In conversation with Marc-Alexander Christ
Marc-Alexander Christ, Co-Founder of SumUp, on the ecosystem approach, and more.
Read time: 1:30 Minutes
Marc-Alexander Christ, Co-Founder of SumUp, joined us at FIBE 2026 for a panel discussion titled “Stablecoins in 2026: The New Backbone of Finance?”.
SumUp started in 2012 as a card reader solution. Since then, you've expanded enormously: you’ve acquired companies, moved into invoicing, banking and much more. How would you describe SumUp today?
Marc-Alexander Christ: We started with the best in-person card acceptance solution for small merchants. Today, we are much bigger – it's really an ecosystem play.
We offer three main pillars: payments, card and account, and software. The software side includes POS, but also online store, invoicing, loyalty programmes, and more.
The ecosystem approach is one big trend for us. And we're also moving significantly up-market - rather than just serving the coffee shop or the taxi driver, we're now working with much larger merchants across the entire value chain, from small and medium businesses all the way to enterprise. We even serve venues like the O2 Arena.
On stage, you described stablecoins as a powerful technology, but still a niche. Can you tell me more?
Christ: Over the last 14 years, we've consistently lowered the cost of payments for merchants, reducing the cost per transaction and the overall cost of ownership for small businesses. We see stablecoins as a way to drive that even further, and actually see ourselves driving down margins, which obviously also comes with our cost base.
In the mid-term, stablecoins will just reduce the cost base of doing payments. If you process a portion of your volume through stablecoins, the infrastructure becomes cheaper – and that's definitely something we want to invest in. Not to mention the many other use cases, like faster settlement.
On a slightly different topic, many fintech companies made diversity and inclusion a centerpiece of their communications a few years ago, then quietly stepped back. SumUp has kept pushing with women's programmes, LGBTQ+ networks for example. Does it remain a priority as it was before for you and SumUp?
Christ: Well, there's not a big difference between SumUp's values and my personal values. And yes, it very much remains a priority. Diversity brings diversity of thought. That's exactly what we need to serve our merchant base.
We have four million merchants across the world, which is pretty much a representation of humankind. To build for such a diverse merchant base, you need diverse perspectives within your organisation.