Financial licensing as in? To obtain a bank account you need to provide your (or your company’s/trust’s) kyc documentation. It takes a day to process, most of the times.
Hello,
I have done some development for a micro banking company, I have used https://www.solarisgroup.com/en/ it's pricey, and you don't need to worry about the e-money liscence which cost around £1 million in the UK, instead using their services you kind of trade under their umbrella. Hope that helps.
I see what you mean. Man that is tough atleast in my country (India). We have a few companies (less than 10) who got the license to operate as a bank. Pretty sure it would have costed them a fortune just to be considered. I hope you get a solution that is cheap. Please tag me here if you manage to get something like this. I would love to know too.
I’ve been in discussions with Solaris for a price quote, but so far, the initial meetings have been fairly generic. I haven't received the final quote yet. I know some neo-banks in the EU that work with Solaris, as they’re well-known for their banking infrastructure in Europe.
That's correct, I would really suggest them for a startup, they are excellent and very well documented, I would still suggest to upgrade to a neo-bank in the future, I think their price is a bit high.
The issue with the mid- to long-term outlook in the EU is that growth can become stagnant. While you can apply for an FCA license, VASP, EMI, or even buy a pre-established company with those licenses, the costs are significantly higher compared to regions like LATAM. Additionally, in Europe, you often have to target each country individually.
It depends on what your business plan is, there is always an audience to cover.
This is what Payoneer, Wise, Etc are doing too they all use BAAS since it is not possible for them to individually give coverage to so many countries with their one EMI license
Exactly
Do you understand that if you are planning to do what I think you are planning, you will need a good marketing budget...?
Yes, I completely understand. My frustration lies with the EU or UK, where early returns are often poor or nonexistent. $250k for just 10k clients is concerning, especially when you consider the CPC and client maintenance costs.
Lol, I do agree, I saw few people from one day to another with a new car... And pricey watches, the development team doesn't have access to budget unfortunately, only marketing team, they can spend on whatever tools, ads and services they wish. I think they are the ones who Bank(rupted) the startup
Not really, there are many providers for Freelancers:
Thank you for your collaboration and your strong knowledge of the EU structure. However, I would suggest avoiding the EU market due to the many factors you mentioned. The cac, cpc, or similar metrics won’t be the same if we operate in other regions.Exactly! And many get declined, fail & will never succeed; being realistic is essential in this game.
Not really, there are many providers for Freelancers:
- Revolut (personally used for freelancing)
- N26 (personally used for freelancing)
- BUNQ (personally used for freelancing)
- VIVID (should be quite good, no experience)
- QUNTO (applied, but dont followed to final sign-up because I was a bit annoyed by their customer service)
- FINOM, by Solaris (personally using mainly for 2 companies - they also provide services for freelancers)
--
Well, let's go back to OP's point, things that have NOT been considered in this mini calculation:
- Since we had fixed costs in the example above, with more customers - more personal ressources or scaling IT are needed
- What is your CAC (Costs of Acquisition): Lowball to compete: 100€ / per customer
- Branding and PR: Lowball, 10.000€
- Scalability of the Infrastructure and Cloud: Could jump from 10.000€ to 20.000€ - 25.000€
- Insurances: Easy peasy 10.000€ (by the way. the costs are yearly)
- IT Security / Databank protection: Lowball: 10.000€
- Well, Banks need a Liquidity buffer, but you still need it as well - you can't just step into the Market and not have any financial Resources for unforeseen things:
Lowball: 100.000€
Total Investment: Lowball (!): 500.000€ each year; assuming that you should survive without getting bankrupt for like 2-3 years: Faktor 2 / 3
Those are even the very high costs of this business model, not even considering things like tax consultancy, ensuring PSD2, data breaches, bug fixing, lawsuits, etc.
Without Investors, proper knowledge of Management, and mainly from IT & Banking, it is not feasible.
At least nothing that realistically is achievable for anyone here on BHW.
That isn't meant to be rude; it's a realistic opinion.
Just think that you are providing Banking Services - First, you need to build a reputation.
But even though you don't need a banking license for this, some services might be available. - You could avoid them, but I'm unsure which ones they were.
In case you tackle this, let us / me know
Best,
zotix
What country are you using those providers from? some of them haven't heard beforeExactly! And many get declined, fail & will never succeed; being realistic is essential in this game.
Not really, there are many providers for Freelancers:
- Revolut (personally used for freelancing)
- N26 (personally used for freelancing)
- BUNQ (personally used for freelancing)
- VIVID (should be quite good, no experience)
- QUNTO (applied, but dont followed to final sign-up because I was a bit annoyed by their customer service)
- FINOM, by Solaris (personally using mainly for 2 companies - they also provide services for freelancers)
--
Well, let's go back to OP's point, things that have NOT been considered in this mini calculation:
- Since we had fixed costs in the example above, with more customers - more personal ressources or scaling IT are needed
- What is your CAC (Costs of Acquisition): Lowball to compete: 100€ / per customer
- Branding and PR: Lowball, 10.000€
- Scalability of the Infrastructure and Cloud: Could jump from 10.000€ to 20.000€ - 25.000€
- Insurances: Easy peasy 10.000€ (by the way. the costs are yearly)
- IT Security / Databank protection: Lowball: 10.000€
- Well, Banks need a Liquidity buffer, but you still need it as well - you can't just step into the Market and not have any financial Resources for unforeseen things:
Lowball: 100.000€
Total Investment: Lowball (!): 500.000€ each year; assuming that you should survive without getting bankrupt for like 2-3 years: Faktor 2 / 3
Those are even the very high costs of this business model, not even considering things like tax consultancy, ensuring PSD2, data breaches, bug fixing, lawsuits, etc.
Without Investors, proper knowledge of Management, and mainly from IT & Banking, it is not feasible.
At least nothing that realistically is achievable for anyone here on BHW.
That isn't meant to be rude; it's a realistic opinion.
Just think that you are providing Banking Services - First, you need to build a reputation.
But even though you don't need a banking license for this, some services might be available. - You could avoid them, but I'm unsure which ones they were.
In case you tackle this, let us / me know
Best,
zotix