Germany’s Fidor Debuts In UK

Fidor, the German bank, has launched operations in the United Kingdom, with a focus on social media and other technology platforms, such as crowdfunding and digital currencies, to expand its operations.

Finextra reported Friday (Sept. 18) that the company, which was founded in 2009, said its services would be available starting that date and among its first offerings are a flexible savings bond and a euro transfer service, which offers a flat fee for international activity.

The company has said that it will take the next few months to debut a series of other new products, ranging from debit cards to corporate accounts. Fidor will also bring third-party services to bear on its customer base, with financial offerings, such as peer-to-peer lending, multiple currencies and crowdfunding. Through the company’s business model, Fidor’s participants gather financial rewards for providing sound financial knowledge and also for reviewing products and services offered through the site. Through a measurement of “karma” and online ratings through the community, members’ standings translate into financial gain.

In a statement alongside the U.K. launch, Matthias Kröner, Fidor chief executive officer, stated that “we’re putting the community at the heart of Fidor. This personalized approach to banking gives every customer a voice in how our bank is run, as well as giving them unprecedented control. Setting their own interest rates or naming the current account card that the bank will use, for example, are just some of the options we’ve explored.”

Finextra noted that within Germany, Fidor has seen its customer ranks swell to 100,000 strong. The move into the U.K., however, means that the big banks in that country now face yet another digital competitor, even while contending with competition from U.K.-based financial services tech firms, such as Atom, Tandem and Mondo.

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