Axiology has been selected to participate in the Mastercard Lighthouse FINITIV program, a prestigious initiative designed to foster strategic partnerships with the most promising fintech, cybersecurity, and productivity startups. This milestone underscores Axiology’s commitment to reshaping the capital markets landscape by addressing inefficiencies in fixed-income securities trading and settlement.
Through this program, Axiology will collaborate with key Nordic-Baltic banking industry stakeholders to develop innovative solutions for the fixed-income market, particularly in the corporate and government bond segments. The firm is actively pursuing EU-wide strategic partnerships with banks and financial institutions that share its vision of making bond markets more efficient, accessible, and transparent, especially for retail investors.
“The European Union’s recently announced Savings and Investment Union emphasizes the urgent need for a competitive and well-functioning capital market, critical for Europe’s economic growth. This objective cannot be achieved without efficient, accessible, and technologically advanced market infrastructure.,” says Marius Jurgilas, Co-founder and CEO of Axiology. “We look forward to working alongside Mastercard and leading financial institutions to drive innovation in digital securities, creating a more accessible, efficient, and transparent market for all investors.”
Strategic Initiatives within the Mastercard Lighthouse FINITIV Program
The traditional bond market is plagued by high costs, complexity, and inefficiencies that have historically excluded retail investors. Axiology’s infrastructure leverages distributed ledger technology (DLT) to create a regulated, cost-effective, and transparent marketplace for trading tokenized bonds. By eliminating unnecessary intermediaries and streamlining settlement processes, Axiology is setting a new standard for capital markets infrastructure.
As part of the program, Axiology will explore several high-impact collaboration opportunities, including:
Electronic Money Token (EMT) integration for securities settlement – By utilizing EMTs, Axiology aims to enhance transaction efficiency and accessibility for retail bond investors. Additionally, the firm is preparing for potential wholesale digital euro integration, subject to ECB implementation.
Dual-tranche government bond issuance – Axiology is pioneering new digital bond issuance models, working alongside Mastercard’s banking partners to develop financing solutions tailored for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and sovereign bonds.
Embedded finance & digital investment products – Through embedded finance solutions, Axiology seeks to empower fintechs, neobanks, and traditional financial institutions to seamlessly integrate investment products into their platforms, broadening access to fixed-income instruments.
Pioneering the Future of European Capital Markets
Europe’s capital markets urgently require modernization. According to ESMA, the average trade size for sovereign and corporate bonds remains in the multi-million-euro range, effectively excluding smaller investors from participation. By digitizing bond issuance and trading, Axiology aims to bridge this gap, fostering a more inclusive and competitive European capital market.
As the European Union drives forward its Savings and Investment Union initiative, Axiology is poised to play a pivotal role in ensuring that European financial markets remain globally competitive. The company’s infrastructure directly supports the EU’s broader vision of fostering investment, growth, and innovation across the financial sector.
About Axiology:
Axiology is a Lithuania-based provider of capital market infrastructure, specialising in optimising and developing securities infrastructure based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). The company focuses on fixed-income instruments and developing trading and settlement systems powered by DLT. Its innovative solutions bridge traditional and tokenised financial infrastructures, enabling seamless integration into the evolving digital economy.
Mastercard Lighthouse FINITIV is an open innovation platform designed to strengthen the financial services ecosystem. The Program is designed to catalyse symbiotic partnerships between fintechs, fintech-enablers, Mastercard, Nordic and Baltic Banks, Tech Partners and Program Advisors. For candidates selected into the Program, Mastercard covers the program fee, without asking for equity in return. It is a partnership platform that does not dilute equity, nor does it require a significant time investment on the side of the program participants. Twice a year, the 3-month long program creates the right conditions for establishing and deepening partnerships by pairing the energy and innovation capacity of fintechs and fintech-enablers with the stability, resources, distribution capacity and guidance of our program partners.