The adoption of open banking has caused a boom of outstanding Nordic fintech companies in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Åland, and the Faroe Islands.
Tink, an open banking company offers everything from payment processing to account information to data-driven financial advice and a robust API, is worth raving about.
Yapily is a leading tool that allows connecting with 97 different banks and financial institutions in the Nordic countries using a single API, supporting recurring payments, scheduled payments, and bulk payments.
Klarna, one of Europe's biggest fintech providers, supports a 'Buy Now, Pay Later' function and offers integration with many of the most popular third-party payment platforms like Shopify, Stripe, or Magento.
Vipps, a Norwegian payment app provides pre-built flows for accepting online payments, in-store payments, and even rewards programs, all accessible via an API.
Pleo, based out of Copenhagen, has provided digital and even physical credit cards and streamlined the bookkeeping process for over 20,000 businesses, allowing integration with numerous third-party service providers.
Horde, an antidote to the confusing and complicated loan system, allows users to simplify the loan process by creating a payment plan that enables users to borrow from their community.
Fintech is here to stay and widespread fintech adoption is likely to increase regulations like open banking and data privacy standards like GDPR.
It's a good idea to get comfortable with fintech now if anyone is planning on doing business in the Nordic companies.