Bitsafe, a Holland-based fintech, announced earlier this week the launch of its borderless Basic Payment Account. According to the startup, this new account works just like a local bank account and allows account holders can make deposits, make payments and withdraw funds. Every Bitsafe account comes with a unique IBAN which allows sending and receiving payments globally, including to and from the SEPA region. While sharing details about the accounts, Joost Zuurbier, CEO at Bitsafe, stated:
“Residents of a given country are usually limited to opening a bank account with a bank in their home country or region. Thanks to new European legislation, Bitsafe is now able to accept customers from all over the world. All Bitsafe accounts will bear a unique Dutch IBAN. Funds in accounts are not stored with another bank, but with the central bank we work with. This results in zero credit risk and immediate availability of funds.”
Marcel Trik, CFO at Bitsafe, also commented:
“Opening our accounts to the entire world means that we need to take additional steps to prevent abuse and money laundering. We have developed a proprietary artificial intelligence technology that has adopted the latest anti-money laundering regulations and can detect illegal activity before a transaction is added to our ledgers. Our mobile application, available for both Android and iOS, allows us to identify our account holders fast and efficiently, without a face-to-face meeting.”
Founded in 1998, Bitsafe stated its vision is to make the internet a safe place to engage in financial transactions, free from privacy infringement, identity theft and governmental control. Bitsafe’s products include providing Basic Payment Accounts, receiving and sending SEPA transactions, merchant credit card processing services, issuing the Bitsafe Debit Card, domain name registrations with extended privacy shield, network privacy and security services and trademark protection services.