4 European neobanks you should not miss out on

By Joy Dumasia

Neobanks offer banking services to customers directly on their mobile phones or via other digital platforms. This digital-only bank trend has challenged the status quo of the incumbent banks as the former comes with the personalised customer experience and product offerings. Neobanks have been aiming to transform the banking landscape.

Europe is considered a neobanks and challenger banks hotspot, with the UK leading the race. However, many innovative digital-only banks have emerged in many European countries other than the UK. 

The following are 4 Neobanks you should not miss out on:

• Bnext

Spanish mobile-first neobank Bnext offers users a card and a linked mobile marketplace featuring banking products from select partners. The company also provides an account aggregation feature to manage traditional bank accounts from within the app. Users can connect their existing bank accounts to the platform and manage their finances in one place, at any time.

IBS Intelligence reported that Bnext, the first Spanish neobank that challenges the traditional banking system, has joined forces with Algorand to revolutionise the remittances market in Europe and Latam. During 2020, Latam received more than 100bn USD, and Spain sent more than 18bn USD, with Latin America receiving most of the remittances sent by Spain.

• Bunq

Amsterdam-based bunq is a challenger bank that offers a range of online financial services, primarily through its mobile app. The company’s app enables customers to open one free transaction account or up to 25 accounts for a monthly fee. Additionally, customers can request money from friends, split bills, and make payments in real-time. Businesses can also open a Bunq account.

Recently, IBS Intelligence reported that bunq, the Amsterdam-based digital challenger bank, has partnered with Currencycloud, the experts in simplifying business in a multi-currency world, to deliver a truly international bank account for the post-pandemic era. Whether getting paid or making a payment, bunq’s multi-currency accounts with enhanced local capabilities will give users the freedom and control to manage, receive and pay funds in different currencies. 

• Lunar

Denmark-based Lunar is a 100% digital mobile-based banking app serving individual and business customers. The app lets users pay their bills, analyse their consumption, and transfer money through the app. The company received its banking license in 2019.

IBS Intelligence reported that Lunar had announced a €210 million series D funding round led by family-owned investment company HEARTLAND. Other investors included Kinnevik, European growth investors, and Tencent, a China-based technology company. The new investment was secured following a rapid acceleration in growth from both private and business customers. Lunar now serves more than 325,000 customers across the Nordics.

• Penta

Headquartered in Berlin, Penta is a digital platform for business banking aimed at SMEs and startups. It offers its business customers a German IBAN and debit cards for expense management, on top of its other financial services.

IBS Intelligence reported that German FinTech Penta closed €30 million in a Series B+ top-up round backed by existing investors such as finleap, HV Capital, RTP Global, Presight Capital, S7V and VR Ventures, ABN AMRO Ventures. The FinTech announced a partnership with savings marketplace Raisin along with the release of a new range of corporate term and overnight deposits. The partnership is expected to allow Penta’s business customers to access higher interest rates by investing in Raisin deposit products through their accounts.

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