PORTUGAL Trends and Developments Contributed by: Diogo Pereira Duarte, Ricardo Henriques, Isabel Pinheiro Torres, Diogo Matos Horta and Marta Boura, Abreu Advogados
Introduction The year 2025 was characterised by continued inno - vation in the fintech sector, against a macroeconomic backdrop marked by declining inflation and moder - ate economic growth in Portugal. Although growth remained constrained by persistent international trade and geopolitical tensions affecting European businesses, the overall outlook for the Portuguese economy became more favourable. According to the Bank of Portugal’s 2026 Forecast, economic growth is expected to reach approximately 2.3%, driven pri - marily by the easing of financial conditions and the increased deployment of European funds. These developments are expected to create a more sup - portive environment for investment and technological innovation. According to the Portugal Fintech Report 2025, the fintech market in Portugal is significantly more mature, with total sector funding projected to exceed EUR1.1 billion. Nearly one third of Portuguese fintechs were founded in the last two years, demonstrating sus - tained innovation and strong investor confidence in national talent and export potential. In 2025, more than 200 partnerships were mapped, 53% of which were concluded within six months, reflecting increased col - laboration between fintechs and traditional financial institutions. In this context, the Portuguese fintech ecosystem is expected to enter a more advanced phase of maturity in 2026, characterised by lower regulatory uncertainty and a growing emphasis on cross-border competitive - ness. Portugal continues to position itself as a relevant European fintech hub, benefiting from regulatory pre - dictability and a growing base of technology-driven entrepreneurs with a strong international orientation. For 2026, the effective national implementation of key European regulatory instruments, most notably the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), will play a central role in shaping the strategic priorities of fin - tech operators in Portugal. Additionally, developments relating to the digital euro, artificial intelligence and payment services are expected to continue driving the evolution of the sector, creating new opportunities for innovation.
Another notable trend in Portugal is the emergence of regional hubs and ecosystem collaboration. Although Lisbon and Porto remain the main centres, cities such as Leiria are increasingly developing as fintech nodes, diversifying the talent landscape and attract - ing local support initiatives. Additionally, acceleration programmes such as the second edition of SPRINT 2026 aim to support selected fintechs with office space, mentorship networks and specialised support in product development, fundraising and strategic partnerships – areas identified in the report as key for structured growth. Moreover, a significant development in 2026 is the launch of the 7th edition of Portugal FinLab, a regula - tory innovation hub co-organised by Banco de Por - tugal, the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) and the Insurance and Pension Funds Super - visory Authority (ASF). This initiative, aimed at bringing fintech innovators – whether start-ups or established institutions – into direct dialogue with regulators, offered selected participants the opportunity to pre - sent their projects at pitch events in March 2026 and receive tailored regulatory analysis and feedback. The initiative underscores Portugal’s commitment to supporting innovation through enhanced regula - tory engagement and knowledge transfer within the domestic fintech ecosystem. Artificial Intelligence in the Fintech Sector Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as one of the most transformative forces in the fintech sector, fun - damentally reshaping the design, delivery and supervi - sion of financial services. In Portugal, according to the Portugal Fintech Report 2025, 74% of fintech compa - nies have already incorporated AI into their products, while 90% use AI to enhance internal operations. In the payments and retail finance sector, AI technolo - gies are enhancing fraud detection, simplifying Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, and transforming customer services by enabling real-time customer support through AI-driven chatbots. AI systems have the capability of analysing vast amounts of data, ena - bling the efficient detection of anomalies within trans - actions, while conversational AI handles routine and time-consuming customer inquiries, allowing human agents to focus on more complex tasks such as
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