FINOM , a mobile-first financial management platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and freelancers, has launched in the Netherlands. In order to launch within the Dutch market, FINOM has activated its E-money license in the Netherlands to focus on delivering qualitative onboarding and customer services.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, FINOM was already having a presence in the Netherlands. However, the company decided to take the longer route of acquiring an electronic money license granted by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) in November 2021, instead launching into other European markets first. The announcement marks another step in the company’s growth plan, having recently launched into the UK and becoming a reliable financial services app for professionals and SMEs in Germany.

Having started with bigger countries such as France and Germany, FINOM now seeks to gradually showcase its practicality and presence across Europe, expanding its product offering in Italy by the end of 2022, while launching in five more markets by the end of 2023, including Poland, Spain, Austria, Portugal, and Belgium. FINOM’s recent developments Founded in 2019, FINOM aims to simplify financial operations for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and SMEs by unifying finance management and e-invoicing services, and payment options such as SEPA and SWIFT, together in one dashboard. FINOM has also partnered with Visa and Klarna to respectively provide the virtual and physical Visa debit cards and facilitate multi-banking.

On top of the official Netherlands debut, FINOM has also announced a new strategic partnership with one of the big two payment card issuers. Visa is collaborating with the startup to give FINOM customers access to its physical and virtual debit cards, allowing them to use the cards for business-to-business (B2B) payments made using the FINOM payments portal. Earlier in November, FINOM has acquired Kapaga, a UK-based cross-border payments startup, in a deal said to be worth eight-figures.

It’s a deal that brings together payments and banking for freelancers, SMEs, and also larger corporate clients across the UK and Europe. The untapped potential of serving SMEs The world of business is growing to be more digitalised, so the opportunities for growth seem endless. However, despite the push towards digitalisation, many SME owners may be getting overwhelmed with administrative tasks after starting their business.

This leaves them with little to no time to focus on customer relationships or innovation. For example, for micro and small companies that do not have a dedicated finance department or person, accounting and payroll become very demanding if not simplified and automated. Therefore, fintech companies in that work on simplifying payroll and creating new payroll solutions, enabling employees to receive pay on demand, rather than at the end of the month.

Besides, many fintech companies focus on how SMEs can help their own employees’ finances, flexibility, and work-life balance. This focus is crucial for SMEs to stay competitive in attracting talent, compared to larger enterprises. .