SEB enters into a strategic partnership with Humla, a fintech start-up within the Axel Johnson Group.
Humla will develop financial products and services on SEBx’s banking-as-a-service platform, becoming its first BaaS customer.
The partnership follows a period of joint exploration and collaboration between Humla and SEB’s innovation studio SEBx. Humla’s mission is to empower the future of retail by creating a new generation of financial services and new loyalty programmes. Using SEBx’s banking-as-a-service platform, Humla will be able to integrate financial services into its customer offerings.
– With our cloud-based banking-as-a-service platform, we can help partners build new products or embed financial services into their customer journeys without becoming banks themselves. SEBx is built on top of SEB’s banking license, allowing us to be a complete financial services provider. We want to design and develop together with innovative partners and look forward to continuing to work with the team at Humla – our first banking-as-a-service customer,” says Christoffer Malmer, Head of SEBx.
The market for embedded finance is growing rapidly and has great potential. With a history of supporting entrepreneurship, SEB aims to establish itself as a leading banking-as-a-service provider to foster innovation and serve customers in new ways. Embedding financial services within the framework of non-financial brands opens the way to creating new products and business opportunities for both customers and suppliers.
As a startup within the Axel Johnson Group, Humla will build products and services in partnership with some of the most established retail brands in Sweden. With 1.5 million customer interactions every day across the group, Humla sees great opportunities for retail companies to use the new platform to create stronger relationships with customers.
– The retail companies within Axel Johnson have a deep understanding of their customers, which combined with modern technology will be used to create innovative financial services that enable more personalized experiences and data-driven offers. SEBx provides us with a complete banking platform built on modern technology, allowing us to focus on the customer experience instead of banking regulations. We are optimistic about the change we can bring to the industry and look forward to offering Humla to more partners and customers,” says Emil Berg Eckerrot, CEO of Humla.
The plan is to launch the first product on the market during the year and to continue exploring opportunities within the Axel Johnson Group. Axel Johnson has a long history and experience in the retail industry, which Humla will benefit from when developing new products and services.
– At Axel Johnson, we believe that the retail industry will change more in the next decade than it has in the last century. Tailored financial services will play an important role in the future of retail and we are excited about what we can achieve with this partnership, especially the ability to thoughtfully include financial services in the customer experience,” says Sara Öhrvall, Chairman of Humla and Chief Operating Officer of Axel Johnson.
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