Three months have handed since Wirecard’s implosion, and whereas authorities proceed to piece collectively precisely how a lot of the German funds processor really existed, EMEA buyers could be questioning: who will exchange Wirecard, and the way can I purchase that firm’s stock?
The Netherlands performs host to quite a few obvious alternate options. For one, there’s Adyen, the Amsterdam-based funds supplier. Adyen is a publicly traded stock, and its share price is up a teeth-grinding 112% this yr.
There’s additionally fellow Amsterdam native Mollie, which simply reached unicorn standing with its newest $106 million funding spherical. Mollie continues to be a non-public firm, but to endure an IPO.
Similar to Wirecard, customers may very well be unaware these corporations more and more energy on a regular basis ecommerce. US-based readers may already be accustomed to Stripe; Mollie and Adyen equally search to supply fee gateways to companies by way of APIs, and their latest successes show it’s a rising business.
Estimates say 450 corporations are lively within the Amsterdam fintech scene
However, the query about who would succeed Wirecard was already answered in late August, when London-headquartered banking-as-a-service startup Railsbank confirmed it acquired Wirecard’s UK property (together with its card know-how, prospects, and staff), with plans to leverage them to drive international enlargement.
This, says Holland FinTech founder Don Ginsel, meant companies counting on Wirecard’s infrastructure have been in a position to keep in enterprise regardless of its collapse, however total belief within the service took an enormous hit — leaving room for Dutch startups to fill a minimum of a few of the $30 billion void left behind by Wirecard when its market value evaporated.
“That did allow companies like Mollie and Adyen to benefit somewhat, but they have different business models than Wirecard,” Ginsel informed Onerous Fork. “Wirecard was especially active as a ‘white label’ payments services provider and e-money institute, and therefore its business is more similar to Dutch company Intersolve, for example,” he added. “Railsbank is an upcoming player in that field and it seems to be benefiting the most.”
As for why Amsterdam attracts so many fintech startups, Ginsel reckons it has rather a lot with town’s storied historical past stretching again to the founding of the Amsterdam Stock Change in 1610.
“Amsterdam has been a city of trade for a long time and you will find that spirit also in the financial (fintech) industry, especially the parties related to the stock exchange, market makers, asset managers, investment institutes, and brokers,” stated Ginsel.
“Similarly to how trade relates to transactions, payments does, too. And so, with the rise of e-commerce, Amsterdam’s strong tech culture started producing payments methods for this new industry.”
In any case, foodslingers DeliveryHero actually took Wirecard’s place in Germany’s most prestigious stock market index final month, and DeliveryHero depends on Adyen to course of its funds.
For now, we’ll have to attend and see if Railbank’s acquisition of Wirecard UK performs out in the long term.
Till then, you may discover Amsterdam’s thriving fintech scene with Amsterdam FinTech Week 2020, an internet occasion working all week. Try the agenda, RSVP, and tune in stay right here.
Printed September 24, 2020 — 07:25 UTC
