Banking challenger Banco BNI Europa links up with crowdfunding lender

The Portuguese digital bank has added Fellow Finance to its third-party roster.

Banco BNI Europa has started its investment in loans through Fellow Finance, as the first European bank to do so. The digital bank will now have access as an investor on the Nordic and Central European consumer loan and SME loan market on the Fellow Finance platform.

The online lender is the largest crowdfunding platform in Northern Europe, as well as offering both peer-to-peer consumer loans and loan-based crowdfunding to companies. Since its launch, the platform has intermediated loans for over €200m, and currently manages over 280k users from 43 countries.

“Modern banks expand and grow by partnerships. Fellow Finance enables and offers an easy access to invest and lend in Nordic and Central European consumer and SME loans through its platform,” says Jouni Hintikka, Fellow Finance CEO.

“Through their investment account at Fellow Finance, Banco BNI Europa is able to diversify their balance sheet investment into Finnish and German loans easily and cost-effectively. This is an example that banks don’t need to set up their own expensive operations on ground but can effectively enter markets through marketplace lending platforms. It is also an example how banks can also utilize the presence of FinTech among their core business.”

Banco BNI Europa has now partnered with fourteen European fintechs, including most recently with Belgian marketplace lender Ebedex. Other big names from its partnerships in 2017 included MarketInvoice, Creditshelf and local lending platform RAIZE.

Speaking on this latest deal, executive chairman of Banco BNI Europa, Pedro Pinto Coelho said: “Investing via Fellow Finance in consumer and SME loans offers us a great opportunity to easily expand our operations and we are very satisfied with the analytical and professional approach of Fellow Finance in credit intermediation.”

The bank closed 2017 with 141 per cent growth, and took its total assets under management above €500m.