Payments service provider Svea and Nordic API Gateway, Denmark’s open banking platform, signed a new partnership that is set to boost e-commerce checkout for a wide range of merchants in Finland through the latter’s platform. The open banking platform is currently live in 21 European markets and expects to be fully rolled out with their payment initiation module across Europe during 2021. Nordic API Gateway reportedly processes more than half a million PSD2 payments monthly for customers like OP Financial Group, Checkout Finland, Danske Bank, DNB, Lunar and more. The number the open banking firm is expected to grow tenfold by…

The Nordic countries are placing themselves at the forefront of the open banking movement. In Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, traditional financial institutions and fintechs are rapidly embracing the trend which they perceive as a major opportunity for their businesses, a research commissioned by Nordic API Gateway found. The study, conducted in early 2020, found that out of more than 100 decision makers within the financial sector, payment and accounting services industries, 82% viewed open banking as an opportunity, and 58% believed that PSD2 had already had a positive impact on the Nordic economy. The research found that Nordic financial…

The Lithuanian-based e-payment network Paysera has announced its expansion plans to Spain, where the company Paysera España was established in the city of Valencia. Financial services and a trademark developed in Lithuania are brought to Spain by the owners of the gold retailer Quick Gold, Spanish businessmen who are starting to provide Paysera services under a joint activity agreement. Quick Gold is said to have a gold trade network stretching through more than 20 cities in Spain and consisting of almost 40 points of sale. “We, as a fintech company, already have clients in Spain. However, the start of our…

In the Baltic region, banks are embracing open banking with most of the major ones giving third-party providers regulated access to account information through developer portals. Data from Latvian open banking startup Nordigen and Openbankingtracker.com suggest that at least 11 banks in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have set up developer portals, in addition to digital banks N26 and Revolut, as well as banking platforms SatchelPay, Seven Seas and Nano, which all offer APIs for third-party providers. Currently, active developer portals in the region include those provided by Swedbank, SEB, Luminor, Citadele, Siauliu Bankas, Meridian Trade Bank, PrivatBank, Signet Bank, Coop…

Yapily, a London-based fintech startup, has announced plans to set up in Vilnius, Lithuania which is the company’s third European office. Yapily joins a growing number of UK fintechs including Revolut, Curve and Square that chose Lithuania as the location for its European hub. Yapily was established in 2017, shortly after the EU’s second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) granted third-party access to customer data of financial institutions. The legislation, which aims to stimulate competition in the financial services market, compelled providers of such services to innovate their API and open banking practices. Yapily’s client base include American Express, IBM, Intuit…

Swedish fintech startup Minna Technologies has raised €15.5 million (£14 million) during a Series B fundraising led by Element Ventures with support from MiddleGame Ventures, Nineyards Equity and Visa, to help retail banks enable their subscription management offering. The new Series B funding takes the total Minna Technologies has raised so far to over €23 million (£20.8 million). The funding will allow the company to scale the technology and bring its services to more customers across the world, with requests from all continents. Founded in 2016, Minna enables customers to manage subscription services via their bank’s app. The platform can…

Bank of Lithuania reported that the number and value of payments made through its payment system CENTROlink had doubled in 2020, while instant payments increased by more than four times. Keeping in this mind, Bank of Lithuania has changed the fees applied to CENTROlink services and will take a more rigorous approach in assessing payment service providers and their management reputation since the beginning of this year. “CENTROlink plays an important role in promoting the development of the payment services sector, and this is reflected in its performance indicators. Particularly notable is the recent surge in instant payments, which shows…

The Danish fintech startup scene has grown significantly over the last few years, rising from only 70 fintech companies in 2015 to more than 250 in 2021, according to numbers from industry trade group Copenhagen Fintech. In 2020, Danish fintechs raised a record of 2.588 billion DKK (US$427 million), up 82.25% from the previous year at 1.42 billion DKK (US$234 million). The 2020 Tradeshift deal (1.650 billion DKK or US$272 million) alone accounted for more than half of all funding raised by Danish fintech companies that year. As the sector continues to grow and mature, the number of partnerships between…

Paytrail, Nets Group’s subsidiary and Finnish online payment provider, has signed an agreement to acquire its competitor Checkout Finland from OP Financial Group. The acquisition supports Nets’ European e-commerce ambitions and further strengthens its presence in Finland. Checkout Finland, part of OP Financial Group, is a rapidly growing player in the Finnish payment landscape, serving both e-commerce and physical stores with a wide array of payment options, together with mobile payment solutions. Checkout Finland reportedly has around 8,000 ecommerce merchants. The completion of the transaction is subject to approval from the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA), and the transaction is…

Ondato, a Lithuanian digital and biometric authentication startup, raised $2 million in seed funding and announced its expansion into Europe naming London as its new headquarters. The business will now be based in London’s Canary Wharf district. Following the capital raise from B2B accelerator Startup Wise Guys and venture firm OTB Ventures, Ondato now looks to expand its product development at its research and development hub in Lithuania, while expanding to the UK, Germany, France and Spain this year. Ondato’s platform provides a compliance management solution with photo and live video identity verification, data monitoring, screening, due-diligence, risk scoring and…

Juni, a Swedish-based banking platform for e-commerce and online marketing companies, has announced plans to establish a product development hub in Vilnius, Lithuania due to its large pool of tech talent and a close-knit fintech ecosystem. The company also plans to hire software developers, compliance officers and other specialists to fuel its expansion plans. After looking at many European locations, Juni decided that Vilnius is the best place to establish a new development hub. “With an amazing pool of tech talent and a close-knit fintech ecosystem, Lithuania is a great location to develop our platform,” said Samir El-Sabini, co-founder and…

Fintech News Baltic would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. We will be taking a break from the 24th December 2020 to the 3rd January 2021. Until then, you can access some of our year-end articles that may be of interest to you. We look forward to seeing you all again on the 4th January 2021! https://fintechbaltic.com/2020/02/14/estonia-fintech-startups-map-2020-first/ https://fintechbaltic.com/2020/02/18/lithuanias-fintech-landscape-in-2019-and-2020-startup-map/ https://fintechbaltic.com/2020/03/25/8-baltic-fintech-startups-to-watch-in-2020/ https://fintechbaltic.com/2020/05/15/belarus-fintech-map-showcases-growing-ecosystem/ https://fintechbaltic.com/2020/01/27/latvia-fintech-startup-map-2020/ https://fintechbaltic.com/2020/12/21/2020-baltic-startup-scene-report-names-11-fast-growing-promising-fintech-startups/ https://fintechbaltic.com/2020/10/02/bank-of-latvias-report-revealed-changes-in-consumer-payment-habits/ https://fintechbaltic.com/2020/09/28/bank-of-lithuania-reports-digital-payments-pace-accelerating-despite-covid-19/ https://fintechbaltic.com/2020/12/23/lithuanias-fintech-industry-in-2020-review-of-this-years-key-developments/

Lithuania’s fintech ecosystem continued to grow in 2020 on the back of government-led initiatives, favorable regulations, and booming digital finance activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Q3 2020, Lithuania is home to more than 200 fintech companies and had issued 121 licenses going towards electronic money institutions (EMIs) and payment institutions (PIs). These figures make Lithuania one of the largest fintech hubs in Europe by number of licensed companies. The Bank of Lithuania is currently examining a total of 40 licensing applications, and in 2021, the central bank is expected to receive up to 100 new applications. Lithuania:…

Startup Wise Guys and EIT Digital have released their annual Baltic Startup Scene report, outlining the state of the Baltic startup ecosystem and the progress made over the past year. Amid COVID-19, the Baltics’ fintech sector saw a particular increase in the number of startups dealing with lending and debt, wealth management, insurtech, regtech and small and midsize business (SMB) finance, the research found. The year also saw the emergence of startups focusing on sustainable finance as well as finance for specific societal subsections, including the aging population, kids and unbanked individuals. One notable trend in 2020 was embedded fintech…

Over the first three quarters of 2020, the total number of payment transactions as well as income of electronic money and payment institutions (EMIs/PIs), which holds a significant share of the Lithuanian fintech sector, has continued to grow according to the Bank of Lithuania. “The performance results for the first nine months of 2020 show that the EMI/PI sector has not only withstood the COVID-19 shock but also continues to enjoy the benefits of electronic payments. The market is expected to grow further, as from the beginning of 2021 the activities of EMIs and PIs established in Lithuania after Brexit…

European open banking platform Tink announced it has raised €85 million during an investment round extension, following its €90 million investment round in January. This brings the total invested in Tink this year to €175 million. The investment round boosting its valuation to €680 million was co-led by a new investor, European growth equity player Eurazeo Growth, and current investor, London-based B2B software venture capital firm Dawn Capital. Existing investors PayPal Ventures, HMI Capital, Heartcore, ABN AMRO Ventures, Poste Italiane and BNP Paribas’ venture arm, Opera Tech Ventures, increased their investments in Tink. This funding top up will fuel Tink’s…

In collaboration with IDEMIA, an augmented identification provider, Swedish bank challenger Rocker plans to launch a pilot for debit cards with fingerprint ID as part of its strategy to offer smart payment solutions across platforms by the first quarter of 2021. IDEMIA’s F.CODE biometric payment cards will undergo a proof of concept with Rocker’s customers. The F.CODE payment card adopts a user-friendly biometric authentication procedure making transactions quicker, more hygienic and more secure as cardholders no longer need to enter a PIN or sign, thereby reducing touch points in public places. This IDEMIA-developed solution harnesses biometric technology and ensures security…

Finland-based startup Rundit, a platform for portfolio management and monitoring, has raised € 1 million in seed funding. The round was led by two new angel investors, including Pierre Weimerskirch, board member of several PE and VC funds and the LPEA Luxembourg Private Equity Association. The capital will be used for scaling across Europe and the US, while improving Rundit’s product offering for GPs. To date, Rundit has raised a total of €1.6M in funding. The company reportedly has customers worldwide in 28 countries, including over 300 VCs whose portfolio companies are valued from pre-seed to unicorn. “We are excited…

Meniga, an Iceland based AI-driven digital banking solutions provider, has partnered with Swedbank to launch new services to increase customer engagement. The new digital banking solution is now live at all of Swedbank’s markets in Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. Utilising Meniga’s data-driven digital banking technology, the bank’s online banking portal and mobile app has been developed to boost customer engagement and improve the overall digital user experience of Swedbank’s customers. The new functionalities, which are driven by personalised banking data, will offer an easy-to-use and secure solution for everyday banking, helping users to better understand and take control of their…

Sberbank, state-owned Russian banking and financial services company, and 500 Startups, early-stage venture fund and seed accelerator, now accepts international entries for its third IT startup accelerator. The closing date for applications is January 10, 2021. The accelerator is a tech entrepreneur programme relying on the capabilities of Sberbank as well as the expertise and experience of 500 Startups. The third batch of the accelerator is said to differ from its previous ones. The accelerator has expanded its geography by accepting applications from startups from beyond Russia including countries like Israel, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. In addition to…