Swiss neobank Yapeal moved a step closer to the market with the alpine nation's first fintech license. The nod is tied to regulatory requirements.
Switzerland's nascent online banking market is poised to heat up: regulator Finma granted Yapeal the country's first fintech license, the start-up said in a statement on Friday. Yapeal plans to develop a digital bank based on blockchain technology.
This means the fintech can offer accounts with a Swiss IBAN without leaning on an established bank for connection to the payments system. The bank's strategy is to serve clients that normal retail banks find less attractive because they have only very limited budgets and little or no money left at the end of the month.
Next License Eyed
Yapeal has orginally planned to launch last September, but Finma was reportedly cool on the start-up's plans and required a longer evaluation that budgeted. The license means Yapeal can target a market launch soon.
Chairman Hans Kuhn, previously chief counsel of Switzerland's central bank, told finews.com in April that Yapeal would likely need more than a fintech regulatory status: «The fintech license is limited, but we can work well with that in an initial phase.»
In Switzerland, fintechs are capped at 100 million Swiss francs ($108 million) in deposits. Yapeal has previously said it would eventually want a banking license – and it also is working with U.S. credit card provider Visa to offer Switzerland's first Visa debit card.
