As part of the UNCHAIN CEE Fintech Tour, organized by UNCHAIN Festival in collaboration with Fintech Moldova, a thought-provoking panel discussion took place in Chisinau. This event brought together key players from Moldova’s financial ecosystem to explore the interplay between banks, fintechs, and regulators in driving innovation and inclusion.
Moderated by Stefan Nistor, Founder and Coordinator of Fintech Moldova, the panel brought together key industry voices: Alexandra Sidorenco (Head of the Fintech Department at the National Bank of Moldova), Petar Stefanovic (Head of Business Development at Moldindconbank), Andrei Stoian (Director of Payments & Cash ManagementBRD – Groupe Société Générale), Ilia Dragan (Chief Product Officer at Salt Edge), and Jose M. Moreno de Barreda (Principal Digital Finance & Fintech Advisor at IFC – International Finance Corporation).
Below are the main takeaways from their discussion. The full video recording of the conversation at the end of this article.
Regulatory Advancements: Building a Foundation for Innovation
Alexandra Sidorenco highlighted Moldova’s strides in aligning with EU standards through the adoption of PSD2 regulations, which enable Open Banking. This move not only fosters competition but also lays the groundwork for a more interconnected financial ecosystem. She emphasized ongoing efforts to ensure API accessibility for market players and the implementation of strong customer authentication (SCA) to bolster security and trust.
Collaboration as a Foundation for Growth
Alexandra Sidorenco also emphasized that collaboration among stakeholders—banks, fintechs, service providers, and technology companies—is essential for ensuring stable growth and addressing market challenges. To foster this collaboration, the National Bank has taken proactive steps by launching quarterly workshops with payment service providers. These workshops aim to identify growth opportunities, resolve operational friction points, and develop actionable solutions. As a result, new business opportunities have already emerged, market practices have improved, and knowledge-sharing has been encouraged.
Petar Stefanovic praised the National Bank of Moldova as a “cooperative and progressive” regulator, contrasting it with stricter regulatory environments in other countries. He highlighted that Moldova’s alignment with EU regulations is not only critical for future integration but also a sign of the country’s readiness to modernize its financial ecosystem. This regulatory adaptability, he noted, provides a solid foundation for innovation while ensuring stability.
Andrei Stoian also praised Romania’s regulatory environment for its openness and focus on sustainable growth. He described regulators as collaborative yet firm in enforcing compliance standards. “Regulators show the stick if you fail,” he remarked, “but their aim is collective progress.” This balanced approach has enabled Romanian banks to navigate regulatory challenges while fostering innovation through partnerships with fintechs.
Petar Stefanovic has additionally advocated for a pragmatic approach to regulation and innovation, urging banks to view fintechs as allies rather than competitors. By leveraging fintech expertise, banks can transform regulatory challenges into opportunities to enhance customer value without diluting their focus on core operations. “Regulations are unavoidable,” he stated, “but partnerships turn compliance into opportunity.”
The Role of the National Bank: Bridging Gaps and Driving Innovation?
Alexandra highlighted the National Bank’s neutral yet active role in reducing regulatory uncertainty and bridging knowledge gaps between stakeholders. By fostering smoother collaboration, the regulator ensures that all players in the ecosystem can work together effectively. Key initiatives include implementing an open banking framework to enhance financial interoperability and launching an instant payment system to modernize transactions. Additionally, new “Accountability and Compliance” (AC) regulations have been introduced to bolster trust and confidence in Moldova’s financial system.
Ilia Dragan emphasized the importance of clearly defined roles within Moldova’s fintech ecosystem. He noted that the National Bank of Moldova’s primary responsibility is not to drive innovation directly but to establish transparent rules that prioritize customer security and experience. Banks, as regulated entities, follow these rules while maintaining open dialogue with regulators to propose necessary adjustments. Meanwhile, fintechs operate as smaller, agile players, complementing banks rather than competing with them—unless they evolve into regulated entities like Revolut or Wise.
Local (and not-so-local) challenges
Legacy Systems: A Necessary Challenge
Modernizing outdated infrastructure remains a significant hurdle for Moldovan banks. Petar Stefanovic shared Moldindconbank’s recent experience with core system migration, describing it as a “necessary but arduous” process. He emphasized that such upgrades are essential for banks to remain competitive and integrate seamlessly with fintech innovations.
Digital Adoption
Andrei Stoian shared insights from Romania, where the pandemic significantly accelerated digital banking adoption. Many customers discovered simpler, more efficient ways to interact with banks during this period. While some reverted to traditional habits post-pandemic, a large segment remained engaged with digital platforms, expanding the banks’ digital client base. Stoian emphasized that this shift highlighted the need for solutions that balance innovation with accessibility, catering to diverse customer needs.
He also acknowledged that cash remains a dominant payment method in Eastern Europe, including Romania, though its use is steadily declining. Drawing lessons from Sweden’s near-cashless society, he warned against moving too quickly toward eliminating cash. Such transitions could exclude segments of the population unable to adapt to rapid digital changes. “The pace of change has been dramatic,” he noted, stressing the importance of retaining analog options for those who struggle with digital adoption.
Customer Trust: Overcoming Barriers
Building trust remains a challenge in Moldova’s financial sector. Petar Stefanovic noted that while mobile banking adoption is growing, many consumers—especially older demographics—still prefer cash transactions. Andrei Stoian highlighted similar trends in Romania but emphasized that digital solutions gained traction during the pandemic, pushing more customers toward online services.
To address these gaps, panelists called for targeted education initiatives to help consumers understand the benefits of digital banking while ensuring robust security measures are in place.
Digitizing Public Services: A Path to Efficiency
Jose Moreno de Barreda emphasized the potential of partnerships between fintechs and governments to digitize public services. Drawing on examples such as Paytm in India and GCash in the Philippines, he explained how these platforms have streamlined welfare and subsidy disbursements through digital payments. He encouraged Moldovan stakeholders to explore similar collaborations to modernize public financial systems while improving accessibility for underserved populations.
Bank-Fintech Collaboration: A Win-Win Opportunity
The panelists agreed that collaboration between banks and fintechs is essential for driving innovation. Petar Stefanovic acknowledged that while legacy systems often slow banks down, fintechs bring agility and niche expertise that can complement traditional banking infrastructure. He noted that partnerships allow banks to focus on their strengths—trust and scale—while leveraging fintechs’ innovative solutions.
Andrei Stoian shared insights from Romania, where banks have increasingly partnered with fintechs for services like client onboarding, KYC processes, and open banking solutions. He stressed that such collaborations are most effective when both parties align their strategies to deliver customer-centric products.
Highlighting the evolving relationship between banks and fintechs in Romania, Stoian stressed that partnerships are essential for delivering innovative solutions. He noted that banks often lack the resources to excel in specialized areas like AI-driven fraud detection for example. Fintechs fill these gaps by offering niche expertise and enhancing operational efficiency. “Partnerships thrive when banks and fintechs align strategies—value comes from playing to each other’s strengths,” he stated.
According to Jose Moreno de Barreda, sustainable financial ecosystems thrive when stakeholders excel in their respective roles. Fintechs bring agility and customer-centric innovation, banks provide trust and regulatory expertise, and regulators create enabling environments through frameworks like sandboxes or open banking directives. He noted IFC’s role as a neutral broker, sharing global best practices and supporting Moldova’s National Bank in designing inclusive policies. “It’s not about who leads,” he stated, “but about each stakeholder excelling in their niche.”
Dragan highlighted how fintechs bring value to the ecosystem by solving niche problems more quickly than traditional institutions. Examples include digital KYC processes, multi-banking solutions that streamline account management, and alternative credit scoring methods using transaction histories or non-traditional data. He stressed that fintechs thrive on their ability to innovate rapidly, but their success ultimately depends on regulatory approval, which determines whether a solution reaches the market. “Fintechs innovate; banks scale. But the real challenge is aligning their timelines—speed versus stability,” he remarked.
Dragan also pointed out several challenges in fintech-bank collaboration. For instance, larger banks often impose lengthy vendor onboarding processes—sometimes up to 12 months—which increases costs for fintechs. Additionally, legacy systems in banks remain a significant barrier to modernization. By offering data-driven solutions, fintechs can play a critical role in helping banks phase out outdated processes, such as paper-based credit scoring. He concluded by emphasizing that Moldova’s fintech ecosystem will thrive when regulators, banks, and startups respect their distinct roles: regulators set the rules, banks provide infrastructure and scale, and fintechs drive innovation.
Stefanovic stressed the importance of collaboration between banks and fintechs, describing partnerships as essential for accessing niche expertise without diverting internal resources. He highlighted how fintechs excel in specialized areas like insurtech or digital tools, while banks bring scale and trust to deliver customer-centric solutions. “A traditional bank can’t match a fintech’s focus on niche solutions,” he remarked. “But together, we combine scale with specialization—that’s where the future lies.”
Open Banking: Opportunities and Challenges
Open Banking was a recurring theme throughout the discussion. Ilia Dragan pointed out that Moldova has an opportunity to leapfrog more mature markets by learning from PSD2’s shortcomings and potentially developing PSD3-inspired regulations faster. He advocated for tailored rules that consider the size and capabilities of local financial institutions.
Alexandra Sidorenco echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that open banking could unlock significant benefits for consumers by increasing flexibility and choice. However, she noted that achieving this requires a robust regulatory framework and seamless technical integration. She underscored Moldova’s commitment to aligning its financial ecosystem with European standards through the adoption of PSD2-inspired Open Banking regulations. She also highlighted that this alignment is a cornerstone of Moldova’s EU integration efforts, though it brings technical and compliance challenges. A key focus has been on API standardization to ensure interoperability and accessibility for all market players.
Alexandra stressed the importance of collaboration between banks and fintechs in driving innovation. Banks bring trust and infrastructure to scale solutions, while fintechs contribute agility and customer-focused tools. Together, they can combine strengths to deliver what neither could alone.
PSD2: Lessons from Europe
Ilia Dragan offered a critical perspective on PSD2’s implementation across Europe, highlighting its slow rollout and regulatory ambiguities. He noted that the “one-size-fits-all” approach, which mandated identical API standards for both large banks like Deutsche Bank and small institutions with limited user bases, created unequal burdens. Smaller players faced disproportionately high compliance costs, which hindered their ability to compete effectively. Dragan emphasized that Moldova has an opportunity to avoid these pitfalls by tailoring regulations to its local market needs.
Dragan pointed out that Europe still lacks consensus on what Open Finance entails. Whether it refers to data aggregation, non-payment account access, or cross-bank digital KYC, the scope remains overly broad. This ambiguity risks delaying tangible benefits by requiring thousands of financial institutions to overhaul their systems simultaneously. For Moldova, he suggested starting small with high-impact use cases and scaling gradually as the ecosystem matures.
Andrei Stoian echoed Ilia Dragan’s critique of PSD2, emphasizing how its implementation imposed significant costs on banks without providing clear financial returns. Larger banks, in particular, faced disproportionate burdens due to the high volume of API calls—sometimes reaching millions per month—which required costly infrastructure upgrades to maintain system stability. Stoian explained that banks often prioritize IT budgets for projects with tangible profit-and-loss (P&L) impacts, such as customer-facing tools, over regulatory mandates that lack direct commercial incentives.
Stoian highlighted the need for PSD3 to address the shortcomings of PSD2 by introducing financial motivators for banks. He proposed ideas such as a countrywide KYC repository to reduce costs for all banks and monetization opportunities for premium Open Banking services like enriched data analytics. “We must design frameworks where banks see value,” he stated. “If PSD3 enables them to monetize innovation, adoption will follow naturally.” By aligning regulations with bank interests, Stoian argued, Open Banking and Open Finance adoption could accelerate significantly.
Stoian stressed that without bank-centric incentives, the adoption of Open Banking and Open Finance will remain slow. Banks are ultimately profit-driven entities, he explained, and will prioritize projects that directly benefit their clients and shareholders. Regulatory compliance alone is insufficient to drive meaningful change. “Banks prioritize projects that benefit their clients and shareholders first,” he said. “Regulatory compliance alone isn’t enough.”
Petar Stefanovic reflected on the challenges banks face in adopting PSD2, particularly in larger European markets. He noted that many large banks resisted PSD2 due to competing priorities and a preference for developing in-house solutions. Compliance often conflicts with key performance indicators (KPIs) and profit motives, making it a lower priority unless directly tied to commercial outcomes. However, he acknowledged that regulation is unavoidable, and banks must adapt to meet these requirements.
Looking ahead to PSD3, Stefanovic expressed hope that the new framework would refine existing regulations, ironing out inefficiencies and offering banks more flexibility to balance compliance with innovation. He emphasized that PSD3 should address the flaws of PSD2 by creating frameworks that align better with banks’ operational realities, enabling them to meet mandates while also pursuing growth opportunities.
Moldova’s Path Forward in Open Banking: Incremental Progress
To outpace the EU’s struggles with Open Banking and Open Finance, Dragan recommended a step-by-step approach. Ilia urged Moldova to prioritize use cases where banks see clear commercial value, such as multi-banking tools or streamlined SME lending processes. This would motivate banks to adopt new technologies while avoiding the resistance seen in Europe. “Open Finance’s potential is vast, but Europe’s confusion proves we need clarity. Moldova can lead by starting small and scaling smart”.
He praised Moldova’s proactive steps, such as implementing instant payments early, which he described as a critical enabler for Open Banking success. He argued that Moldova’s smaller market size allows for greater agility compared to the EU, enabling faster adoption of tailored regulations. He proposed that Moldova could develop PSD3-inspired frameworks focused on phased, practical use cases—such as incentivizing banks commercially—rather than rigid compliance mandates.
Cybersecurity: A Shared Responsibility
Jose M. Moreno de Barreda underscored the importance of cybersecurity as digitalization accelerates. He proposed creating a national cybersecurity hub to facilitate threat intelligence sharing among banks, fintechs, and regulators. Additionally, he highlighted the importance of addressing the human element in cybersecurity. He advocated for regular training programs for both employees and customers to combat phishing and fraud. “The first line of defense is always the human factor,” he noted, stressing that awareness campaigns and simulated phishing exercises could significantly reduce vulnerabilities. By fostering a culture of cyber hygiene, financial institutions can better protect sensitive data and maintain customer trust.
Alexandra Sidorenco added that the National Bank’s implementation of SCA is a critical safeguard against fraud, but public awareness campaigns are needed to ensure consumers understand these measures.
Global Models for Financial Inclusion: Lessons for Moldova
Jose Moreno de Barreda, representing the IFC, highlighted global success stories in financial inclusion that Moldova could adapt to address its unique challenges. He cited examples like Tala, which uses alternative data such as mobile usage and online behavior to assess creditworthiness for unbanked populations in countries like Mexico and India. Similarly, credit bureaus in Kenya and the Philippines have leveraged innovative data models to expand access to credit. For Moldova, where remittances play a significant role in the economy, he suggested local fintechs could replicate cost-effective cross-border payment models pioneered by companies like Wise and Revolut. By fostering collaboration among fintechs, banks, and regulators—and adapting proven models from other markets—Moldova can drive financial inclusion and innovation tailored to its specific needs.
The Path Forward: A Collaborative Ecosystem
The discussion concluded with a shared vision: fostering a collaborative ecosystem where banks, fintechs, and regulators work together to drive innovation while maintaining stability. As Jose M. Moreno de Barreda aptly put it, each stakeholder should “lead in what they’re best at”—banks leveraging trust and infrastructure, fintechs driving innovation, and regulators creating an enabling environment.
Petar Stefanovic cautioned against simply copying financial models from neighboring countries like Romania or Ukraine. Instead, he advocated for “smart and hyper-local” solutions tailored to Moldova’s unique market needs. He positioned Moldova as a potential “testing ground” for scalable regional innovations due to its small size and agility, stating, “We’re small, so solutions must be smart. Copy-pasting from neighbors won’t work—success hinges on adapting to Moldovan needs.”
With its small but dynamic market, Moldova has the potential to become a regional emergent in fintech innovation if it continues to embrace collaboration and adapt global best practices to local needs.
