Norway-based biometric fintech Zwipe and TietoEVRY, a provider of software and digital banking services in the Nordics, have agreed to jointly roll out biometric payment solutions based on the Zwipe Pay ONE platform. With the recent surge in demand for safer and more secure payments, TietoEVRY is embracing biometric payment innovations that enable more hygienic, secure and convenient payments for consumers. As part of this commercial agreement, Zwipe will provide TietoEVRY with technical support towards biometric payment card integration, enrollment solutions, and a complete end-to-end advisory offering aimed at helping banks to successfully deploy biometric payment solutions. TietoEVRY will source…

Xolo, announced the appointment of Elina Räsänen as their new Chief Marketing Officer starting from November, 2020. The Estonian-based company provides a SaaS platform for solopreneurs aimed at making starting and running a modern microbusiness easier. She brings over a decade of expertise in brand building and growth marketing to Xolo. In her new role, Elina will be responsible for scaling Xolo’s marketing activities and ramping up growth efforts across all markets. She will oversee the company’s marketing activities from performance and lifecycle marketing to brand, PR and content marketing, bringing these functions together to further establish Xolo as the…

The September edition of the “Payment Radar” by the Bank of Latvia revealed that the COVID-19 and related restrictive measures significantly affected payment habits in Latvia over this year. The central bank’s report found that the total volume of non-cash payments edged down for the first time. At the same time, the share of non-cash payments in the total volume of payments is gradually increasing. The “Payment Radar”, published semi-annually, contains the latest information on money usage habits of Latvia’s households, businesses and the public at large. Development of the proportion and interaction between non-cash and cash payments (as at August…

The Bank of Lithuania, together with ACAMS Baltics Chapter, Fintech Hub LT and the Association of Lithuanian Banks, organised a virtual international conference to discuss topical issues and ways for further improving the AML/CTF framework. The “Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing: From Challenges to Possibilities” conference revealed that anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (AML/CTF) professionals strive for cooperation crossing not only institutional but also national borders. Experts from supervisory and financial intelligence institutions, together with representatives of various associations, shared their knowledge on AML/CTF measures, challenges they are currently facing and future opportunities to enhance the AML/CTF system. One…

Lithuanian payment processor Paysera announced that the company has started trading in physical gold, actual bars and coins rather than units of this precious metal sold on the exchanges. Buyers will be able to store their gold, purchased via the app, at the company’s storage facilities, pick it up at the company HQ, or order a home delivery. “Precious metals maintain their value and popularity even during an economic downturn. No wonder central banks hold gold in their reserves. Since the price of gold, by taking into account inflation, remains more or less the same in the long run, gold,…

In the first half of 2020, the number of payment transactions and income of electronic money and payment institutions (EMIs/PIs) has continued to grow at a rapid pace despite the pandemic. “The trends observed in the first half of the year show that the EMI/PI sector has withstood the shock of COVID-19. On top of that, the sector’s performance has even improved along with the digitalisation of payment services,” said Rūta Merkevičiūtė, Head of the Electronic Money and Payment Institutions Supervision Division at the Bank of Lithuania. In the first half of 2020, the total amount of payment transactions executed…

Stockholm based Fintech Klarna became the highest-valued private fintech in Europe after raising US$650 million in a funding round, at a post money valuation of $10.65 billion. The funding round was led by Silver Lake, technology investing firm with more than $60 billion in combined assets under management, alongside GIC, a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, as well as funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and HMI Capital. Concurrently, Merian Chrysalis, TCV, Northzone and Bonnier have acquired shares from existing shareholders. They will join current investors such as Sequoia Capital, Dragoneer, Permira, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Bestseller Group and Ant Group in…

Fintech company Factris has closed a new EUR 50 million secured financing agreement with asset manager NN Investment Partners (NN IP). The facility will be used to provide financing to European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) via the purchase of their trade-related invoices, which allows companies to get paid quicker for their sales and thereby helps them to manage their liquidity position better. As invoice finance is said to be one of the fastest forms of funding available to small businesses, it is becoming an increasingly valuable tool in helping SMEs to manage their working capital requirements. This has taken…

Multiple UN agencies have joined hands with Copenhagen Fintech to bring Nordic fintech startups to Singapore to promote the exchange of innovation. The agencies involved are UNDP’s Global Center for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development in Singapore, UNDP’s Nordic Office and UNDP SDG Innovative Finance (UNSIF) in Bangkok. The program is meant to help fast-track their journey towards commercially scalable and sustainable impact-oriented ventures in the ASEAN region. Local startups tackling some of the world’s most urgent challenges and program partners will also be involved to foster new partnerships and even stronger ties between the two regions. Climate change and its…

The Bank of Lithuania urges electronic money and payment institutions (EMIs/PIs) to adhere to the established laws and capital requirements or face the consequence of having their infringements made public as part of their enforcement measures. “Capital requirements, along with the prevention of money laundering and safeguarding of customer funds, are the key areas that fall under our supervision. Unfortunately, some EMIs and PIs pay too little attention to this particular aspect, which is in fact an important indicator of their financial state. However, after having received a warning, they tend to quickly resolve all capital adequacy issues and accumulate…

Fintech Farm Helsinki came up with an updated listing of the largest fintech companies in Finland based on the recently published 2019 figures. They have now divided the companies into 3 different top 20 listings, which are startups founded since 2015, scaleups founded between 2010 and 2014, and established companies founded before 2010. “It was positive to see that the entire industry’s revenue has grown into 1.3 billion euros, and that the startups managed to increase their revenue with a praiseworthy 48%.” Fintech Farm Helsinki mentions in a newsletter announcement. Fintech startups leading the growth Altogether, the fintech sector in…

Latitude59 x EstBAN Pitching Competition’s pre-finals took place last week with over 50 early-stage startups competing for the chance to pitch in front of investors at the Latitude59 stage. The top 10 finalists for the flagship startup and technology event did not feature any fintech startups. The grand prize is a €200 000 syndicate investment by EstBAN and €10 000 cash prize from Latitude59. The grand final of the competition will take place on August 28 in Tallinn which can also be viewed online. The top 10 startups to go through to the final round of the Latitude59 and EstBAN’s pitching competition…

In 2017, Estonia became amongst the first countries in Europe to provide a legal framework for business activities involving virtual currencies. Since then, the Baltic country has emerged as a preferred destination for crypto entrepreneurs to launch their businesses. In a space of three years, Estonia licensed more than 1,400 entities, but as part of a crackdown on financial crime, regulators recently stripped more than 500 of their permits this year, Bloomberg reported in June. So far, the crackdown has targeted companies that failed to start operations in Estonia within six months of getting a permit, Madis Reimand, who heads…

The finance industry in Latvia in general, and it’s capital Riga in particular, has been traditionally strong. Financial services have consistently ranked among the leading service export areas in the Baltic region, in large parts benefitting from Riga as the trading bridge between European, Nordic and CIS economies. A skilled and ambitious talent pool, advantageous geographic location and high-tech digital infrastructure has facilitated the recent meteoric rise of the IT sector. As the nascent IT industry is merging with strong roots in finance, the current innovation trends act as a catalyst for growth and innovation. Fintech is the strongest startup…

Bankera, a Lithuanian fintech startup, has started to offer business loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The model for Bankera Business Loans was developed at the European Commission hackathon as a response to COVID-19 back in April. Despite the easing of restrictions necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19 around Europe, most SMEs are still at risk. In less than 3 months, the team behind the project was able to fully implement the lending solution which ultimately aims to aid a market segment that has been underserved by legacy banks. The solution accepts supplier’s guarantee as additional collateral. Also, by…

iDenfy announced a partnership with the Bank of Lithuania to offer digital coin buyers a convenient ID verification process based on artificial intelligence. The startups biometric verification solution will help verify customers’ identities to buy the LBCOIN complying with Know Your Customer (KYC) and other directives from the state law. iDenfy automates the identity verification process; their ID document detection solution can recognise documents by type and country. At present, they are supporting more than 1300 ID documents from more than 200 countries, making it easier for the bank to accept investors from different regions. The national bank using ID…

Opera, a browser provider headquartered in Oslo, announced its intention to purchase Fjord Bank subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition will enable Opera to further accelerate its fintech operations in Europe by launching new services aimed at improving consumers’ personal finances. With the acquisition of AB Fjord Bank, Opera will become the owner of a specialised bank, which will launch its first deposit and loan service in Lithuania during the summer of 2020. “Opera has been making innovative browsers and apps for 25 years. Our browsers are the personal choice of millions of people who prefer them over those that…

At the end of 2019, a total of 115 electronic money institutions (EMIs) and payment institutions (PIs) operated in Lithuania, comprising a one-fifth increase compared to the previous year. According to the audited annual financial statements, corporate income from licensed activities increased 1.6 times — from €41.08 million to €66.1 million. Within its supervisory mandate, the Bank of Lithuania mainly focused on the monitoring of compliance with anti-money laundering, own capital and customer funds protection requirements. “The audited results on the performance of EMIs and PIs in 2019 confirm that the relatively new market does not lack drive to scale…

The Bank of Lithuania will be issuing their blockchain-based LBCOIN digital collector coin LBCOIN on 23 July which claims to be the world’s first of its kind. The development of LBCOIN was initiated during the hackathon held by the central bank in June 2018. It consists of six digital tokens and one physical silver collector coin. They will issue 4,000 LBCOINs, i.e. 24,000 digital tokens and 4,000 physical collector coins. The coin is dedicated to the Act of Independence of Lithuania and its 20 signatories. Each token features one of the 20 signatories and belongs to one of the six…

Estonia is launching its long-awaited Digital Nomad Visa this month, an extension of their e-Residency programme. Digital nomads and remote workers have long faced ambiguity when working while they travel, often skirting the law by working while visiting a country with a tourist visa. While other countries like Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal and the Czech Republic have introduced visas for digital nomads, so far these have primarily targeted freelancers. In contrast, the new Estonian Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) covers a broader range of digital nomads — in addition to freelancers, it also allows teleworking from Estonia if the person has…