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Build or Buy: Should Your Fintech Develop Its Core Banking System In-House?

April 24, 2025
As a fintech, one of the biggest strategic decisions you’ll face is whether to build your own Core Banking System (CBS) or opt for a third-party solution. This decision has long-term implications for control, scalability, and compliance. In this article, we’ll explore the pros and cons of both approaches to help you make an informed decision.

The Core Banking Market: A Growing but Consolidating Space

The global CBS market is booming, expected to reach $62 billion by 2032 with an annual growth rate of 17%. This trend is driven by traditional banks looking to launch fast, standalone digital brands — like Raiffeisen Bank International AG, which launched a digital bank in Poland, independent from its legacy systems.

In France, the culture still leans towards in-house development. Players like Spendesk or Blank only outsource the payment component (via Numeral), while Lydia and Qonto have chosen to build everything internally.

Building Your CBS In-House

✅ Advantages

  • Total control: Full customization according to your product and regulatory needs, with internal teams fully aligned to your strategy.
  • Vendor independence: No reliance on external roadmaps or feature delivery timelines.
  • Tech agnosticism: Freedom to choose partners (e.g., card issuers, partner banks) independently.

❌ Drawbacks

  • High upfront costs: Building a dedicated team or legal entity can cost between €2M and €15M in the first year.
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Banking As A Service and Embedded Finance

August 24, 2024

Banking as a Service (BaaS) and Embedded Finance are two related concepts but they serve different purposes in the financial services landscape. Here’s a breakdown of each:

Banking as a Service (BaaS)

  • Definition: BaaS refers to the backend services that banks offer to fintech companies and other businesses to provide financial services without needing to build their own banking infrastructure.
  • Core Functionality: It includes APIs that allow third parties to integrate banking services (like payments, deposit accounts, loans, etc.) into their products.
  • Target Users: Primarily aimed at fintech companies, startups, or any business looking to include banking functionalities without the complexity of compliance and regulation.
  • Examples: Examples include companies like Solarisbank or Synapse that provide banking services to other businesses, enabling them to offer banking capabilities to their customers.

Embedded Finance

  • Definition: Embedded Finance refers to the integration of financial services into non-financial products or platforms, making financial transactions seamless for users.
  • Core Functionality: It involves incorporating financial services like payments, lending, or insurance directly into existing platforms (like e-commerce websites, apps, or marketplaces) without redirecting users to traditional banking interfaces.
  • Target Users: Aimed at businesses from various industries (such as retail, travel, or technology) that want to enhance their customer experience by offering financial products.
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Lithuanian Online Compliance Startup Ondato Raises $2 Million

January 6, 2021

Ondato, a Lithuanian digital and biometric authentication startup, raised $2 million in seed funding and announced its expansion into Europe naming London as its new headquarters. The business will now be based in London’s Canary Wharf district.

Following the capital raise from B2B accelerator Startup Wise Guys and venture firm OTB Ventures, Ondato now looks to expand its product development at its research and development hub in Lithuania, while expanding to the UK, Germany, France and Spain this year.

Ondato’s platform provides a compliance management solution with photo and live video identity verification, data monitoring, screening, due-diligence, risk scoring and case management all on a unified platform. Ondato captures a biometric three-dimensional map of an individual for user identification, providing a higher level of identity assurance than those previously used by large gig economy businesses.

Over the past year, the impact of COVID-19 has increased the need for effective and cost-efficient Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance by banks, insurance providers, merchants and traders. This rapid digitisation of business has led to Ondato’s suite of authentication products to be adopted by a wide range of industries all requiring user verification, identification and risk management.

Ondato reportedly has over 150 clients across 24 countries, from gig economy startups to major corporate banks.…

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Curve Europe UAB Gets the Green Light for E-Money License in Lithuania

October 30, 2020

The Board of the Bank of Lithuania has granted an electronic money institution license to Curve Europe UAB, a subsidiary of Curve OS Limited, an electronic money institution licensed in the UK.

This move authorises it to issue electronic money and provide certain payment services set forth in the Republic of Lithuania Law on Payments.

Following Brexit, the activities of Curve OS will be transferred to Curve Europe UAB. The institution intends to provide electronic money services, execute payment transactions, offer cash withdrawal services, issue payment instruments, as well as provide payment initiation, account information and currency exchange services.

It will provide its services within the European Economic Area (EEA).

Having secured the license, the institution is obliged to provide the Bank of Lithuania with a copy of the agreement concluded with a credit institution, confirming proper implementation of measures for safeguarding customer funds before it starts providing the aforementioned financial services.

Curve Establishes Subsidiary in Lithuania
Curve has also announced the establishment of its subsidiary in Lithuania. The move will help Curve continue to serve customers across the EEA, following the end of the Brexit transition period, and to scale its operations.

As with many other UK-based fintech companies, Curve was searching for a European base to continue operating on the continent post-Brexit.…

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