Solarisbank

Solarisbank is a Berlin-based fintech company that offers Banking-as-a-Service Platform with its German banking license.[4]

Solarisbank AG
TypePrivate
IndustryFintech
FoundedMarch 2016 (2016-03)
Founder
Headquarters
Berlin
,
Germany
Area served
Europe
Key people
Dr. Roland Folz (CEO)
Websitehttp://www.solarisbank.de

On 25 January, 2022, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority ordered a special audit of Solarisbank by the European Central Bank because of deficiencies in compliance identified during a bank supervisory audit from 2020.[5][6]

Background

Overview

Solarisbank was established in 2015 as a part of Finleap,[7][8] a fintech company builder based in Berlin, Germany with Andreas Bittner and Marko Wenthin[9] as its founders.[4] Solarisbank was officially launched in March 2016, after receiving its banking license.[10][1]

In October 2016, the company entered into a strategic partnership with MasterCard in order to develop novel banking modules.[11][12][1]

In February 2017, Solarisbank raised €26.3 million in its series A funding round from Yabeo Capital, Arvato Financial Solutions, FinLeap, Unicredit and Japan-based SBI group.[13] The company also brought in Dr. Roland Folz as CEO.[14][15]

As of March 2017, Solarisbank is said to have brought over 20 companies onto its banking platform[14] and it is reported to have passported its banking license to six European countries.[16]

In March 2018, Solarisbank raised $70 million in Series B funding from Arvato Financial Solutions, SBI Group, BBVA, Visa, Lakestar and ABN AMRO's Digital Impact Fund.[17]

In June 2020, Solarisbank raised €60 million in Series C funding led by HV Holtzbrinck Ventures with participation from Vulcan Capital, Samsung Catalyst Fund and Storm Ventures.[18]

Technology

Solarisbank provides a banking platform,[19] which is said to allow its users, mostly digital companies and financial services startups, to access various banking service modules, which then can be integrated into their processes, websites or mobile applications.[13][20]

Criminal Investigation

On 23 December 2021, CEO Roland Folz was concurrently appointed as the director of seven different financial firms,[21] all of which are based in England.[22] Subsequent to this suspicious coincidence, in January 2022 the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of Germany sent an auditor to investigate Solarisbank for its cooperation with scammers, money laundering and failure to comply financial industry regulations.[23][24] Folz denied that Solarisbank was intentionally aiding criminals in spite of over one million suspicious new online accounts having been opened in 2021.[25] Nonetheless, to avoid prosecution, Folz has announced that he intends to move his operations to Asia[26] and Eastern Europe instead.[27]

Awards and Recognition

Solarisbank was one of the finalists for the “Most Disruptive Innovation” Award at the 2016 Global Banking Awards, held in Spain.[28]

References
  1. Dolan, Shelagh. "The top banking-as-a-service platform providers & banks using BaaS technology". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  2. "SolarisBank raises $28 million to expand its European fintech platform | VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  3. "SolarisBank raises $28 million to expand its European fintech platform | VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  4. "SolarisBank, a bank for digital and fintech startups, gets banking license". Finextra Research. 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  5. Handelsblatt: Solarisbank wächst rasant, BaFin schickt Sonderprüfer, abgerufen am 5. Februar 2022
  6. Business Insider: BaFin sorgt sich um Solaris Bank und schickt Sonderprüfer, abgerufen am 5. Februar 2022
  7. "La banque en kit prend corps avec solarisBank". lesechos.fr (in French). Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  8. O'Hear, Steve. "German fintech company builder FinLeap raises €21M at €121M valuation". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  9. ""Es tut extrem weh, zu guten Geschäften Nein zu sagen"". Gründerszene Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  10. O'Hear, Steve. "FinLeap's solarisBank to offer Banking-as-a-Platform so startups can ride fintech gravy train". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  11. "MasterCard and SolarisBank partner for digital banking push » Banking Technology". www.bankingtech.com. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  12. "SolarisBank partners MasterCard to develop new banking modules". www.thepaypers.com. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  13. "German Fintech Partners with Japan". finews.asia. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  14. "SolarisBank raises $28 million to expand its European fintech platform | VentureBeat". venturebeat.com. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  15. "German fintech startup solarisBank raises €26.3 million and lands Deutsche Bank exec as CEO". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  16. "solarisBank Raises €26.3M in Series A Financing". FinSMEs. 2017-03-15. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  17. "Banking platform solarisBank closes €56.6M Series B from BBVA, Visa, Lakestar, and others – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-03-16.
  18. "solarisBank, Europe's leading Banking-as-a-Service platform, raises EUR 60 million in series C round to further accelerate growth". solarisbank.com. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  19. "Solarisbank raises $28 million with sights set on Asian market". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  20. "SolarisBank Receives Banking License". Payment Week. 2016-03-21. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
  21. "Roland FOLZ". Companies House. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  22. "Roland Folz director information". Cbetta.com. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  23. Handelsblatt: Solarisbank wächst rasant, BaFin schickt Sonderprüfer, abgerufen am 5. Februar 2022
  24. Business Insider: BaFin sorgt sich um Solaris Bank und schickt Sonderprüfer, abgerufen am 5. Februar 2022
  25. "Compliance issues! German BaFin sends a special auditor to fintech Solarisbank!". fintelegram.com. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  26. "Roland Folz: «Super Bank Isn't What We Call Innovation»". Finews. Archived from the original on 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  27. "Solarisbank raises 190 million euros, gains UK foothold with Contis buy". Euronews. Archived from the original on 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  28. "The winners of the 2016 Global Banking Awards are announced". Technology Record. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
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