Lemon Way taps Barclays for UK corporates
Lemon Way is starting its UK expansion through an enhanced relationship with Barclays Corporate Banking.
Barclays will also help the fintech expand throughout other European countries, such as Spain, Italy and Germany, targeting crowdfunding and P2P lending companies.
“The UK is the most mature market in Europe for crowdfunding and P2P lending”
Lemon Way is regulated by the ACPR – Banque de France. The new agreement with Barclays’ Non-Bank Financial Institution (NBFI) division, provides Lemon Way with tech capabilities.
These resources include electronic banking, operating accounts, client money accounts, SwiftNet access, faster payments, and Barclaycard online payments.
Lemon Way will be based in London and will be hosted in the incubator during its take-off. The office will be headed by Emmanuel de Cazotte, an early investor in Lemon Way, former general manager, Visa France; and senior VP, Mastercard.
“The UK is the most mature market in Europe for crowdfunding and P2P lending. We are confident that UK websites will reduce costs, while increasing payment fulfilment with Lemon Way’s API, a one-stop shop to handle know your customer (KYC) / anti-money laundering (AML) compliance, in-payment reconciliation, segregation of client money, split payments, and payment account management,” says de Cazotte.
Barclays has also agreed to support Lemon Way on a plan to serve some key continental Europe markets, where both organisations have active customer relationships.
Lemon Way recently raised a €10 million funding round led by Breega Capital, to continue its expansion in Europe, particularly in Germany and the UK.
It plans to recruit 30 more people to strengthen its team (from 80 to date).
The firm facilitates PSD2 regulated payments for digital platforms. In 2017, Lemon Way processed €1.4 billion compared to €900 million in 2016 (up 55%), with a turnover of €11 million in 2017.
Last month, Barclays launched its new digital platform in Western Europe, as part of a wider move to boost its corporate banking operations in the region.
