German regulatory body BaFin has granted a banking license to Berlin-based tech company solarisBank, which has built an API-based platform to power startups in the digital economy.
SolarisBank is looking to partner with e-commerce business and fintech startups by offering fast and simple integration of banking services via a modular platform specifically designed to meet the needs of emerging digital-first companies.
“In the future, almost all big internet companies will depend on digital banking solutions to expand their offerings and achieve regulatory compliance," says jan Beckers, solarisBank chairman. "During our preparations, we couldn’t identify a single bank worldwide that specialises exclusively on technology partnerships with digital companies."
Founded in 2015 by Marko Wenthin, formerly of Deutsche Bank and Andreas Bittner, an ex-MD at core banking supplier Avaloq, solarisbank currently employs 30 people.
A product of the FinLeap startup factory, launched by incubation outfit HitFox in December 2014, solarisBank believes it has found a sweet spot in a market underserved by traditional banks and their legacy platforms.
“At solarisBank, we emphasise technological innovation over banking," says Bittner. "We’ve explicitly adjusted to the needs of the digital economy and turned the paradigm of traditional banking upside down.”