Mission: Closing The Banking Gap In Specialist Sectors

Problem:

For businesses in specialist sectors, banking is seldom lost in a single moment. Bank accounts can remain open while quietly restricted, and transfers can be held for review without notice, leaving payroll and supplier obligations outstanding while an alternative is found.

The scale is wider than often assumed. The European Banking Authority (EBA) found that de-risking occurs across every member state of the European Union (EU), with iGaming operators and cryptocurrency providers named among those most affected, and businesses hold no general right to a bank account or to a full explanation of why that bank account has been closed.

Pricing deepens the problem. Premium fees have come to be accepted as the cost of operating in these sectors, yet many of the businesses paying them are established companies transacting substantial sums every day, while time that should go into growth is spent rebuilding banking.

Solution:

Our answer is banking designed for the long term. Each relationship is opened on a full understanding of how the business operates, so growth in volume or a change in structure is anticipated rather than treated as a reason to review the relationship from scratch.

Pricing is set against how each business actually operates rather than the sector it sits in, so fees stay proportionate to the activity and more of what the business earns remains available to reinvest in its growth, its people and its next market.

Decisions sit with people who know these sectors closely, from how operators settle with providers to how broker-dealers meet margin. Clients deal with one accountable team that sees the full picture, which keeps questions focused and answers quick. With banking settled, finance teams can turn their attention back to the business itself, whether that means launching in a new country/jurisdiction or taking on new partners.

Principles:

Outlined below are five core principles that guide every decision our team makes, from the first conversation through to each client’s growth:

• Substance Over Sector: Each corporation is judged on how it is run and regulated, never on the reputation of the industry it operates in.
• Clarity: Every client knows what the banking provides, what it costs and who to speak to, before any commitment is made.
• Continuity: Relationships are built to last, so growth, restructuring or a new market never means starting the banking again.
• Accountability: One team owns each relationship from end to end, with no hand-offs between departments.
• Discretion: Client affairs are handled with care and confidentiality, in sectors where reputation matters as much as performance.

Where The Market Is Heading:

Research across banking points to clear shifts shaping the core sectors we support. Outlined below are five key developments:

• Stablecoin Settlement: Stablecoins are moving into the mainstream as a working settlement rail alongside fiat currency.
• Regulatory Clarity: Frameworks such as Markets In Crypto-Assets (MICA) are giving licensed businesses clearer rules to build on.
• Around-The-Clock Expectations: Customers and users expect deposits and withdrawals to move at any hour, on any day.
• Automation: Treasury, routing and reconciliation are becoming increasingly automated across every provider involved.
• Rising Compliance Standards: Sanctions screening and the traceability of cryptocurrency funds face ever higher expectations.

What Comes Next:

Outlined below are five areas our team is focused on developing as the market moves forward:

• Expanded Application Programming Interface (API) Access: Deeper API connectivity, run directly from each client’s systems.
• Expanded Transaction Rails: Additional transaction rails and corridors, extending the reach of every multi-currency bank account.
• Virtual International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs) (VIBANs): Provide VIBANs to our client’s own underlying clients.
• Acquiring Capabilities: Acquiring capabilities, allowing clients to accept card transactions alongside their existing banking.
• Online Banking Platform: Additional products and continued improvements across the online banking platform as clients grow.