Over 700 participants from 35 countries came together to shape a vision for a more connected, resilient, and innovative financial ecosystem at the 2025 edition of UNCHAIN Festival, held on June 17–18 at the Nagyvárad Fortress, reaffirmed its status as the most influential fintech event in CEE.
One of the event’s highlights was the announcement of a major strategic partnership: Visa, Lendox, and Global Payments Europe are joining forces to unlock SME lending in the region through AI and payment data integration. This bold collaboration signals a new wave of cross-market fintech innovation.
Payments: Fast, seamless, borderless
From Visa Direct’s real-time payments to Payten Romania’s omni-channel integration with Auchan, the payment sector took center stage. SIBS Romania’s POS-sharing model and Worldline Financial Services’ push for open systems show that CEE is now shaping the future of payments, not following it.
AI, cloud & next-gen banking
The Digital Transformation track showcased how AI, cloud, and modular banking are revolutionizing financial services. Banca Transilvania’s BT GO, Garanti BBVA’s GIA virtual advisor, and Raiffeisen’s cloud agility with AWS all illustrated how infrastructure is becoming faster, smarter, and more customer-centric.
New this year, the Fintersections concept explored how finance is integrating into industries like fleet management, agriculture, and retail. From eMAG’s fintech arm HeyBlu to BNPL innovation by Klarna, the message was clear: finance thrives where people work.
Insurance: From slow mover to market disruptor
Insurtech shined with scalable solutions from FlowX.AI, InsurWiz, and Eazy Asigurări. Embedded models, AI-driven automation, and personalization were recurring themes. Regulatory talks around open insurance and the EU’s FiDA proposal further highlighted the sector’s bold reinvention.
Award winners
Mifundo won the UNCHAIN Startup Tournament with a cross-border lending solution that bridges credit gaps for Eastern Europeans living abroad. By integrating data from over 70% of European credit bureaus, the platform helps banks offer inclusive loans to returning citizens.
Romanian based Banca Transilvania won the Digital Bank of the Year award, powered by Visa, for their customer-first innovation through the BT GO and BT Pay platforms.
