Estonian fintechs Tuum and LHV UK strike core banking partnership

Payments provider LHV UK today announced a partnership with Estonian fintech Tuum (formerly Modularbank) to secure the core banking infrastructure for its UK operations.

LHV UK, which submitted its banking licence application at the end of last week, said the move would free up its own internal resources and let it focus on developing its core payments technology used by the likes of Coinbase,Railsbank and Wise.

“In October last year Tuum entered into a partnership with LHV UK and thereby gained access to our instant EUR and GBP payments and banking account services,” said Erki Kilu, CEO of LHV UK.

“Now LHV UK has chosen Tuum as our core banking provider and I look forward to further strengthening our relationship.”

Given LHV UK itself is a spin off business unit from Estonian bank LHV, the tie-up with a fellow fintech from Estonia isn’t surprising.

Tuum has itself been on a tear recently, securing a €15m funding round in January which it says will initially be used to expand its operations in the UK and double its headcount this year to 150.

“This deal is a perfect illustration of a point we at Tuum have frequently made,” said Tuum co-founder and chief business officer Rivo Uibo.

“Collaborating with core banking infrastructure providers is invaluable for banks in freeing up internal resources to focus on competitive product offerings.”