Over 5 million digital payment transactions take place every day in Ireland, valued at €3.7 billion, and there is increasing competition among banks and fintech companies for customers in the market.
The banks already wield considerable market power but they face increased competition from payments apps like Revolut.
There is a lot of interest in the retail banks' plans to come together and develop a new app called Synch Payments.
Yesterday, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission said it will carry out further investigations into the proposed payments app, a joint venture between AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and KBC Bank Ireland.
The CCPC wants to establish if the proposed transaction could lead to a substantial lessening of competition.
Fintech Ireland has been mapping the fintech market in Ireland since 2014. There is more than 100 fintech firms operating in Ireland right now, in addition to the banks.
"It's not just Revolut, which has 1.5 million customers in Ireland, and probably 15 million customers globally," said Peter Oakes, Fintech Ireland founde.
"But also think about companies like N26, a specialised bank in Germany which only started in 2013; they claim to have 200,000 Irish customers. Banq, a Dutch bank, which has bought an Irish fintech and it's a full suite bank as well, and recently the Bank of London has said it's eyeing up Ireland as a potential home for its Irish operations, so competition is really going to increase," he said.
A report earlier this week from N26 and Accenture showed that Ireland has the greatest level of trust in digital banking in Europe and has recorded one of the fastest adoption rates globally over the past few years.
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Mr Oakes believes Irish people have embraced financial technology because of the proliferation of fintech companies and options here.
He said some of the digital services are not far off from offering a full service bank, including loans and mortgages.
"Revolut's CEO is on the record saying they are pursuing a fintech license and possibly a banking license, how soon that will all happen comes down to the Central Bank of Ireland and the process Revolut is going through."
Is there a threat to retail banks that young people who use digital banking apps, won't need to sign up for a traditional bank account?
Mr Oakes said it is not always about competition between banks and digital services, "it's about collaboration and you may end up having a mix".
"A lot of fintechs still rely upon banks to provide some part of the service. Interestingly, it's a collaboration, so it swings in the opposite direction too - a lot of banks rely on fintechs because some banks aren't licensed around the world and use a business based in Kilkenny called TransferMate to do a lot of business as well," he said.
"If you're a young person or not, you may end up having your bank account and a quick payments app on your phone. You'll have what you need to have," he added.
