• Product Reviews
• 23.01.2020 07:00 pm
• SatchelPay: financial operations made simple

With the new possibilities offered by the latest technology continuing to redefine modern personal and corporate finance, there have been a wealth of services that have developed recently in the European Union with new takes on what finance should look like in the digital age. One of the fastest growing companies in the field over the past couple of years has been SatchelPay UAB, an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) out of Lithuania offering individuals and corporate clients a full range of transactional services.

Perhaps due to the rapid growth of the company, SatchelPay found itself in the crosshairs of regulators earlier this year when it was suspended by the Bank of Lithuania over a self-auditing issue. However, after working extensively with the Lithuanian bank to make sure everything was in order and doing some corporate restructuring, the suspension has been lifted and SatchelPay has been able to resume full operations.

So what made SatchelPay such an attractive EMI option in the first place?

The company’s growth has been remarkable. Issued an EMI licence by the Bank of Lithuania in 2018, within a year the company had acquired a user base that saw it rise to 17th place among EMIs ranked according to total revenue generated. The Fintech industry has exploded of late, and its evolution into one of the most dynamic and formidable sectors in finance has certainly brought in a number of new clients looking for services of the kind offered by SatchelPay.

However, outside of just the general expansion of the industry, SatchelPay has distinguished itself among its peers. Its growth can be explained by its effectiveness in its forked approach with services divided along personal and corporate lines.

Personal and corporate finance with SatchelPay

According to their site, the main idea behind SatchelPay’s personal finance service is reshaping the way people interact with their finances. This translates into using the capabilities present in modern digital finance technology to deliver their clients a simple and convenient means of taking care of their needs.

With a mobile banking app that allows users to send transactions and top-up their balances 24/7 and prepaid cards offered through SatchelPay’s partnership with MasterCard, SatchelPay offers its users cashless and convenient international banking services that extend beyond the scope of what traditional banks can offer. Without having to worry about their bank’s hours of operation, users can load money onto their accounts and transfer it to almost anywhere in the world.

SatchelPay’s corporate offerings are substantial. With SatchelPay corporations get a range of services tailored to fit their needs including multicurrency IBANs, prepaid payment cards and SEPA payments. The EMI also offers white label banking which gives companies the chance to quickly produce their own payment cards, online and mobile banking applications and payment systems.

Most of the services offered by SatchelPay to their corporate clients are geared towards companies that have to deal with the logistic complications of cross-border business. By simplifying the transaction process, regardless of geographical location and charging comparatively miniscule processing fees, the Lithuanian company has been able to take a healthy share of the market for itself.

Bank of Lithuania suspension and future outlook

As previously mentioned, the growth that SatchelPay experienced ended up being a blessing and a curse for the company as it seems to have overwhelmed the self-auditing structures that were in place. Although the suspension was definitely a setback, for its part, the company seems to have taken it in stride.

The suspension was lifted in November and in a blog post on the company’s site, SatchelPay portrayed it as ultimately a positive learning experience. The Fintech company was able to use the suspension to restructure itself and bring in new leadership, most notably in the appointment of their new CEO, Sergiy Barybin. Additionally, in the process of getting the suspension lifted, SatchelPay was able to work side by side with regulators to make sure that the way they restructured their operation would be compatible with the future growth of the company.

Having just recently been cleared to resume all operations, 2020 is primed to be a watershed year for the EMI company. It will be fascinating to see whether they will be able to pick up where they left off with their meteoric rise or they will run into more stumbling blocks. Their performance in the new year can be viewed as something of a bellwether for the future of the industry in Europe.