European fintech is entering what Sifted describes as an AI arms race built on transactional foundation models. Unlike general-purpose chatbots, these systems are trained on payment and transaction data, letting them understand financial behaviour. The piece argues that the true barrier to entry is scale: startups need vast amounts of data to make the models useful, and that favours incumbents and well-funded players.
Because the source is a single article, there are no conflicting accounts to compare. The main takeaway is that data volume, not model sophistication, is becoming the decisive competitive factor. For smaller fintechs, that means partnerships, acquisitions, or niche data advantages may be the only routes into the race.