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20 Things You Didn't Know About Numbrs

Financial App

Numbrs is a financial technology company that provides an app with the same name for the use of personal financial planning and mobile banking. The legal name of the company is Numbrs PersonalFinance AG. The app aggregates bank account and credit card information. If you have not yet heard of Numbrs here are 20 things about the company that will help you to become better acquainted with it and the services that it provides for consumers.

20. The business is headquartered in Switzerland

Numbrs Personal Finance AG was founded by Julien Arnold, Dennis Just, and Johannes Hubner in 2012. It was previously known as Centralway Numbers, but the name was changed. The business is based in the country of Switzerland, but the app was inspired by a similar app that was offered in the United States. Arnold was a part of the Centralway Numbrs team, but he left the company in 2015.

19. The app has been around since 2014

The Numbrs app didn't make it to the public until 2014. It was under development from 2012 through 2013 when it was first demonstrated at a financial technology conference. In 2014, it was offered for use in Germany for aggregating volumes of bank accounts for the purpose of mobile banking transactions.

18. The ratings were low the first year

When the Numbrs app was first released in 2014, there were some issues that kept the ratings of the product low. In November of the year of its launch, the information gathered from the Apple app store showed that the app had a rating of just two out of a possible five stars. According to a report issued by the German consumer magazine Finanztest, the unsatisfactory score was due to the fact that there were privacy concerns among consumers because the app retained the data from each customer on its servers. This information was shared in 2015 after the app had been in use for approximately a year.

17. Numbrs became more popular in time

By January of 2017, confidence in the Numbrs app began to increase. within two years of its shaky start, there were 1.5 million accounts being used through the app. Although there were no significant changes and Numbrs still retained consumer data on its servers, the security measures taken were enough to promote a sense of adequate security.

16. 2017 was an eventful year for Numbrs

A number of positive changes took place for Numbrs in the year 2017. Saidler's family office, which held the majority share in Numbers raised $125 million. It was still a part of Central Numbrs at that time. They were joined by the Investment Corporation of Dubai, Marcel Ospel, Alan Howard, Josef Achermann, and Sir Ronald Cohen in the fundraising efforts. In addition, three German banks entered into agreements with Numbrs including Norisbank, SWK Bank and Postbank which opened up more accounts for users to access the services offered by teh app through. This was also the year that Numbrs set a plan in motion to generate revenue from banking partners willing to pay for new business generated through the use of the app.

15. Leadership at Numbrs was shaky in 2017

Not everything that took place in 2017 was positive for Numbrs. There were issues within the leadership that also affected the workforce of the company. In March of 2017, a new Chief Executive Officer was hired to lead the company. Oyvind Oanes took the helm and by June of 2017, a third of the Numbrs workforce was cut, leaving many workers without a job. By November of 2017, the name was changed from Centralways Numbrs to Numbrs Personal Finance AG. By May of 2018, Oyvind Oans left the company, stepping down from the post of CEO.

14. Numbrs may be preparing for a period of growth

As of February of 2020, Numbrs employs 124 workers at its site in Zurich, Switzerland. We investigated the company through its LinkedIn page and learned that it is currently advertising for new workers to join the team. Just two years ago a third of the workers were laid off, but there are currently 35 job openings with the company which suggests that it is getting ready to expand its operations. This is a good sign that there is growth taking place. All of the jobs offered are for the Zurich site and include positions in engineering as well as for agents and operations, indicating that there will be new growth in the areas of the company.

13. Numbrs is a privately held company

Numbrs has not yet filed for an IPO and there are no indications that the company is planning to take this direction. It is privately funded and backed through venture capital and private investors who own a stake in the business. There are multiple investors active in backing Numbrs and two lead investors who have led the funding rounds.

12. Numbrs is a late-stage venture capital-backed company

On May 15, 2013, Centralway Ventures led a round of Series A funding that raised $7.7 million. This was followed by a second Series A round that closed on September 10, 2013, bringing in an additional $3.8 million led by the same investor. Fundraising continued with yet more rounds closing on April 7, 2014, January 10, 2017, a $27 million round led by Marius Nacht on May 1, 2018, and most recently, $40 million raised on August 22, 2019. A total of $78.8 million was raised in venture capital funding.

11. Numbrs has a solid group of main financial investors

Numbrs has secured the confidence of several investors who have helped in raising funds to get the business set on stale financial ground. These include Centralway Ventures, the financial group of the company from which Numbrs was created, and Marius Nacht who joined with Centralway Ventures to lead the funding rounds. Other investors are Occident, Alan Howard, Saidler & Co., Investment Corporation of Dubai, Josef Achermann, Ronald Cohen, and SevenVentures.

10. The largest growth is coming from access from the United States

When we were looking at the usage charts for Numbrs we noticed that there is a growing trend. Although this is an app that is used for Germany only, the greatest growth in visits to the website and use of the app has been from the United States at 51.05% in monthly rank growth. This, however, only accounts for four percent of the share of monthly visits to the site.

9. Numbrs is most highly ranked in Switzerland

Although the majority of the site visit growth has occurred from teh United States, it is ranked low in popularity holding the place in the three million positions. It is ranked the highest in Switzerland followed by the next highest ranking in Germany, followed by Poland, then France.

8. Numbrs has invested in 6 other companies

Numbrs is a large company tht is also about the business of generating revenue. The company has made several investments in other companies to keep a few options for return on investments made open as a revenue stream. It has invested in six major companies which include a seed round for Sandbox in 2010, an Angel round for c-crowd in 2011, a funding round for Jobzippers in 2011, a seed round fro Merge.rs AG the same year, a seed round investment in Buttercoin in 2013 and Post-IPO Equity investment in BS Banksysteme AG in 2014. This diversifies the portfolio of investments made by the company and lends to the strength of its foundations and potential for generating revenue in the years to come.

7. Numbrs has reached unicorn status

Companies that reach a valuation mark of one billion dollars or more become part of an elite class of companies that are called unicorns. In August of 2019, it was reported that Numbrs had finally reached this milestone in its growth and development. Bloomberg reported that nearly $200 million in total funding has been raised by the company pushing its valuation over the billion-dollar mark.

6. Numbrs has a unique array of investors

While some large companies depend upon IPO and financial backing through the sale of stocks or through private venture capital rounds, Numbrs is a little different. We learned that there have been 50 individuals and families who have invested in Numbrs. The firm has opened its arms to embrace people from this segment of the investment arena, which is not common. Of course, it received support from the more traditional avenues of venture capital firms as well.

5. Thousands of banks partner with Numbrs

Numbrs has been successful in acquiring agreements with a large number of German banks such as Deutsche, Commerzbank, and many others. It has also struck deals with HSBC and RBS, from the United Kingdom as well. There are a total of 3,500 banks within the network.

4. There are plans for international expansion

We also learned that Numbrs leadership has made plans to start offering its mobile banking app to other parts of the world. Although currently serving just Germany, within the year, there are plans to offer the app in the United Kingdom as well. The projections are predicting that the UK will become the second-largest market for Numbrs. The leadership did make it clear that Numbrs is not currently acting as a lender or as a bank and that these are services that will never be offered by the company. The strategic plan is to remain solidly within the fintech industry by offering mobile banking services and related products.

3. Numbrs has contracted with big insurance companies

As Numbrs continues to evolve and to grow into a giant within the fintech industry, it has also forged some very valuable partnerships within the insurance industry. In building the infrastructure for its financial marketplace, Numbrs has signed distribution agreements with some of the larger insurance companies which include AXA, and Allianz. More consumers are becoming aware of the financial services offered by Numbrs and the outlook for growth is excellent.

2. Numbrs has mixed reviews from employees

Numbrs is a company that is going through a phase of expansion and is hiring new workers. According to glassdoor.com, the reviews from employees of the company are mixed. Fifty-three percent of the workforce surveyed would recommend the company to others. The overall approval rating for the company is a 2.9 out of a possible five stars which are above average, but it's not without its issues. The general consensus is that Numbrs offers a great product that workers can get behind and believe in. The other staff members are great to work with and there are some good perks offered by the company. The downside as reported by many staff members is that the management prevents innovation and tends to micromanage the workers beneath them within the command chain. They seem to have little idea about strategy and culture and the management would benefit from further training and professional development in these areas. Just fifty-three percent of the workers approve of the current CEO Martin Saidler.

1. Numbrs is an award winning company

Despite the fact that there are perceptions of faulty management techniques by some of the workers at Numbrs, it is still a company that is recognized for outstanding achievements. Numbrs received the Hohe Weiterempfehlung, Focus Money recognition in 2018, and the Trusted App award from Appvisory in 2018. The focus of Numbrs is upon providing customers with products for mobile banking that makes it fast and easy for them to complete financial transactions from the convenience of their smartphones, and to do so with the full confidence that the information submitted is safe and protected from hackers. So far, it has accomplished this very thing. This is a company to keep your eye on as it continues to expand throughout Europe in the next few years to come.

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Allen Lee

Written by Allen Lee

Allen Lee is a Toronto-based freelance writer who studied business in school but has since turned to other pursuits. He spends more time than is perhaps wise with his eyes fixed on a screen either reading history books, keeping up with international news, or playing the latest releases on the Steam platform, which serve as the subject matter for much of his writing output. Currently, Lee is practicing the smidgen of Chinese that he picked up while visiting the Chinese mainland in hopes of someday being able to read certain historical texts in their original language.

Read more posts by Allen Lee

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