Lithuanian fintech harbors Ukrainian refugees

Paysera, a Lithuanian company handling payments for online stores and retail customers, has refurbished the fourth floor of its global offices to house 16 Ukrainian refugees. It’s also halted payments to and from Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Why should we care?
Both a symbolic gesture and a life-changing development for 16 people fleeing war, Paysera’s generosity represents the powerful, small steps individual fintechs can take to respond to the war in Ukraine. It also shows the potential strength of fintechs as an aggregate. Nataliia Bondar, a client support manager at Paysera who has continued working from Ukraine, said that fintechs should work together to improve Ukraine’s financial ties to the rest of the world, and deliver a clear message to Russia by disengaging from its financial ecosystem. “I just want this war to stop,” she said. “That’s the only message from all the Ukrainian people.” Other fintechs from the Baltic states, including Estonia-based Wise, have been at the forefront of fintech’s response to Russia, using their existing tech stacks to deliver a collective response by pulling out of the country. “The fintech community has been quick to help those affected by the Ukraine crisis,” said Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, an umbrella organization for British fintech. As fintechs grow, they should expect increasing calls to respond to crises and enter the political arena—but smaller players may feel compelled to do their part without public pressure to do so, driven by the feeling that they’re just doing the right thing.