What happened: Danish neobank Lunar spun out their technology unit to enable fintech companies and non-financial brands to offer banking products in the Nordics (Fintech Futures). Lunar was founded in 2015 and is one of the most successful fintech companies in the Nordics. It operates in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, with over 500,000 retail and approximately 15,000 business customers. Lunar started in June 2023 to offer its technology to other companies, including Swedish payment provider Trustly and Lithuania’s Saldo Bank. The unit is called Moonrise, and Lunar likely expects to get more visibility for its technology effort with a stand-alone unit (Moonrise website).
My comment: The Nordics are an exciting market for many fintech companies because of their high digitization and adoption of mobile phones and the internet. While the population is an interesting target, entering these markets is difficult. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have a combined population of approximately 22 million. However, due to their currencies, entering these markets often requires three different setups (Finland is frequently excluded because of the Euro). Lunar has cracked these markets, making them a relevant provider of these services. But it will be interesting to see how the two ventures will play out alongside each other. We have seen other companies attempting the same, and it’s not always easy as the nature of business is very different.
Side note: Some publications refer to Moonrise as Lunar's banking-as-a-service unit. However, a banking-as-a-service provider offers the technology and regulatory framework via a licence. While Lunar has a bank licence in Denmark, Moonrise seems to be ‘only’ delivering the technology and has worked only with companies with a licence. Therefore, the correct wording (at least today) is banking and payment infrastructure unit instead of BaaS.
