Fintech/Analysis/ Why is a web browser investing in fintech? Web browser Opera is no longer just competing with Google...it's also preparing to go up against top fintechs like Klarna. By Ryan Weeks 31 March 2021 \Fintech How fintechs are navigating the economic downturn By Sifted 30 June 2022 Fintech/Analysis/ Why is a web browser investing in fintech? Web browser Opera is no longer just competing with Google...it's also preparing to go up against top fintechs like Klarna. By Ryan Weeks 31 March 2021 With Stripe’s valuation nearing a colossal $100bn, fintech investments of $100m seem barely a blip on the radar. But the pledge made by Norwegian web browser company Opera to plough $100m into building a European fintech business is worthy of closer attention. “[That $100m is] specifically focused on building our fintech business, whether it be through R&D, acquisition — it could be anything,” Paul Andrews, VP of fintech expansion at Opera, told Sifted. Opera certainly has the heft to be a force in European fintech. Launched in 1995, the company has some 380m browsers users globally, including 50m in Europe. The question, though, is why it decided to get into fintech in the first place. Opera laid the foundations for its big fintech push with two acquisitions (a banking-as-a-service startup and a bank) in 2020. Then, in February, it unveiled Dify — a wallet app that can be used for online payments and to earn cashback. The service is already live in beta mode in Spain, with more European countries to follow. But Dify in its current state is very much the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Opera’s fintech ambitions. “It’s not just about the wallet, it’s about what else we can do that would sit in and around that wallet,” said Andrews. To hear Andrews tell it, there are very few fintech services that Opera is not considering tacking onto Dify. He highlighted Buy Now Pay Later tools and fractionalised share investing as two potential expansion areas (while stressing that cashback is the short-term focus). Both areas have exhibited explosive growth throughout the Covid-19 crisis. Andrews reckons the world is his oyster because Opera has what many startups lack: a user base. We might point out that big banks’ disastrous forays into fintech offer a regular reminder that customers alone do not a fintech make. Perhaps web browsers are better placed to buck the trend. Chinese walls? In 2016, before Opera went public, a buyout consortium which included Chinese mobile gaming firm Beijing Kunlun acquired it for $600m. In recent years, such ownership has proven challenging for Western companies in fintech and in the wider tech world. But Andrews stressed that Opera is a European business. “I don’t foresee that presenting any challenges [with the fintech expansion],” he said. “We’re very much a European business, it just so happens we’re owned by a Chinese company. But we operate very independently.” Ryan Weeks covers fintech at Sifted. He tweets from @RyanJamesWeeks and coauthors our new fintech-focused newsletter. Sign up here. Related Articles Y Combinator fintech Belvo raises $10m to triple its team size By Tim Smith in Barcelona Click here to read more Crypto startup Elliptic to go big in Japan after $23m fundraising By Maija Palmer Click here to read more Young Frenchies don’t love banks By Marie Mawad in Paris Click here to read more Challenger banks eye the untapped teenage market By Isabel Woodford Click here to read more Most Read 1 Member \Venture Capital German VCs are the second best paid in Europe 2 \Startup Life Where are Europe’s top digital nomad villages? 3 \Venture Capital New platform enables ‘everyday’ folk to invest in VC 4 \Venture Capital Europe gets its first creator-founded, creator-backed VC 5 \Public & Academic The European Commission has a big new plan for startups. Here’s what you need to know about it Join the conversation Subscribe Notify of new follow-up comments new replies to my comments
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