Money20/20 Exclusive Interview: LHV’s Growth Trajectory
Samuel Boutel is Head of Relationship Management at LHV, the fully licensed UK bank that operates through three distinct divisions: A London-based Savings team, an SME Lending team based in both London and Manchester, and a Banking Services team managed out of London and Estonia.
Each of LHV’s divisions is strategically positioned to maximise the organisation’s reach and efficiency.
Across its three divisions, LHV offers a comprehensive range of financial services, which Samuel outlines: “The services that we're providing from a banking services space is a core product set of Euro payments, of GBP payments, accounts, and the safeguarding of that.”
In addition, LHV has expanded its product set in recent times to include an ancillary set of services including card acquiring. Leveraging the power of Open Banking, LHV is taking its first steps to provide card issuing and FX solutions too.
“We are growing rapidly in the banking services space. We've seen significant payment volume expansion year-on-year. We're looking to do that again this year,” Samuel adds.
LHV: Focus on fintechs
Samuel attributes the growth of LHV to the success of its fintech partners. “That business line is going to continue to grow because these fintechs are so good at what they do that we will grow in tandem with the growth of our clients."
It is no wonder that as it expands its products and services, LHV is doubling down on its commitment to fintechs as its primary client base.
Boutel emphasises the organisation’s approach: "We are trying to be a stable, tech-first and API-driven banking service provider for small fintechs. And that's what they need. They need a shoulder to lean on. They're building out their customer experience, and we will sit in the background supporting them.”
Of course, not every fintech is the same, and LHV can offer services tailored to the specific needs of a particular fintech.
For example, larger fintechs may require more comprehensive support. “The larger fintechs such as Coinbase – one of our clients – they need more than handholding from us and they expect more from us too – so we deliver more.
“This includes providing data-driven insights on payment volumes across the world to assist in their strategic expansion decisions,” notes Samuel.
Rapid growth and expanded merchant services
Retaining its commitment to fintech clients, LHV will look to explore new opportunities in the merchant and marketplace sectors as it grows. For Samuel, merchant services and marketplaces are an untapped area that LHV will look to make a dent in.
“An area of the market that is untapped for LHV is providing services to merchants or marketplaces. If you think about Uber or Etsy, which has millions of customers processing millions of payments, we should look at how we provide services to these clients, and how we can adapt our services from those we typically offer our fintech clientele,” concludes Samuel.
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