In the competitive world of fintech, seasoned entrepreneur Serhii Zakharov has consistently pursued vertical integration as a guiding principle in how he approaches building fintech products. Rather than expanding through disconnected services or chasing every new payment trend, he has focused on reducing fragmentation in financial operations and giving businesses greater control through connected infrastructure. His approach offers a broader lesson for fintech founders navigating an increasingly complex payments landscape.
In this conversation with Fintelegram, Zakharov reflects on how his thinking has evolved since his early e-wallet offering and why he believes the future of fintech lies in unified systems rather than standalone tools.
Fintelegram: You started with a focused e-wallet product. What led you to rethink how financial infrastructure should be built?
Serhii Zakharov: Over the past few years many online businesses have discovered that solving payments alone isn’t enough. The wallet solved a critical, discrete problem: the broken checkout experience. It was a successful point solution. But what I heard from clients—especially those managing increasingly complex financial operations—was that fixing one leak didn’t stop the pipe from bursting elsewhere. They were still drowning in operational overhead from managing five other providers for banking, payouts, FX, and compliance. I realized we had only addressed a symptom. The disease was fragmentation itself. For me, it wasn’t a change in direction; it was following the problem to its root.
Fintelegram: So, is the ecosystem just a bundling of the existing services like the wallet, business accounts, and payout tools?
Zakharov: Absolutely not. “Ecosystem” has become one of fintech’s most frequently used terms. The real distinction isn’t how many services a company offers, but whether those services genuinely operate as a single system. Think of it as the difference between having a phone, a camera, and a music player in your pocket versus having a smartphone. The former are bundled in your bag; the latter are a single, cohesive system where each function enhances the others. For example, an early decision I made was a partnership with Fidor Bank that wasn’t just a reseller agreement; it was about securing reliable rails. Now, the ecosystem work is about making sure a euro received through the wallet is instantly visible, available, and ready to be paid out to a vendor via SEPA—all within one data model, one compliance check, one ledger. That’s the unity that saves businesses real time and money.
Fintelegram: You’ve mentioned the ‘fragmentation tax.’ How do you think founders should understand its impact?
Zakharov: Fragmentation has become a recurring topic across finance, particularly among companies operating across multiple markets and payment rails. For many businesses, it shows up as operational drag. A scaling business might spend 20-30% of its finance team’s time on manual reconciliation between systems—that represents pure cost. They lose another 2-4% in aggregated fees and poor FX margins across multiple providers. But the biggest cost is strategic delay. When your data is siloed, you can’t get a real-time view of your global cash position. You can’t automate treasury or make swift, informed decisions. You’re managing infrastructure instead of scaling your product. The ecosystem model is designed to eliminate that tax, turning finance from a cost center into a controlled, efficient utility.
Fintelegram: What has been the early feedback since you began articulating this ecosystem vision?
Zakharov: Across the industry, many finance teams are looking to reduce operational complexity rather than simply add new payment methods. That’s reflected in the conversations I’m having with clients, who started with the e-wallet and are now actively consolidating their other financial operations. They’re the ones who experience the contrast daily. They report back not just on improved metrics, but on regained focus. Their teams are spending less time being accountants for disparate systems and more time on analysis and strategy. That shift—from operational firefighting to strategic financial management—is the real proof point. It tells me that we’re solving the right problem.
Fintelegram: When you make strategic decisions today, what long-term principle guides you?
Zakharov: Financial infrastructure is increasingly becoming something businesses expect to operate quietly in the background rather than require constant management. I believe that’s where the market is heading. My goal is to build infrastructure that founders rarely have to think about, allowing them to focus on customers and growth instead of financial operations. From the non-redirect e-wallet that started this journey to the unified platform I’m building, every step is about making complexity disappear for the entrepreneur.
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