🌐🚀 The lines between finance and telecom are blurring, and we’re watching the rise of a new digital stack where banking, connectivity, and commerce live in one app. This is something I've written (and predicted) in the past: the convergence of fintech & telecom, and the rise of sticky ecosystems.
Here are some updates in the last few months:
🌐 🚀 Revolut’s MVNO Play: In April 2025, Revolut announced the launch of full-fledged MVNO services in the UK and Germany: offering native mobile plans with unlimited calls, texts, and data, integrated directly into its app. (MVNO = Mobile Virtual Network Operator: a telecom provider that leases capacity from traditional telcos but builds its own plans, branding, and CX)
📌 Until now, Revolut has acted as a reseller, offering global eSIMs via 1Global (an MVNO). And in 2024, reportedly had ~600k users on the eSIMs it distributed. Now, this new move towards becoming a MVNO shifts them up the stack, from resale to telecom ownership
The early signals of this convergence were already there:
👉 Quona Capital (fintech VC) investing in Bureau, which plays at the intersection of telecom and identity
👉 Ribbit Capital (fintech VC) backing Gigs, a "Telecom-as-a-Service" infra player
👉 Neobanks like Revolut quietly offering eSIM services
👉 Superapps like Grab running MVNOs
👉 Nubank October '24 launch of Nucel, its eSIM-native mobile service
👉 Zolve: a Xborder neobank offering MVNO services through Gigs
📌 It’s becoming clear: fintechs want (and need) to get deeper into telecom. Monzo Bank (a leading fintech neobank) has hinted that it hasn’t ruled out telecom services out. I expect more consumer fintechs / neobanks getting into distribution & eventually the MVNO play
🌐 🚀 Telcos want in on finance too: Historically telcos getting into financial services is nothing new. Airtel and its pmts bank, Vodafone with Mpesa and NTT Docomo with pmts. But now, this seems to be going to another level. In May '25, NTT Docomo (Japan's largest telco network) announced a $5.1B acquisition of SBI Sumishin Net Bank, aiming to become a mobile-first finance powerhouse
🌐 🚀 But why? Because financial services are inseparable from identity and the most universal digital ID still starts with your mobile number. Telcos own the rails of identity & verification. Fintechs that embed these rails can reduce fraud, deepen engagement and offer a seamless user onboarding & CX
🌐 🚀 As fintechs expand into telecom, partners like Sekura.id, Bureau & OTPless which provide SIM/eSIM-based identity, security, and provisioning, will be critical. Their ability to bridge telco rails with financial services unlocks better onboarding, fraud prevention, and contextual intelligence.
Fintech distributes. Telecom owns identity. Together, they power digital infrastructure. And I expect this convergence to only accelerate
🧠 Deep dive in the comments
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