When it comes to building a fintech hub, Germany is doing it differently. In fact, it’s not doing it at all.

The country's fintech sector is spread out across Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and other cities, without a single metropolis emerging as a concentrated centre. Yet it seems to be working. Start-ups are thriving and funding is flowing, bucking the conventional wisdom that the sector can only thrive if a community including start-ups, banks, venture capitalists and tech experts is found in one place.