Swiss Fintech Study 2026: Analytics, Big Data and AI Lead Swiss Fintech Ecosystem

2026-03-23 - 06:10

Analytics, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) have become the most prevalent technology category in the Swiss and Liechtenstein fintech industry, surpassing both process digitalization and distributed ledger technology (DLT) for the first time in 2025, according to the latest IFZ Fintech Study released in March 2026. This milestone marks a significant shift in the region’s fintech landscape and reflects the growing importance of advanced analytical capabilities into fintech business models. In 2025, 183 fintech companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein utilized analytics, big data and AI, representing a continuous increase over the past decade from just 37 ventures in 2015. The figure makes it the top technology category in the fintech sector, surpassing DLT with 180 companies, and process digitalization, automation and robotics with 165. These two categories had led the fintech sector for the previous seven consecutive years. This shift showcases the growing importance of data-driven financial solutions and signals a transition towards more advanced, scalable, and analytics-oriented innovation structures. Fintech companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein by technology category, Source: IFZ Fintech Study 2026, Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ, Mar 2026 AI under the spotlight The trend reflects the broader global surge in AI advances and adoption. Since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, the technology has become the hottest topic in the business community. In 2025, AI companies raised US$226 billion globally, a new record for the industry, according to CB Insights. This figure represents 48% of total venture funding in 2025, the largest share on record. The six largest funding rounds of the year all went to AI companies, namely OpenAI (US$41 billion), Anthropic (US$32.5 billion), Scale (US$14.8 billion), xAI (US$12.8 billion), Databricks (US$5 billion), and Aligned (US$5 billion). This signals strong investor conviction that AI infrastructure and foundational models represent the most significant growth opportunity of the decade. In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, analytics, big data and AI attracted the most number of funding rounds and investment volume in the fintech industry. These companies attracted 16 transactions and a total investment volume of CHF 91 million. The figure gives the category a 49% share of total venture capital (VC) funding in 2025. VC investments in Swiss and Liechtenstein fintech companies in 2025 by product area and technology category, Source: IFZ Fintech Study 2026, Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ, Mar 2026 By contrast, the share of DLT declined to 44%, down from 58% in 2024, while process digitization, automatization and robotics fell sharply from 39% in 2024 to 7% in 2025. Proportion of VC investments in Swiss and Liechtenstein fintech companies by year, and by product area and technology category, Source: IFZ Fintech Study 2026, Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ, Mar 2026 In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, fintech companies in the investment management verticals are showing the most pronounced concentration in analytics, big data and AI, with 84 companies. Notable examples include robo-advisory platform True Wealth, which use data analytics and AI for portfolio construction and data-driven risk profiling, and Unique, an AI-driven platform for agent AI that helps financial institutions streamline middle- and back-office processes. Distribution of Swiss and Liechtenstein fintech companies according to the fintech grid, Source: IFZ Fintech Study 2026, Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ, Mar 2026 Focus remain on B2B activities and international markets In line with the rise of the analytics, big data, and AI category, the Swiss and Liechtenstein fintech industry remained oriented towards business-to-business (B2B) activities in 2025. A total of 319 companies (60%) primarily operated in B2B markets, while a further 176 companies (33%) combined B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) activities. In contrast, consumer-focused business models accounted for a smaller share of the ecosystem, representing only 6% of the ecosystem with 34 companies. A large majority of fintech companies primarily operated beyond domestic markets. 431 companies representing 81% served international customers. Within this internationally active segment, B2B business models dominated, accounting for more than half of all fintech companies at 54%. These findings highlight the export-oriented and infrastructure-focused character of fintech innovation in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Proportion of fintech companies by customer segments, Source: IFZ Fintech Study 2026, Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ, Mar 2026 Parallel to this development, revenue generation has increasingly shifted towards technology-driven models, with software-as-a-service (SaaS) emerging as the dominant monetization approach over time. In 2025, SaaS-based revenue models reached 38%, increasing steadily from 16% in 2015. Since 2020, SaaS has been the most frequently observed revenue model. In contrast, license fee-based revenue models have declined in relevance since 2020, accounting for only 13% of revenue models in the Swiss and Liechtenstein fintech sector in 2025. Meanwhile, commission-based revenue models, which were most prevalent in the earlier years of the observation period, accounting for more than 40% of observed revenue models in 2015, have seen their relative importance decline. In 2025, commission-based revenues accounted for 31% of revenue models, making them the second most frequently observed form of monetization. Swiss and Liechtenstein fintech industry stabilizes Following a phase of strong expansion, the fintech ecosystem in Switzerland and Liechtenstein has entered a phase of maturation, stabilizing at around 500 companies over the past three years. At the end of 2025, that number reached 529 companies, suggesting a structural transition from growth-driven ecosystem formation towards consolidation, specialization, and technological repositioning. Looking at fintech verticals, investment management companies experienced the strongest absolute growth, with the number of investment management companies increasing from 46 in 2015 to 198 in 2025. Banking infrastructure companies rose from 55 to 204 over the same period, recording a year-over-year increase of 19 companies in 2025 and overtaking investment management to become the largest product area by number of companies. In contract, payment and deposit and lending companies grew more moderately. Payment-related fintech companies rose from 35 in 2015 to 77 in 2025, while deposit and lending companies grew from 25 to 50 over the same period. Number of fintech companies by year, and by product area, Source: IFZ Fintech Study 2026, Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ, Mar 2026 Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by rawpixel.com via Freepik