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Digital Bank
A neobank (also known as an online bank, internet-only bank, virtual bank or digital bank) is a type of direct bank that operates exclusively online without traditional physical branch networks. The term "challenger bank" is used in the UK to refer to a number of fintech banking startups that emerged in the wake of the 2007–2009 financial crisis. Their services may be accessed by clients through their respective computers or mobile devices. The range of services provided by neobanks is not as broad as that of their traditional counterparts. Unlike incumbent banks, a large portion of the income of neobanks is mainly made up of transaction fees received when customers pay with their debit card. History The term ''neobank'' has been in use since at least 2016 to describe fintech-based financial providers that were challenging traditional banks. There were two main types of company that provided services digitally: companies that applied for their own banking license and compan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Direct Bank
A direct bank (sometimes called a branch-less bank or virtual bank) is a bank that offers its services only via the Internet, email, and other electronic means, often including telephone, online chat, and mobile check deposit. A direct bank has no branch network. It may offer access to an independent banking agent network and may also provide access via ATMs (often through interbank network alliances), and bank by mail. Direct banks eliminate the costs of maintaining a branch network while offering convenience to customers who prefer digital technology. Direct banks provide some but not all of the services offered by physical banks. Direct bank transactions are conducted entirely online. Direct banks are not the same as "online banking". Online banking is an Internet-based option offered by regular banks. In the United States, direct banks are defined as online/branchless institutions with federal banking charters, with either the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zopa
Zopa is a British financial services company which offers deposit accounts and credit cards. It began as the world's first peer-to-peer lending company in 2005 and gained a full banking licence in 2020. The peer-to-peer side of its business closed in December 2021. History Zopa was launched in the UK in March 2005 as an arranger of peer-to-peer lending, connecting investors with individuals seeking loans. It was founded in Buckinghamshire in 2004 by a team from the internet banking company Egg Banking. Zopa grew steadily in the years prior to the financial crisis of 2007–2008. It navigated the period with no losses to investors' capital and only a small dip in returns during 2008. In September 2016, the first portfolio of Zopa loans was securitised on the European markets. In January 2017, Zopa became the first UK based peer-to-peer lending company to lend more than £2 billion worth of loans. Zopa became fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in May 2017. Foll ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tandem Bank
Tandem Money is a company that owns Tandem Bank, one of the UK's original challenger banks. Tandem Bank is a digital bank with a mobile app, and no branches, with a mission to be the UK's greener digital bank. The acquisition of Harrods Bank in 2017, allowed the company to provide services using the former's banking licence. Tandem Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Tandem has offices across the UK in Blackpool, Cardiff, Durham, London and Manchester, employing over 500 people. History The company was founded by Ricky Knox, Matt Cooper and Michael Kent in 2014. In December 2016, Tandem announced that it had secured a £35 million investment from The Sanpower Group, the Chinese company that also owned the department store House of Fraser; however, £29 million of this investment was later revoked by Sanpower over concerns that the Chinese Government would object to the investment following increas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monese
Monese is a British-Estonian company that offers current accounts and money transfer services as an alternative to traditional banks. The mobile-only service provides accounts in Pounds sterling, Euros and Romanian leu, and is available in 31 countries across the European Economic Area. As of January 2020, it has over 2 million customers. History Monese was founded by Norris Koppel, an entrepreneur from Estonia. Koppel moved to the United Kingdom and had his application for a current account at a major high-street bank declined because he could not provide local proof of address and did not yet have credit history in the UK. This experience led Koppel to vow that one day he would launch a banking service that did not exclude customers based on their residency or lack of credit history. The company completed its seed round in May 2015, raising $1.8 million from Seedcamp, early Spotify investor Shakil Khan and several other angel investors. Monese launched its first product, an ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viva Wallet Group
Viva Wallet is a European Neobank entirely based in Microsoft Azure with presence in 24 European countries. Viva Wallet Holdings owns a Banking License (VIVABANK SA). In January 2022, international media reported that Viva Wallet was the first Greek unicorn startup company after an agreement with JP Morgan Chase was announced. Viva Wallet is part of the Viva Wallet Group, consisting of the subsidiaries Viva Services SA, Viva Payment Services and Vivabank. History In 2000, Haris Karonis founded Realize SA in Athens, Greece, which initially operated as a software house. In 2006, Viva Services was founded and entered the voice over IP business and later travel services, followed in 2010 by an expansion to the e-ticketing market. In 2011, Haris Karonis and Makis Antypas founded Viva Payments, which is licensed as a payment institution for the European Economic Area, following the transposition of the PSD2 in the Greek institutional framework. Three years later, in 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bunq
bunq B.V. (colloquially named bunq — bank of The Free) is an international fintech company with a European banking license operating in 30 European countries. It was founded in Amsterdam where its headquarters are currently located. The company was founded in 2012 by Dutch-Canadian entrepreneur Ali Niknam, who previously founded web hosting provider TransIP and The Datacenter Group. It began opening other offices from 2019 onward and currently has a presence in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Dublin, Sofia, Madrid, Brussels, Vienna and Warsaw. The company achieved unicorn status in 2021. bunq is often considered a challenger bank or disruptor. Early history (2012-2015) Much of bunq's early history is documented in the book BreakThrough Banking by Dutch author Siebe Huizinga. According to BreakThrough Banking, much of bunq's early efforts went toward obtaining a European banking license from ‘ De Nederlandsche Bank’, the central bank of the Netherlands. In 2014, bunq received a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adyen
Adyen is a Dutch payment company with status of an acquiring bank that allows businesses to accept e-commerce, mobile, and point-of-sale payments. It is listed on the stock exchange Euronext. Adyen offers merchants online services for merchants to accept electronic payments using payment methods including credit cards, debit cards, wire transfers, and real-time bank transfers based on online banking. It connects merchants to different payment methods, including international credit cards, local cash-based methods, and mobile payment methods. The technology platform acts as a payment gateway and a payment service provider. History Adyen was founded in 2006 by Pieter van der Does and Arnout Schuijff, now the CEO and CTO respectively. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company employs around 2,000 people in offices in twenty three countries. The name Adyen means 'start again' in Sranan Tongo. This is a reference to this being the second project of the founders, after Bibit. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wise (company)
Wise (formerly TransferWise) is a London-based financial technology company founded by Estonian businessmen Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus in January 2011. History Wise was founded by Taavet Hinrikus (Skype's first employee) and financial consultant Kristo Käärmann. Its system has been compared to the hawala money transfer system. In its first year of operation, transactions through Wise amounted to €10 million. In 2012, Wise was named as one of "East London's 20 hottest tech startups" by ''The Guardian'', Start Up of the Week by ''Wired UK'', one of five "start-ups to watch" at Seedcamp's 2012 US Demo Day by TechCrunch, and appeared in Startups.co.uk's list of the top 100 UK start-ups of 2012. In April 2013, Wise stopped letting users purchase Bitcoin, citing pressure from banking providers. Independent comparison site Monito reported that Wise was on average 83% cheaper than the big four UK banks on major currency "routes", but could be up to 90% cheaper in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qonto (neobank)
Qonto is a French online payment institution for freelancers and SMEs. The financial technology company was founded in 2016 and the initial product was launched in July 2017 in France. The service has been expanded to Spain, Germany and Italy since 2019. History The company was created in April 2016. In January 2017, Qonto raised €1,6 million in a seed round with Alven Capital, by billionaire Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures and a few business angels. In July 2017, Qonto raised another €10 million from existing investors Valar Ventures and Alven Capital and launches its service. Six months after the launch, 5.000 companies were using the service and in April 2018, Qonto had more than 10,000 clients. In July 2018, Qonto obtained the licence to be a payment institution from the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority. Qonto does not have a banking licence. In September 2018, Qonto raised another €20 million from its existing investors (Valar Ventures and Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atom Bank
Atom Bank is a retail bank in the United Kingdom. It is the United Kingdom's first bank built for smartphone or tablet, without any branches, and the first digital-only challenger bank to be granted a full UK regulatory licence. The company is based in Durham, England. Atom is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the PRA. History Atom was founded in July 2013 by Anthony Thomson, co-founder of Metro Bank and Mark Mullen, previous CEO at First Direct. In June 2015, Atom was granted a banking licence and before launch in November 2015, Spanish bank BBVA Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (), better known by its initialism BBVA, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Bilbao, Spain. It is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, and is present ... agreed to invest a substantial stake in Atom. The company launched to the public in April 2016, af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OakNorth Bank
OakNorth Bank is a UK bank for small and medium-sized companies that provides business and property loans. The bank, which gained regulatory approval in early 2015, was founded by entrepreneurs Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman, who had previously founded Copal Amba. In 2018, the bank's pre-tax profit was £33.9m. In 2019, the bank increased pre-tax profits by 95% to £65.9m. In 2020, ''Financial Times'' ranked the company at #1 on their list FT 1000: Europe's Fastest Growing Companies 2020. History OakNorth secured a full banking licence from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in March 2015 and began deposit taking and lending six months later. The Board is chaired by Cyrus Ardalan, former vice-Chairman of public policy and government relations at Barclays Bank, and includes Edward “Ted” Berk, a faculty member at Harvard Business School, and an ex-managing director of Bain Capital. In February 2021, Rajesh Gupta, formerly CF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Branch (banking)
A branch, banking center or financial center is a retail location where a bank, credit union, or other financial institution (including a brokerage firm) offers a wide array of face-to-face and automated services to its customers. History and description During the 3rd century banks in Persia (now Iran) and in other territories started to issue letters of credit known as Sakks, basically checks in today’s language, that could be traded in cooperative houses or offices throughout the Persian territories. In the period from 1100-1300 banking started to expand across Europe and banks began opening ‘branches’ in remote, foreign locations to support international trade. In 1327, Avignon in France had 43 branches of Italian banking houses alone. The practice of opening satellite branches was popularized in the early 20th century by Amadeo Giannini, then head of the Bank of America. Historically, branches were housed in imposing buildings, often in a neoclassical style of arc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
