SavingGlobal launched in early 2014 to enable German savers to access the best fixed deposit rates in Europe, not just from banks in their home country. However, the plan was always to offer the same service to anyone in Europe, thereby creating a true single European market for savings deposits.
To put that plan into practice, the Berlin-based fintech startup has raised €20 million in Series B funding led by Palo Alto-based Ribbit Capital and London’s Index Ventures. Yuri Milner and Tom Stafford also participated, whilst the round brings total amount raised to €30 million.
The problem that SavingGlobal solves for savers is two-fold. First up, the saving deposit rates differ not only from one local bank offer to another but even more strikingly across Europe as a whole. SavingGlobal’s marketplace lets you shop around and compare different rates European-wide.
Secondly, whilst the EU is well on its way to a single digital market, this is not always the case when applied to financial services despite quite a lot of European-wide regulation that should in theory make this possible.
So, for example, opening a deposit account offered by a bank outside of your home country would typically require applying directly, including filing the local anti-money laundering and proof of identity paperwork and often in-person. Yet the regulation already exists that allows for one bank to essentially vouch for you to another.
To solve this, SavingGlobal’s model and technology involves partnering with a local bank, where funds are deposited and anti-money laundering checks passed, which acts as a gateway to accessing the various savings deposit offers listed on the site.
In practical terms, SavingGlobal offers a single UI to enable you to apply to and open each deposit account and manage funds, a bit similar to how various accounts might show up in a single bank’s online service/app, even though they are with different banks and operating in different countries.
This is also non-trivial from a tech standpoint since there isn’t a single standard; each bank has its own API or legacy interface.
Tamaz Georgadze, CEO and co-founder of SavingGlobal, says the vision is to create a “marketplace where every European resident can access savings products from bank partners across the continent without dealing with the hassle of opening separate accounts in multiple countries,” and that the company plans to extend its marketplace to more types of saving accounts.