Hello Fintech Builders,

Welcome back to our newsletter series!

This week is all about Singapore Fintech Festival. Use the tickets we have in full, network & watch live keynotes and panels. You missed Gill Gate keynote yesterday, but you can listen & network with others today & tomorrow. 

We also have some news from our Board, Payments Council & Bank of Lithuania.

Hope you enjoy and do not hesitate to reach out!

We are thrilled to announce we have two new members, B4B Payments & Paydoo Payments! 

UAB B4B Payments Europe belongs to Payment Card Solutions Group Ltd (UK) and uses the group trademark B4B Payments. The envisaged business model of the institution is related to the group’s current activities, i.e. the provision of pre-paid cards and the integrated expense management platform to business customers. The company last week got the electronic money institution licence from the Bank of Lithuania. Congratulations!

UAB Paydoo Payments is the second company which received EMI licence from the Bank of Lithuania and holds it from 2015. Paydoo Payments has established a global footprint with over 40 employees across its offices in Riga, Vilnius, New York & Connecticut (United States). Founded by Sam Kohli, Paydoo is built on the foundations of innovation, collaboration, trust, and community. Welcome on board!

Happy to see the growth! In the last year, our association grew from 37 to 45 members. 42 from the list are licenced, 37 have EMI licences & represent more than half of all EMIs in Lithuania. We have the power, and we should use it wisely!

Inga Karulaitytė, Fintech Hub LT Board member last week represented our association in international waters and together with industry experts discussed insights on how fintechs and payment firms are preparing for the impact of Brexit. The event was organized by Pre Paid Forum (PIF) - the not-for-profit industry body, based in London, that represents organisations who are regulated under e-money and payment services legislation.

Last week Saulius Racevičius, Board member of our association, represented us at the Payment Council. It was a very interesting meeting led by Marius Jurgilas, Board member of the Bank of Lithuania, with topics like availability of payment services, opening data at state registers, the possibilities for new means of identification and compliance issues for the prevention of money laundering. 

Explore the minutes of this meeting - it really helps to feel the vibe and keep up-to-date.

The Board Members of Fintech Hub LT has scheduled a meeting with the Bank of Lithuania on 17th of December. The goal of this meeting is to understand the position of BoF regarding Fintechs and see how we can manage risks & solve arising issues in cooperation. Marius Jurgilas, Jekaterina Govina, Rūta Merkevičiūtė, Vilija Petronienė, Eglė Kontautaitė, Algirdas Neciunskas, Asta Taukuvienė, Lina Stravinskytė and Dovilė Arlauskaitė will be representing BoL at this meeting. 

Continuing good practice, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority of the Bank of Lithuania invites all financial market participants to express the need for the Authority's training or consultations that should be organized in 2021. Training and consultations help us to manage our risks. We strongly encourage you to submit suggestions and wishes till 16th of December. Let them know what hurts & where we want to improve.

Additionally, the Bank of Lithuania to further develop cooperation with market participants will hold a meeting with representatives of electronic money institutions, payment institutions and associations in the sector in February. During the meeting, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority's 2020 report and plans for 2021 will be presented. We invite you to provide relevant topics to be discussed during this meeting and questions you would like to be answered.

The silence from us can be seen as ignorance - let’s make sure that doesn’t happen.