BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Joan Carette, Philippe De Prez and Thomas Derval, Simont Braun
Simont Braun Avenue Louise 250/10 1050 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 2 543 70 80 Fax: +32 2 543 70 90
Email: info@simontbraun.eu Web: www.simontbraun.eu
1. Fintech Market 1.1 Evolution of the Fintech Market Areas of Focus
Meanwhile, the EU Proposal for a Regulation on a framework for Financial Data Access (FIDA) contin - ued to progress throughout 2025; although not yet adopted, FIDA remains a central component of the EU’s agenda. It is currently under interinstitutional negotiations, and aims to establish a framework for the exchange of financial data across all verticals of the financial sector. If adopted, this ambitious regula - tion could present a major opportunity for the devel - opment of innovative products by fintechs. Another major legislative process is the political agree - ment reached on the Commission’s proposal to revise the Payment Service Directive (PSD2), resulting in the forthcoming PSD3 and Payment Service Regulation (PSR). This legislative revision aims to strengthen user protection by enhancing safeguards against fraud, including online fraud and misuse of personal data, and ensuring the transparency of fees and charges for payment services.
In Belgium, the first fintech initiatives focused on alternative financing solutions such as crowdfunding platforms, but the sector really gained traction with the development of payment solutions. These include retail payment platforms, with a fair share of money remitters, but also B2B payment services such as pro - fessional foreign exchange (FX) payments for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As a result of Brexit, several UK payment service providers (PSPs) selected Brussels to establish their European head - quarters. The arrival of these players has added a lot of maturity to this sector in Belgium, which has become one of the most important fintech vertical markets in Belgium. In addition, many fintechs active in Belgium also focus on providing solutions to the financial sector (regtechs). Evolution of the Sector Artificial intelligence and open finance are currently among the most prominent topics in the fintech sec - tor, with AI-driven companies accounting for more than half of all tech investment in Belgium in 2025. The first provisions of EU Regulation 2024/1689 of 13 June 2024 laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (AI Act) were implemented in February 2025, and full enforcement is expected by 2 August 2026. Fintech companies that develop or use AI must comply with a new set of rules, which vary depending on the type of AI involved.
2. Fintech Business Models and Regulation in General 2.1 Predominant Business Models
The predominant fintech business model in the Bel - gian fintech industry is the payment vertical, which is populated by both incumbents and fintech entities. Belgium also sees many fintechs active in investment, as well as many regtechs. Although there has been increased activity in projects related to crypto-assets and blockchain technology, that vertical is not pre - dominant in Belgium.
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