Snappi, a Greek joint venture neobank, has been granted a universal banking license by the European Central Bank (ECB) following a proposal made by the Bank of Greece.
Snappi Bank receives license from European Central Bank
President and CEO of Natech Athanasios Navrozoglou first announced in 2022 that Snappi would try to “address both consumers and financial institutions, in Greece and Europe, [through] a pure digital experience.” Snappi is a collaboration between Athens-based Piraeus Bank and core banking software firm Natech.
With the newly granted license, the neobank has now been given authorization to provide a range of banking services, including the offer of loans and acceptance of deposits.
Christos Megalou, chairman of Snappi’s board and CEO of Piraeus Bank, said that obtaining a “Eurozone-passportable banking license” is a “significant step in the bank’s development and marks a new era in Snappi’s journey to become part of the new banking landscape in Europe,” as reported by Fintech Futures.
Dates for its full public launch are not yet known, but Snappi said it will, in the meantime, focus “on enhancing the setup of its banking operations and integration points to deliver a fresh customer digital experience.”
Earlier this year, Greece announced it was selling its entire 27 percent stake in Piraeus Bank. The announcement was met with strong demand by investors.
The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF), a bank recapitalization tool established at the beginning of Greece’s bailout programs, said on Monday it will sell its full stake in the lender. The fund previously said on Sunday that it would sell 22 percent of the bank while reserving the right to offload its entire holding.
“After being informed by the managers of the international offering on the demand expressed so far in the international offering, [the] intention [was expressed] to exercise the right to increase the number of the shares offered in the offering by 62,518,361 offer shares so that the total offer shares increase from 275,080,789 to 337,599,150,” an HFSF announcement said.
Just a month prior to this, the founder and chief executive of Greek financial technology company Viva Wallet launched legal proceedings against JPMorgan, the US bank that co-owns the company, over tactics to limit its growth, according to legal documents revealed by the Financial Times.
Haris Karonis, who founded the Greek payments company in 2000, said he believed JPMorgan was trying to reduce the valuation of his business by blocking its entry into the US and most European markets, with the ultimate goal of buying out the stake it does not have at a lower price. The bank controls 48.5 percent of Viva.
Karonis also accused the Wall Street-listed bank of hindering Viva’s growth by allowing JPMorgan’s own payments business to compete with the Greek firm’s technology in some European markets, the Financial Times wrote.