside the revolution brought about by Psd2," comments Professor Federico Rajola, director of Cetif , "we are seeing the arrival of new players, the expansion to cyber-security, and new payment methods connected with the expansion of ecommerce where new fintechs are moving and proliferating. The other sector that has seen a big leap forward is regtech (from regulation and technology), which is the use by companies of technological tools to support compliance, conformity, compliance with rules, regulations, laws, and reporting procedures. "I expect growth to continue for this sector," adds Rajola, "because being highly regulated, the cost of regulatory compliance encourages greater digitization that simplifies processes. Think of the whole world of banking and insurance subjected to AML audits, regulatory and audit processes, as well as potential operational risks, which also involve municipal enterprises. In this field I expect a lot of investments and a lot of new projects just by start-up initiative."
Most fintechs operating in Italy are still small and have limited share capital of less than 100 thousand euros. However, compared to 2021, those with share capital above 100 thousand euros are on the rise (+6.5 percent). Most of the fintechs analyzed also reported having fewer than 10 members. However, there is a 7.43% growth over 2021 of companies with more than 11 members due to the arrival of private investors. The value of investments is still limited, but in 2022 there was a growth of ii.37% over 2021 in fintechs receiving investments of more than one million euros. More than 55% of the funds came from private investors, mostly Italian, a percentage that still testifies to a low maturity of the institutional market present mainly through Italian venture capital (+11.04% over 2021) and private incubators, i.e., structures that allow the startup's project to be developed (+10.64% over1 2021).
Most Italian fintechs are ready for internationalization: 43 percent have a well-defined strategy and 52 percent are in a state of definition. "Europe is the prevailing outlet market," Rajola concludes, "the world of tokenization and the one related to crypto assets, which abroad has grown a lot in Italy is still behind, but it is imaginable that this process will also invest Italy in the not distant future and have effects on the wealth management sector, which until now has focused almost entirely on the physical relationship between client and intermediary. According to the expert, the other frontier of innovation that will allow even those not born fintech to open up to this world is that related to the development of Neobanks and those who propose bank as service models.