✅ Solarisbank Raises $224M At A $1.65B Valuation

For our first digest today, Solaris bank has raised a considerable amount of funding to acquire Contis and expand its API-based embedded banking tech in Europe. The Berlin startup already provides a range of financial services by way of some 180 APIs that others use to build end-user-facing products. The startup has announced that it has raised $224 million in a Series D round that values the company at around $1.65 billion. With this new funding, Solaris has also announced its acquisition of one of its competitors in the Space, Contis. The funding round was led by Decisive Capital Management, a Swiss firm that has also backed insurtech startup Wefox. Interestingly enough, this round comes only about a year after Solaris’ last round of $67.5 million, the startup’s value has also quintupled since that time. In an interview, the company’s CEO Roland Folz said the acquisition will help the company better cover all of Europe and start to make its first early moves into Asia. In addition, he said the new combined entity will be making revenues in the hundreds of millions of Euros, having already posted €35 million in 2020. Currently, the company is active in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain but says it can cover the whole EEA without the need for further authorizations. On this matter, Folz said that the combined entity will allow them to look at numbers that no one else is even close to remotely. The market opportunity, combined with Solarisbank’s approach and its current customer base, is what attracted investors. Thomas Schlytter-Henrichsen, a partner at Decisive Capital Management, elaborated that technology is the key to enable a paradigm shift in banking. This paradigm shift will be centered on financial services adapting to the specific needs of customers. According to Henrichsen, Solarisbank’s powerful baking-as-a-service platform positions it perfectly for this new baking era.

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✅ 85% Of Deposits Now Made Digitally At Bank Of America

For our next digest, digital transformation becomes more and more apparent at Bank of America as seen through the number of digital deposits. This comes as no surprise, digital engagement continues to grow rapidly at Bank of America, with more clients making online and mobile primary channels. As we speak, 85% of deposit transactions are being made through the Bank of America app, ATMs and other automated channels. This is driven by nearly 48 million checks deposited digitally during the second quarter of the year alone. David Tyrie, the head of digital at Bank of America, says the bank is delivering the best financial technology to help make their clients’ financial lives better. As a matter of fact, more than 70% of Bank of America clients are actively using digital channels for more of their needs. This includes 72% of consumer and small business clients, 80% of wealth management clients, and 75% of global banking clients. One of the most popular digital products the bank offers is their Life Plan, which is particularly popular among Millennials who use the features to track financial goals. Not only that, but more than 21 million clients have used Bank of America’s AI-driven virtual financial assistant Erica. With this rapid adoption of digital services, it is no wonder digital now makes up 25% of small business sales, up from 19% last year. This trend is not just something that is popular exclusively to Bank of America clients — but an unstoppable phenomenon that will dictate the future of finance as we know it.