PAYSTRAX to Create Up to 150 New Fintech Jobs in Lithuania as It Scales Operations Across Vilnius and Klaipėda

WHY THIS MATTERS: PAYSTRAX’s decision to commit to a major headcount expansion in Lithuania—adding up to 150 new specialists—is highly significant not just for its operational scale, but as a validation of the broader Eastern European fintech hub model. In a climate where global firms often consolidate teams in larger financial centers, this investment reinforces the value of a strong, specialized talent pool and supportive regulatory environment, factors that have underpinned Lithuania’s rise as a licensing powerhouse. Crucially, the expansion is focused on enhancing core functions like in-house IT, compliance, and product development, including stablecoin settlements and Payment Facilitator (PayFac) services. This suggests the company is strategically positioning itself to address the growing complexity and diversification of merchant payment acceptance, from traditional acquiring to crypto and platform-based models.

PAYSTRAX, an international payment acquiring company headquartered in Vilnius, is accelerating its growth in Lithuania. The company plans to hire up to 75 new specialists in 2026 and bring on up to 150 new employees over the next three years. Founded in Lithuania by two Icelandic entrepreneurs in 2018, PAYSTRAX has grown from a startup to an established payments provider with more than 150 employees across six European offices. 

The expansion will span both of PAYSTRAX’s Lithuanian locations – in Vilnius and Klaipėda – and will focus on strengthening the company’s IT, finance, marketing, account management, operations, and onboarding capabilities. In Klaipėda, PAYSTRAX has already moved into larger premises, and in Vilnius it added a second floor at its office to accommodate the growing team.   

“Lithuania has been the heart of PAYSTRAX since day one. The talent, the ecosystem, and the work culture here have been instrumental to our growth – from our very first hires to becoming an award-winning international payments company,” says Johannes Ingi Kolbeinsson, Group CEO and co-founder of PAYSTRAX. “This expansion reflects our confidence in Lithuania as the right place to build the next generation of payment solutions.” 

According to the company’s leadership, Lithuania’s highly educated workforce, strong English proficiency, and dedicated work culture have been key factors behind PAYSTRAX’s decision to keep scaling its operations in the country. The company highlights that Lithuanian professionals’ attention to detail and adaptability are particularly valuable in the heavily regulated payments industry. 

“Combined with a growing fintech ecosystem and a stable business environment, these factors have made Lithuania a strategic and reliable location for our long-term development and operational growth,” says Mr Kolbeinsson.   

PAYSTRAX operates as a principal-level payment card acquirer with licences from both Visa and Mastercard, serving online and point-of-sale merchants across 24 countries in the EEA and the UK. As part of its growth strategy, the company is developing new products and services, including more e-commerce platform integrations, a merchant portal with live business intelligence reporting, card payout capabilities, stablecoin settlements, and a Payment Facilitator (PayFac) service that enables platforms and marketplaces to manage payment acceptance at scale. 

“We are building more of our technology in-house, which means we need strong IT talent, but we are also investing in marketing, customer success, and compliance,” says Monika Kareckaitė-Šiupinienė, Group CHRO of PAYSTRAX. “We are looking for both experienced professionals and ambitious newcomers who want to grow in fintech. Our hybrid working model means we can attract talent from across Lithuania, not just from the cities where our offices are located.”  

Lithuania currently accounts for approximately 115 of the company’s 150 global employees, making it by far the largest hub within the PAYSTRAX network. In 2024, the company was recognised as “Company of the Year” at the Lithuanian Fintech Awards and earned a place among Lithuania’s top trusted companies, as recognised by the country’s largest company directory Rekvizitai.lt.

According to Minister of the Economy and Innovation Edvinas Grikšas, PAYSTRAX’s continued growth in Lithuania demonstrates the ability of the country’s fintech ecosystem to support companies from startup stage through to international scale: 

“Lithuania has built one of Europe’s most dynamic fintech environments, and PAYSTRAX is an excellent example of how international founders can build globally competitive businesses here. Their decision to keep expanding in both Vilnius and Klaipėda aligns with our vision of ensuring that high-value investment and job creation reach beyond the capital.”  

Elijus Čivilis, General Manager at Invest Lithuania, believes that PAYSTRAX’s trajectory from a two-person founding team to a 150-strong company headquartered in Vilnius is a compelling case study for Lithuania’s investment environment.  

“PAYSTRAX’s story is one of the most complete growth journeys we have seen in Lithuania’s fintech sector: from incorporation to headquarters, from a handful of specialists to hundreds, and from a single office to a genuine multi-city operation,” he says. “Their expansion across Vilnius and Klaipėda continues to demonstrate that Lithuania offers the talent, infrastructure, and business environment needed to scale ambitious international fintech operations.”   

Founded in 2018 by two payments industry veterans from Iceland – Johannes Ingi Kolbeinsson and Gunnar Mar Gunnarsson – PAYSTRAX now operates offices in Vilnius, Klaipėda, London, Leeds, Malta, and Reykjavík. The founders previously built Kortathjonustan (later KORTA PAY), one of Iceland’s pioneering payment companies, before choosing Lithuania as the base for their next venture. PAYSTRAX is an authorised Payment Institution in both the EU and the UK. 

FF NEWS TAKE: The expansion of PAYSTRAX across two Lithuanian cities confirms that the country’s ecosystem is successfully nurturing fintechs from incorporation through international growth. This unquestionably moves the needle by providing a compelling case study that will attract other mid-sized payment providers looking for a scalable, regulated European base. The future focus must be on the uptake of their new offerings—particularly the PayFac service and stablecoin capabilities. Watch for how effectively PAYSTRAX leverages this talent infusion to integrate digital asset settlement with traditional payment acquiring to serve a new generation of e-commerce platforms.