No? Then I give up, why is Scandinavia's [+Finland+Iceland] largest bank investing in potential competitors?
From Forbes:
Why would Nordea, the largest bank and third largest corporation in the Nordic region, decide to set up a business to invest in other businesses that might be competitors?Here's Nordea's English language press release page. They do indeed seem to be busy.
The bank has announced that it’s setting up Nordea Ventures, to make strategic investments in fintech start-ups.
“ We’re recognising that we don’t have the monopoly on good ideas, and sometimes others do ” says Ewan MacLeod, Chief Digital Officer at Nordea, from a slushy Helsinki. “But we can partner with them. Fintechs can work at lightning speed. Sometimes it can be very effective if we provide the financing to make a dream come true.”
A case in point is Tink the Swedish-based fintech company, where Nordea provided capital and advice and integrated some of Tink’s own technology into its own digital products while preserving Tink’s name and brand.
Tink’s app helps consumers to aggregate financial transactions in one place, to compare and switch mortgages to a partner bank or open a savings account, for instance. Another Tink app for banks and payment services like Klarna provides account aggregation and payment capabilities.
The new venture will focus on investments offering a mutual strategic advantage, according to MacLeod. There will inevitably be a Nordic focus, but investment won’t just be in Nordic fintech. Nordea will get to see new ideas early on and be able to decide whether to integrate them into their own brand or to back them as independent entities, and influence their development....MORE
