INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hot on the heels of raising $114 million in Series D funding, Raisin, the pan-European fintech marketplace for savings and investment
products, has acquired MHB Bank of Frankfurt, its main provider of banking services in Germany
Terms of the acquisition remain undisclosed and the deal is still subject to regulatory approval
However, the move signals a stepping on the gas for Raisin’s geographical and product expansion ambitions.In a call, Raisin CEO and
founder Tamaz Georgadze explained that MHB Bank provides Raisin’s banking services in Germany, the fintech’s largest market
This sees the bank provide Raisin with account management and customer identification, as well as powering transactions — services that
require an underlying bank license.By purchasing MHB Bank, Raisin can bring a key part of its infrastructure in-house and also utilise the
full bank license to “passport” its various financial services, including its deposits marketplace and ETF-based investment product, to
other European Economic Area (EEA) countries, faster.Georgadze says that not having a banking license has been a bottleneck to Raisin
launching in more countries across Europe
Although available to customers across the EU from the get-go, Raisin has dedicated local market offerings in the Netherlands, U.K
and, of course, Germany.In addition, Georgadze says the acquisition will enable Raisin to streamline the on-boarding process for deposit
banks as well as distribution partnerships, such as the ones it has with O2 Banking of Telefónica Germany and challenger bank N26.“With
the changes this takeover makes possible, we will be able to offer better services more sustainably to our customers and partners,” says
“We want to grow ‘deposits as a service’ into a widely accepted market standard for banks across Europe.” As part of this, Raisin
will invest heavily in the underlying technology powering MHB Bank’s banking service, which should also benefit the bank’s other
customers, which includes CreditShelf and Exporo.Originally founded in 2013, Raisin set out to open up the savings deposit market in Europe
by taking advantage of EU-wide banking regulation, which goes some way to creating a financial services single market
Specifically, the problem the startup solves is that saving deposit rates differ not only from one local bank offer to another but more
noticeably across Europe as a whole.The Raisin marketplace lets you shop around and compare different rates European-wide
However, the key difference to a comparison site is that, via its own bank partner, the company offers consumers a single interface that
includes account opening and anti-money laundering checks, making it easy to switch and continually ensure you get a competitive interest
rate.For the banks that integrate with the Raisin marketplace, especially smaller and midsize banks, including challengers, they get
exposure to customers across Europe that might otherwise never be reached
It also gives them potential access to many more deposits, which helps with their own balance sheet lending and scale.Notably — and
relevant to the announced acquisition of MHB Bank — Georgadze tells me Raisin intends to continue using Starling Bank in the U.K
for its banking services, especially in light of Brexit
MHB Bank will be used to service Raisin accounts in Germany and elsewhere in the EAA.Meanwhile, Raisin is disclosing that it currently has
more than 165,000 customers, who can choose from more than 250 products offered by nearly 70 European banks
These are accessible via the fintech’s seven “platforms,” including via Raisin’s direct-to-consumer sites and within the offerings
of its distribution partners
The fintech’s investors include Index Ventures, PayPal, Ribbit Capital and Thrive Capital.
