Now the Swedes are coming to Norway
This is an excerpt from our newsletter on financial technology, FinShift, which is sent out every Wednesday. Sign up for the letter below.
What’s the matter?
The Swedish loan app Anyfin is establishing itself in Norway with promises to be able to halve the interest rate Norwegians must pay on their consumer loans, credit card debt or installments of up to NOK 200,000. It should be possible to carry out the refinancing with a few taste pressures.
“Anyfin will give power back to consumers and the goal is to always help people achieve a better economy,” Norway’s CEO Peter Jonsson told Shifter.
One month ago, another Swedish loan company announced its arrival in Norway. Qred, on the other hand, does not look to the private market. They challenge Aprila with automated loan applications for overdraft facilities for small businesses, and also use PSD2 data as input to the credit assessment.
– We have great respect for Aprila, but we believe that we can relatively quickly become the market leader in Norway as well. The competition is small, compared to the other Nordic countries, said Qred’s CEO Emil Sunvisson to Shifter in connection with the launch.
In addition, Northmill was established as a bank for refinancing consumer loans at the end of last year. In February this year, the payment company bought Moreflo and stated that the bank will help both private customers and corporate customers to improve their financial situation.
– We are a typical neobank and our journey is very similar to the journeys Lunar and Revolut are on, Northmill boss Tord Topsholm told Shifter in February.
Why is this interesting?
For Norwegian startups that want to expand out of Norway, Sweden is the first stop on the road nine out of several times. For Swedish startups that want out of the country, Norway, if we put it bluntly, is not the first country in any case out of ten.
Anyfin established itself in Finland and Germany before Norway became relevant. Qred has become the largest in overdraft facilities for small businesses in Sweden and four other countries before trying their hand in Norway. For Northmill, however, Norway was the first stop.
Another thing about these Swedish companies is that they have financial resources that Norwegians are nowhere near.
Anyfin has a long way to go in terms of profitability, but has raised NOK 750 million in two major rounds in 2020 and 2021. This is about as much as the 20 largest fintech issues in Norway in 2021 ended in total.
In 2020, Qred was in eighth place on the Financial Times’ list of Europe’s 1000 fastest growing companies. The company has been profitable since the start in 2016 and had sales of NOK 373 million in 2021 and a profit before tax of NOK 21.7 million.
Northmill is doing even better. According to Northmill CEO Topsholm, the 2021 figures pointed to a turnover of just over 500 million Swedish kroner and a gain of approximately 100 million Swedish kroner.
What is the consequence?
Norwegian fintech companies have for quite some time had the domestic market almost to themselves. The examples of foreign fintechs that have invested in Norway are not overly many.
Klarna is of course an established payment giant. Danish Mobile Pay tried to challenge Vipps, but ended up (probably) being merged. Revolut’s attempt to become the cool challenger bank was phased out and has now been taken over by Lunar. And for Lunar, Norway is just a piece in a larger Nordic puzzle.
One explanation probably lies in what Alexander Engels and Peter Jonsson in Anyfin said: That it is more tempting for Swedish fintechs to first look south, towards larger markets with euros, than to choose Norway.
So what does it mean that the Swedes are finally finding their way to Norway? The combination of good finances and experience from other markings obviously makes the Swedish newcomers tough competitors for Norwegian companies, which in many cases are still only in the planning phase of their own international plans.
On the other hand, being Swedish and having more well-developed financial muscles is not necessarily a guarantee of success in Norway.
Related issues
→ (+) Swedish loan app will conquer Norway with “Horde” arguments→ Aprila gets Swedish competition for the small businesses’ favor→ Swedish challenger bank will hijack companies after buying Zettle competitor