Georgia’s first fully digital bank has signed a partnership with payments titan Visa.
The deal will see the two collaborate to develop new banking services and expand digital banking footprints in new places.
Having launched in 2018 with the backing of TBC bank, Space has grown from three to 70 employees over the course of one year. In the same time, the startup has attracted over 160,000 customers to its services, which include online banking accounts, remote know your customer solutions and mobile app-based banking management.
With the Visa partnership, the venture aims to scale even further. “Space has the ability to transform everyday banking experiences by making them easier and better,” said Nikoloz Kurdiani, deputy CEO at TBC Bank. “When we launched Space, we wanted to move beyond the traditional banking approach and outdated technology to create a new type of bank in Georgia that would be better at responding to modern customers’ needs.
“Now, we are ready to go global. Therefore, it is critically important for us to have gained Visa as our strategic partner. Space has proved that its innovative and ambitious vision is realistic and that it is ready to accomplish bigger goals.”
Yevgen Lisnyak, senior director and head of strategic partnerships, FinTech and ventures at Visa, added, “At Visa we believe in the power of partnership to bring our profound experience and innovative solutions to emerging payment players like Space. Being in the center of FinTech ecosystem, we aim to share our knowledge, best practices and network of technological partners with Space to achieve mutual goals in expanding the reach of digital financial services.
“Today, we are witnessing a rapid transformation of the financial banking sector, where new players are playing a significant role. Neobanks are agile, consumer-centric, flexible and innovative, offering modern consumers completely new financial solutions and digital banking experience. We are excited to be able to support FinTechs to navigate the payments landscape in the Caucasus region to achieve their business growth and international expansion ambitions.”
Copyright © 2019 FinTech Global
