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DGAP-Media / 2018-12-17 / 11:20
PRESS RELEASE
*Varengold Bank AG: Renewing the financial market through smart
collaborations *Activities in the Marketplace Banking business area have
been significantly expanded
*Hamburg, 17 December 2018 - With a systematically optimised structure,
profound expertise and meticulous market analysis, Varengold Bank continues
to establish itself as a partner of Fintechs. For the first 20 marketplaces,
the onboarding process has already been completed and the conditions
required for further growth in 2019 have now been fulfilled. *
"With total assets of almost 700 million euros we may be one of the smaller
banks. In future, however, assessing the attractiveness and viability of a
financial company will be reflected in other parameters. All regulatory
requirements must of course be met, and with a Tier 1 capital ratio of
around 15 percent, we have built a rock-solid capital base. But the race for
market share will be determined by how well the services and products on
offer fit the necessities of customers as well as how user-friendly and how
easily accessible they are," says Dr. Bernhard Fuhrmann, Member of the
bank's Board of Managing Directors. He says this with reference to both the
value and the role of start-ups in the financial ecosystem.
Over the past few months, the bank has laid out its strategic direction and,
together with its shareholders and business partners, defined how it intends
to position itself in the changing financial sector. The outcome is clear:
to be a partner of Fintechs, and of lending platforms in particular. To put
this plan into practice, the capital increase undertaken this summer has
ensured a significant increase in business volume and further strengthened
the company's growth prospects for 2019.
"In terms of competition, transparency and availability, large marketplaces
have almost all the advantages on their side, in real life and online. They
are the ideal framework for a meaningful cooperation between smart Fintech
solutions and established banking expertise and are also a key element in
the renewal of the financial sector," says Fuhrmann, explaining the new
strategy, whilst also implying that he does not want to cede this area
entirely to the big tech players. The synergies of industry-internal
approaches are obvious: banks bring regulatory expertise and financial
resources to the table and, as licence partners, can get business models,
which are optimised in theory, up and running in real terms. Fintechs have a
near infinite creative ability to rethink financial services from a customer
perspective, set a decent pace and, without any IT legacy burden, are
streets ahead technologically.
*Significantly expanding the Marketplace Banking business *
Fuhrmann is together with his fellow board member Frank Otten the driving
force behind the bank's change of course. The Marketplace Banking business
area, a team of some 20 members, is now dedicated to the screening of loan
platforms, due diligence as well as all aspects of relationship management.
"To help us decide which platforms we can collaborate with, we have
developed our own assessment model. In this process, we benefit from our
prior engagement with the lending sector which began in 2013," says Otten,
explaining how his company deals with the fact that there are no consistent
standards for assessing the creditworthiness of borrowers or the risk of
credit default within Europe.
The bank's well-thought-out approach is proving successful - 20 marketplaces
are already ongoing partners of Varengold. Each onboarding process is
designed individually and the team actively and directly participates from
an early stage of a platform's formation.
In 2017, around 3.8 billion euros of credit were brokered through platforms
throughout Europe. Given the spread of digital financial solutions and the
implementation of the PSD2 guideline, which is conducive to the expansion of
marketplaces, Varengold Bank expects this volume to triple by 2022. "The
PSD2 guideline is a good example of how the intelligent and secure use of
data can enhance the performance of new technologies while at the same time
greatly simplifying the process," says Otten, who recently represented the
bank and its new focus as a panellist at the LendIt conference in London.
*Modernisation in a decent way *
"We tend to prefer to just do our job and not talk too much about it. But we
want to be more visible in the market, and so we decided to communicate more
actively," says Otten, describing the changed and more offensive market
presence. The new website recently went online. "For us, putting the focus
on customers means clearly presenting what we offer and being easily
accessible in our collaborations. The faces you see in the video are the
same faces you will see in the personal conversations." In addition to the
new digital presence, the branch in Sofia, Bulgaria was inaugurated at the
end of November. The choice of location confirms the potential that
Varengold sees in Southern and Eastern Europe.
*About Varengold Bank AG*
Varengold Bank AG is a German bank founded in 1995,
which acquired its full banking licence in 2013. It is
headquartered in Hamburg, with additional branches in
London and Sofia. Its core business areas are
Marketplace Banking and Transaction Banking (Commercial
Banking), and it focuses on cooperating with European
Fintechs, in particular lending platforms. The product
range on offer includes funding, debt and equity
capital markets products, fronting services for
products subject to banking licence requirements and
international payment services. Members of the Board of
Managing Directors are Dr. Bernhard Fuhrmann and Frank
Otten, who together with a 70-strong international team
continuously help to modernise the financial sector.
Varengold Bank is registered with the Federal Financial
Supervisory Authority (BaFin) under 109 520 and the
Varengold share (ISIN: DE0005479307) has been listed on
the Open Market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since
2007. For more information, see
https://www.varengold.de/en/home/
*Contact*
*Media Relations*
Simone Schuchert
ffs network GmbH
Frickestraße 57, 20251 Hamburg
Telephone: +49 160 6745548
Mail: mediarelations@varengold.de
*Image content:*
Caption: Dr. Bernhard Fuhrmann and Frank Otten, members
of the Board of Managing Directors of Varengold Bank
AG; copyright Luka Naujoks, 2018
End of Media Release
Additional features:
Picture: http://newsfeed2.eqs.com/varengold/755215.html [1]
Subtitle: Dr. Bernhard Fuhrmann und Frank Otten, Vorstände der Varengold
Bank AG
Document: http://n.eqs.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=GKNQERCFYO [2]
Document title:
20181217_PM01_Varengold_Bank_renewing_financial_market_with_smart_collaborat
ions_EN
Issuer: Varengold Bank AG
2018-12-17 Dissemination of a Press Release, transmitted by DGAP - a service
of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Language: English
Company: Varengold Bank AG
Große Elbstraße 14
22767 Hamburg
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)40 / 668649-0
Fax: +49 (0)40 / 668649-49
E-mail: info@varengold.de
Internet: www.varengold.de
ISIN: DE0005479307
WKN: 547930
Listed: Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt
(Basic Board), Stuttgart
End of News DGAP Media
755215 2018-12-17
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 17, 2018 05:20 ET (10:20 GMT)
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