kevin., a Lithuania-based Fintech startup, announced earlier this week the launch of its “switching” product, which allows customers to switch from card payments to account-to-account payments during the payment flow through a PSD2-based open API. The launch of the product comes just a little over a month after kevin. raised €1.5 million in seed funding. To date, kevin. has secured €3.4 million in funding, including €400,000 in pre-seed investment from Startup Wise Guys and €1.5 million in angel investment.
As previously reported, kevin.’s main solution is a PSD2-based open banking API that has been used to directly compete with card networks for mobile payments from pre-linked bank accounts. The solution also enables merchants to accept payments directly from bank accounts via an API for services like parking, taxis, car-sharing, deliveries, and insurance. This directly competes with card networks for this type of payment. While sharing more details about the switching product, Pavel Sokolovas, Co-Founder and COO of kevin., stated:
“In Europe, up to 80% of all online payments are made by debit card. And behind every debit card there’s an account, which means these payments could be made directly from accounts. So we built a product that makes it easier and more appealing for customers to switch from card to A2A payments during the payment flow. What’s unique about this new product is that it seamlessly switches the payment method once the customer has chosen to pay by card. At checkout, the customer starts typing their card number. After the first 8 digits we can identify the bank and card type. If it is a debit card, we then give the customer the option to switch to a bank payment, explaining that this is faster, safer and easier. In fact, our method requires at least 2 fewer steps than a typical online card payment, with no need to enter the card holder’s name, the expiry date, or the CVV number. With no card and CVV this flow is much safer for the customers.”
Tadas Tamošiūnas, co-founder and CEO of kevin., further commented:
“In closed beta testing, customers who had never used our solution before were given the option to switch. More than 10% did so. We are confident that once our product is better known, even more will choose bank over card payments. This means we will be able to save merchants in Europe a significant percentage of the €10 billion they currently spend on fees for card payments every year.”
kevin. added it is currently operating in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, and the Netherlands, with plans to offer its payment infrastructure to clients in 14 more European markets by 2022
