Smart Fintech launches SmartPay, the first alternative payment solution through Open Banking authorized by NBR in Romania.
The fintech aims to execute in 2021 a number of several thousand payments per month through the SmartPay solution and expects the Open Banking competition to start in Romania.
SmartPay is the first account-to-account payment initiation service that one can use as an alternative to any online card payment for purchases, invoices, or utilities. Also, it can be used as a payment accelerator – integrated into any application that manages financial resources in any form, such as electronic invoicing, accounting, ERP systems, payment platforms, or personal finance management. Smart Fintech created this service based on the European PSD2 payment services directive – which facilitates access in the financial sector to new players, different from banks and traditional services.
“Consumers’ and partners’ safety come first in the matter of developing financial services. SmartPay uses the IBAN-to-IBAN payment principle, offering the possibility for any user to initiate a payment from an electronically accessible bank account to another without associating a card, as in the case of traditional payments. This ensures greater security of online transactions”, stated Andrei Dumitru, Co-Founder and Technical Expert at Smart Fintech.
“We don’t expect to see the same growth rate as in the leading countries in this area, but we do see the big picture, and the long-term potential is real. Being the first authorized Third Party Provider places us in a key position in the financial ecosystem, and we feel the responsibility to bring added value to end consumers. Market information and education are the basic elements, given that Romania is a little behind other European countries. Still, we also need the support of banks to move forward in this endeavor”, added Ana-Maria Georgescu, Co-Founder, Sales & Marketing Manager Smart Fintech.
“In 2021, we want to consolidate the SmartPay image in the local market, and we hope to see the first Open Banking transactions in Romania and the first merchants. We aim to execute in 2021 a number of several thousand payments per month through the SmartPay solution through SmartPay. At the European level, we expect the trends to remain and the market to continue growing. Still, for Romania, we hope that 2021 will bring the beginning of the Open Banking competition”, concluded Ana-Maria Georgescu.
