Fellow Finance plans 2022 bank launch

Fellow Finance is planning to launch a banking brand in the first half of 2022.

The Finnish peer-to-peer lender, which merged with Evli Bank earlier this year, said it is now ready to launch its banking brand, Fellow Bank, in the first half of next year.

Teemu Nyholm, chief executive of Fellow Finance, said the new banking brand would launch a “digital, customer-oriented bank with solid capital adequacy in Finland” to serve both private and small – and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers.

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“The arrangement is intended to be completed and the banking business launched during the first half of 2022,” Nyholm said.

“We will set the business strategy for Fellow Bank in more detail, make preparations for the integration work with Evli Bank’s current organisation and implement required projects for commencing the banking operations during the second half of the year. “

Nyholm said the bank would broaden the lender’s customer base, improve its profitability and reduce its funding costs by attracting deposits.

It comes as the platform reported that its loan volumes hit €90.7m (£77.2m) during the first half of the year.

The company posted a loss of €0.1m, attributed to investment in staff and the platform.

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