20 Things You Didn’t Know About Deposit Solutions
Deposit Solutions is a firm that provides open banking services that connect banks with depositors. The company is considered to be revolutionary with its convenient platform that combines finance and technology for seamless transactions for its clients. DS has become one of the fastest-growing startups in Europe and it has gained a great deal of attention in the global finance industry. Here are 20 things that you didn’t know about Deposit Solutions
1. Deposit Solutions is less than a decade old
Deposit Solutions is an impressive startup that was founded in 2011. It hasn’t even been in operation for a full decade, but the business has experienced tremendous growth. The firm offers services for connecting banks with depositors. The founder is Tim Sievers, who also serves as the CEO and managing director. It was his idea to merge finance with the most current technology to offer products and services to make the banking and depositing process operate more smoothly for both banks and depositors.
2. It’s a privately held company
There are quite a few investors who would love to purchase stock in Deposit Solutions, but it’s not currently available. The company has not filed an IPO because it is amply backed by powerful venture capital firms, eliminating the need to go public. Investors who have backed the company do own a share of DS and there is no indication that there are any plans to change the ownership status in the near future.
3. Deposit Solutions is backed by European and US investors
Founder Tim Sievers has not had any problems securing funding for the development and expansion of Deposit Solutions. The company is backed by several venture funding firms from Europe and the United States. These include Peter Thiel and Valar Ventures, FinLab, Greycroft Partner, and others.
4. Deposit Solutions is good for banking firms
DS offers a unique platform that is beneficial for banking operations. Banks that are looking from funds go through DS to access new markets and client groups and they do not have to set up their own retain infrastructure to do so. This is strengthening the health of the banking system throughout Europe by creating an open market for deposit services and products. It not only increases customer benefits through effective resource allocation, but it also opens the market for banks with a far lower cost than setting up their own retail infrastructure.
5. The firm operates two Business to customer channels
Deposit Solutions operates through two main B2C channels. These are Savedo and Zinspilot. This gives banks not yet integrated into the DS open banking platform the ability to access deposit products from third parties. The deposit amount can start as low as Eur 1.
6. Deposit Solutions has received accolades
This Fintech company has been widely recognized throughout Europe for its innovative deposit solutions. Bankingcheck.de has named Deposit Solutions as the “best deposit marketplace” for four consecutive years. This is because the firm has demonstrated exceptional customer service and the B2C channels have already handled over 8 billion in deposits for more than 135,000 clients.
7. Deposit Solutions has a reach of millions internationally
The global market deposit market is estimated at 50 trillion in US dollars, and Deposit Solutions is transforming the market with its open banking platform. It has expanded operations to connect over 60 banks throughout 16 different countries with a potential client base of 30 million customers. There are plans in place for DS to continue to expand its reach throughout the world.
8. The firm has expanded its offices
The headquarters for Deposit Solutions is located in Hamburg, Germany, but there are offices open in multiple locations throughout the world. Offices are established in London, England, and Zurich, Switzerland. Recently, an office in New York, New York, USA has been added to the list of locations.
9. Deposit Solutions employs hundreds
Deposit Solutions maintains a team of highly qualified staff who are motivated to move the company forward. The headquarters in Hamburg, and offices in Zurich and London employ more than 230 staff members. It is unknown how many additional staff members will be added for the operation in New York.
10. Deposit Solutions has had 6 successful funding rounds
The total amount of venture capital funding that Deposit Solutions has raised is $198.9 million. The first round of Seed money was led by e.ventures in January of 2012, followed by a round of Series A funding in January of 2015 that raised 6.5 million in Euros, led by e.ventures and FinLab. Six months later in July of 2016, an additional 15 million was raised through Greycroft and e.ventures in a round of Series B funding. In November of 2017, a Series C round led by e.ventures and Greycroft raised an additional 20 million, followed by another 100 million round in August of 2018 led by Vitruvian Partners. The most recent round was led by Deutsche Bank in September of 2019, raising an additional 50 million.
11. Deposit Solutions maintains a forward-looking perspective
Innovation is to the fore in the platform and strategic development plans for Deposit Solutions. We learned that the company maintains an attitude of moving forward with streamlined processes. They’re blessed with leadership that examines the future of banking throughout Europe and the United States and continues to look for ways to improve the open bank process while considering the current systems and how integration into the open banking platform can benefit everyone.
12. Deposit Solutions is a pioneer establishment
The open banking platform is something that was brand new to the Fintech sector when it was first introduced in 2011. Deposit Solutions is the company that has pioneered the platform and it is catching on in grand style. As of 2018, DS expanded its services into Switzerland to take advantage of the Swiss market as the $100 million in venture capital allowed them the necessary funding to make the move. The services allow consumers to access the best different rates for their deposits from an array of participating banks without the need to open up new savings account with each of the lenders. This is an innovative solution that is good for all parties involved.
13. Deposit Solutions is one of the best-kept secrets
The founder and CEO of Deposit Solutions, Tim Siever discussed the firm’s intentions for continued growth and expansion. Although there are already numerous banks aware of the platform and participating, there are so many more that have never heard of it. One of the big jobs that lie ahead for Deposit Solutions marketing staff is to raise public awareness of the products available on a global level. This is going to be a monumental task but it’s already underway and the word has spread throughout at least 16 countries where banks have taken advantage of the open platform format.
14. Deposit Solutions maintains state of the art technology
Technology is changing daily with advancements that are geared towards meeting consumer demand for greater convenience, speed, and efficiency. Businesses are becoming as fussy as individual customers when it comes to the need for user-friendly programs that function quickly and accurately. Deposit Solutions provides plug and play technology for accepting deposits from customers throughout several European countries and this makes it easy for banks to offer this third-party service to their existing clientele. About half of the participating bank customers are using this technology. This cuts down on the amount of overhead that is spent in man-hours from teller assisted transactions.
15. Deposit Solutions helps banks diversify their own products
Banks who use the products issued by Deposit Solutions to connect to the funding platform are gaining a more efficient type of funding for their activities that do not require a lot of unnecessary paperwork with its increased workload. This gives them access to more efficient funding with lower costs as well as a diversification of their funding sources. The benefits are numerous and it also allows banks to offer third-party deposit services to their banking customers in a seamless process.
16. Deposit Solutions offers its own points of sale
The two channels that operate under the umbrella of Deposit Solutions are Zinspilot and Savedo. These brands provide proprietary points of sale that are owned by Deposit Solutions. This involves marketing deposit offers from partner banks and the services are offered directly to the consumers who are making the deposits.
17. Deposit Solutions is eying the United States Market
We also learned that Deposit Solutions is looking at the state of the market on a global level. They’ve noticed that there are around 9,000 banks in the United States serving regional and local customer bases, which do not have the resources to operate tehir own operations for deposit gathering. It is within the strategic plan of Deposit Solutions to make the offer to these banks to expand their national reach by providing them with access to a greater number of deposits without the need to build a physical infrastructure to support the operations. There is great potential for Deposit Solutions in the US and the company has already established a location in New York. Now it is a matter of marketing the deposit products to these banks. It’s quite a change that now European innovations are being introduced into the United States because in previous years it has been the other way around. Times are changing and Europe is surging ahead with this new pioneering work in the finance industry.
18. Deposit Solutions is currently hiring
Deposit Solutions is still in a phase of rapid growth. The innovative and even revolutionary open banking platform is catching on around the globe. To adequately staff the new offices opening around the world, the company is advertising for new workers to come and join their team of qualified professionals. With the new office in New York and more that are in the works, exciting new opportunities are opening up for people who have Fintech or banking/technology experience. This is exciting news as the company is not only offering great new deposit related products, they’re also creating new jobs on a global level.
19. Deposit Solutions is encouraging people who are interested in becoming part of an exciting new team
When we previewed the advertisements posted for new workers by Deposit Solutions, we were impressed by the different approaches that the company is taking to finding the very best employees. They’re appealing more to people who have a desire to become a part of this new and exciting venture with an emphasis on motivation and customer service. They tell people who have these traits to come in and meet them and the ad includes the phrase “Don’t be afraid to apply!” This infers that they are looking for diamonds in the rough that might otherwise be overlooked in the job market.
20. Deposit Solutions is a company to keep your eye on
Although Deposit Solutions is just gaining attention in the global Fintech market, it is making an impressive show. So far, it has been one of Europe’s best-kept secrets, with regards to the North American market, but soon all of this will change. We’re keeping our eye on Deposit Solutions with the full expectation that it will be successful in penetrating the North American market bringing along with it the innovative changes that are sorely needed by both bankers and depositors. We may see the same changes taking place within American banking that have taken place in recent years on the European front. Tim Sievers is a brilliant FinTech expert and entrepreneur and he has developed a platform with the potential for changing the world as we know it, quite literally, at least on the banking and depositing front.