Danish neo-bank Lunar Way is expanding into Sweden, furthering its ambitions to become a pan-Nordic alternative to the region's traditional financial services institutions.
The app-based bank secured EUR4.2 million in new funding led by Seed Capital Denmark in December 2016, promising to bring slick, digital banking services to millennials, while outsourcing the regulatory hassle to partners.
The new bank struck a deal with the country's largest mortgage provider Nykredit to provide the back-end processing for its banking services. The incumbent banking partner has also taken a minority interest in the startup.
While not revealing details of bank relationships in Sweden, Lunar Way signalled its intention to cross over to the neighbouring country in a LinkedIn post by executive tech advisor Tuva Palm (pictured with founder and CEO Ken Villum Klausen).
"As many of you know, I have been part of the Lunar Way board since start. We have now decided that it is time for Lunar Way to go Nordic. In the coming months we will soft launch Lunar Way in Sweden. I can’t yet reveal what we will offer, but I can promise you that the roadmap looks very exciting...
"If you want to try things first, and are Swedish, then join our Facebook-community and get access to the app before everyone else."
Finextra will be assessing the impact of innovation and challenger banks on the Nordic banking market in our annual NextGen Banking - Nordics event in Stockholm on 20 November. Registration for the conference is now open.