In this interview, we sit down with Patrik Havander, Head of Visa Direct for the Nordics and Baltics, to talk about why Visa is paying close attention to the Baltic region and what makes it such an important space for payment innovation. Patrik brings both the founder and investor perspective, offering candid views on what’s driving fintech growth, what makes the Baltic ecosystem unique, and how Visa is working with both traditional players and emerging startups to push the payments industry forward.
We cover the key factors that have positioned Lithuania as the biggest fintech hub in mainland Europe, how regulation has supported the rise of scalable fintech businesses, and why boldness and speed continue to define the way founders operate in the region. Patrik also shares his view on the changing nature of competition and collaboration in the payments space, and how Visa is evolving from card-based infrastructure to a broader set of money movement capabilities, including account-to-account, wallet payments, and high-value cross-border transactions.
He explains how Visa Direct is becoming a single integration layer for multiple use cases across B2B, P2P, and cross-border payments, and what this means for fintechs looking to scale with speed and flexibility. If you’re building in the fintech space or working with payments in any capacity, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss. Patrik will also be joining Baltic Fintech Days in Vilnius, where he’ll speak more about the big challenges in global payments and how Visa is helping shape the infrastructure behind the next wave of financial innovation.
