Lunar unlocks feats
Banking and Finance
The Danish challenger bank is licking its wounds after the garden-variety acquisition of Instabank and is launching its solution for small businesses on Tuesday
– Up to ten thousand sole proprietorships are registered every quarter and many of them miss simpler and customized banking services. That’s exactly what we have to offer, says Lunar Norway’s CEO, Eilin Schjetne, in a press release.
It is the target group that will see when it now opens the digital doors to Lunar Business. It must be a business bank that is tailored for micro-enterprises and entrepreneurs.
Initially, the service will include basic products, such as account, card and bill payment.
READ ALSO: Instabank to counterattack after Lunar withdrew from acquisitions
Will do as in Denmark
The hope is that Norwegian micro-enterprises will adopt the service in the same way as it has been received in their home country of Denmark. It’s been about a year since Lunar launched a home business account. Within a short time, the bank reached a level where around 50 percent of all newly established companies in Denmark applied for a Lunar account.
It is also the relatively tough benchmark goal that Eilin Schjetne has set up.
– We can’t listen any lower here, said Schjetne to Shifter when she was interviewed about the business banking plans earlier this year.
In the shadow of the Instabank problems, Lunar is preparing to become a bank for Norwegian small businesses
In studies carried out by Lunar itself, the figures are slightly lower. 37 percent of the micro-enterprises state that they are willing to switch banks, and 48 percent are open to trying a fully digital bank.
– Start-up companies are associated with risk, as they will not necessarily be profitable. It is obvious that this has not been a priority segment for many banks. Our formula for success is to ensure profitability through volume, and consequently the micro-farms become our first priority. We contribute positively to it sprouting and growing more in start-up Norway, says Schjetne.
READ ALSO: Lunar will therefore buy Instabank
Integrated checkout
In 2021, the online payment company Paylike became an integral part of Lunar. The acquisition has enabled Lunar to combine banking and payment by combining a checkout solution for online stores in the online portal for Lunar Business. This makes it easier for small businesses to start selling online.
– It will be very attractive for companies that want to quickly start selling goods and services online. Access to an online payment solution through the business bank means that they can collect sales, account and payment in one place, says Schjetne.
Lunar will be alone in this combination in the Norwegian market.
– In Norway, the first thing is simple to start your own business, but it is a lot to get used to. We will need to make banking and payment simpler for the very smallest companies. We know that administrative tasks are experienced as one of the biggest challenges for start-ups, says Schjetne.
Important with a Norwegian account
Another part of the simplicity is, according to Lunar, that the bank operates with a monthly subscription which covers most things and makes it easier to control costs.
As an originally Danish bank, Lunar also makes a big point of the fact that the bank has just connected to Norwegian infrastructure for clearing and settlement against NICS (Norwegian interbank clearing system). This means, among other things, that all new customers get a Norwegian account, and can make domestic account-to-account payments with five daily settlements and pay invoices with KID.
This has not always been the case when it comes to other international digital banks that have tried their hand in Norway.