As the first fintech company in Switzerland with a FINMA license, Klarpay says it caters only to digital merchants, social media influencers, and e-commerce. It provides remittance and cross-border payment acceptance solutions, including digital disbursement services, access to multi-currency IBAN accounts, and global payment acceptance. Mihkel Vitsur, a co-founder of BDSwiss, founded Klarpay in 2019. It was among the first Swiss fintech companies to be granted a banking license under the recently announced Small Banks Regime. This is our preliminary analysis.
Brief Story of Klarpay AG reviews
It appears that Klarpay AG is a kind of spin-off of Jan Eric Malkus’ investing company, BDSwiss. Several of its founders and former executives are important figures in the bank:
Mihkel Vitsur, a co-founder and former chairman of BDSwiss, is the chairman of Klarpay.
CEO of Klarpay and a former director of BDSwiss Group, Martynas Bieliauskas co-founded the company;
Former BDSwiss CIO and CTO Christos Alatzidis co-founded and serves as CTO of Klarpay; Marc Evans, the former CFO of BDSwiss, became Chief Financial Officer of Klarpay in February 2022.
The principal figures of Payabl (previously Powercash21), as recently revealed by reporters, are Dietmar Knoechelmann, his wife Ayelet Fruchtlander Knoechelmann, Ruediger Trautmann, and Frank Schoonbaert, all of whom were formerly Wirecard scheme managers. Former Wirecard satellite programs like Inatec and Powercash21 were absorbed by Payabl (see this story).
Payabl invested in Klarpay and successfully arranged a seed financing round for the latter in May 2022. A total of CHF 3 million was put into Klarpay. Ugne Buraciene, Group CEO of Payabl, was designated as an advisor to Klarpay as part of Payabl’s involvement with the latter company.
The marketplaces
As of August 2022, Similarweb’s most recent statistics show that over thirty percent of the around 10,000 website visits are from Turkey, with the Netherlands and Germany following closely behind. Therefore, it is reasonable to presume that Turkish merchants and/or their Turkish consumers make up a sizable component of Klarpay’s user base.
FINMA
The Swiss government agency in charge of financial regulation is called the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority. This covers the oversight of other Swiss financial intermediaries such as banks, insurance providers, stock exchanges, and securities dealers. The name and abbreviation of FINMA are typically written in English to avoid giving the impression that one of Switzerland’s linguistic regions is being favoured.
The Federal Banking Commission, which was founded in 1934, was succeeded by FINMA, which was created in 2007. Located in Bern, it is a stand-alone organisation with its own legal identity. It reports directly to the Swiss parliament and is institutionally, operationally, and fiscally independent of the Federal Department of Finance and the central federal administration.
With the passage of the Federal Act creating the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMASA) on June 22, 2007, FINMA was established. By doing this, the Federal Office of Private Insurance (FOPI), the Anti Money Laundering Control Authority, and the EBK-CFB were combined into a single organisation that was in charge of overseeing all financial regulations in Switzerland.
Due to their importance to the Swiss economy, two of the biggest banks in the world, UBS and Credit Suisse, are located in Switzerland. As such, FINMA has a specialised regulatory team focused on each of these companies.
FINMA issues banking licences to all Swiss banks. A “FinTech banking licence” is now an application option for some fintech businesses as of 2019. Five businesses have been licensed as fintech banks as of May 2023: Klarpay AG, Relio AG, SR Saphirstein AG, SWISS4.0 SA, and Yapeal AG.
Klarpay AG Reviews (As claimed)
Leading financial provider Klarpay AG gives online companies access to digital disbursement solutions, global payment acceptance, and multi-currency IBAN accounts. With a focus on e-commerce, digital entrepreneurs, and social media influencers, Klarpay is the first fintech company with a Swiss licence. Its mission is to empower digital entrepreneurs by providing customised business banking solutions and scalable, international payment options. Established in 2019, Klarpay AG is a financial institution that accepts deposits and is subject to regulation by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in accordance with Article 1b of the Swiss Federal Banking Act.
Klarpay AG Reviews: The influencer culture and its impact on digital payments in the future
Could you explain the significance of the influencer culture, which has exploded in the last five years around the globe, to the payments ecosystem?
It is debatable if influencers have changed marketing in the last ten years. Influencers have changed during the course of the culture’s quick ascent to prominence as a potent marketing tool. In the past, influencers’ exposure was mostly determined by the brands they were linked to; but, in recent years, this has changed, and influencers are increasingly starting to establish themselves as brands.
Influencer marketing is just as crucial in the financial industry as it is in other industries like fashion, food, and health. It resonates so well because we are interested in learning about the finest places to eat or who creates the most stylish, eco-friendly clothing since these topics are important to us on a daily basis.
However, people are curious about which brand or organisation is the most honest, which offers the greatest services, and which offers the best solution, since few things are as important to people as their finances.
Klarpay AG Reviews: Conclusion
Influencer.in by media published “The Influencer Marketing Report 2023.” It offers a thorough analysis of the sector, including insights into Influencer Marketing and its current developments. Over 500 survey responses from Indian content creators and over 50 responses from marketers were used to build the research for 2023 between June and August of this year. For companies looking to incorporate influencer marketing into their marketing mix, the research provides useful insights.
The growing popularity of short-form videos—more than 92% of influencers preferring to create content using this format—and YouTube Shorts’ emergence as the go-to platform for content creation were two significant discoveries. This is indicative of more general social media tendencies toward brief, eye-catching material.
Influencer marketing, according to more than 77% of respondents, is a “must-have” element of every digital marketing plan. YouTube shorts are now the most popular content format on Instagram, which continues to be the most popular channel for influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing continues to be a low-budget activity for brands; most allocate only 5–10% of their marketing budgets to this kind of advertising.
Since micro creators are frequently viewed by their fans as more real and relevant than celebrities, 61% of marketers prefer to collaborate with them over celebrities. This can help them be more successful in increasing engagement and sales.
Although mega- and macro-influencers are similarly well-liked, working with them is typically more costly. If you want to reach a large audience quickly they’re a good option, but may not be as effective at driving engagement as micro- and mid-tier influencers.
Influencer marketing in 2023 will be driven by authenticity and short-form videos. According to the poll, short-form films were preferred by 92% of influencers, which represents a significant shift in influencer activations. Over 51% of influencers chose YouTube as their favourite platform.
The most common video format among influencers is short-form content, such as Reels and YouTube Shorts.