Mintos Raises €5 Million, Launches a Debit Card
The P2P lending marketplace Mintos announces a €5 million funding round led by the Venture Capital Grumpy Investments (ex-Skillion Ventures). This investment will help them aim for the market of financial services as they unveil a payment card and a bank account.
The Latvian FinTech headquartered in Riga features loans for individual customers with a mortgage guarantee and/or loan repurchase guarantee in case of default on the part of the lender. These loans are financed by investors. Mintos sets links between these investors and borrowers through their platform. They claims over 87,000 investors in more than 70 countries.
They already applied for EMI approval, and started providing their users with personal IBAN accounts and debit cards. This account acts just like any bank account and can be used on a daily basis (P2P transfers, paydays, etc.). The associated payment card allows investors to use the money they store on their Mintos account to pay online, in-store, or withdraw cash at the ATM.
In addition to these new services, Mintos will rely on this investment to improve their geographic coverage, especially in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. They became profitable in January 2017. They are also expected to further focus on customer acquisition.
Comments – More banking services for investors
Mintos pulls another string as they add banking services for their customers: a way for them to diversify their range of offers, while still supporting their core business as a P2P lending platform. Their investors may then avoid relying on banks for basic services (such as credit transfers). However not new, this initiative is another step for them towards including financial services.
Last October, this FinTech partnered with the Swedish Instant credit transfer specialist Trustly, allowing investors to instantly send money from 29 European countries. This offer proved successful among testers: 80% of their newly registered investors opted for Trustly to transfer money. Mintos is currently working on a mobile app for tech-savvy customers, yet another way to attract new customers, while securing their existing customer base and challenging traditional banking players.