Romania-based neobank Salt Bank has partnered with Germany-based Upvest to expand its investment solution.
This will offer Salt Bank’s end users direct access to international capital markets and the ability to invest in securities straight from their banking app. Leveraging Upvest’s Investment API, the bank can offer a fully integrated trading experience, enabling users to sell and buy securities with no hidden fees.
New investment offering from Salt Bank
Launched in 2024, Salt Bank is a digital neo-bank backed by South-Eastern Europe’s largest financial group, Banca Transilvania (BT), and made a successful entry in Romania’s banking market. The bank originated as Idea Bank, acquired by BT back in 2021, and became the first fully digital bank in the country, with all services managed through its mobile application.
Evolving from a challenger bank to a full-service financial platform, it aims to expand its offering beyond banking, delivering long-term wealth-building tools. The collaboration with Upvest reflects the bank’s goal to enter the global investment space and offer additional capabilities as it expands its offering after the initial rollout.
Salt Bank is committed to a customer-centric approach to banking, offering its clients the freedom to have more control over their experience and finances. With Upvest and Salt Investments, the bank enables individuals to invest globally with safety and confidence, directly from their banking app.
Upvest believes that Salt Bank has experienced impressive growth, which reflects the demand for modern and digital financial services in the region. The company expressed positive feelings about the partnership, helping the bank expand into investments by offering the infrastructure it needs. This will enable the end user to access securities more easily and at a lower cost.
In 2023, Salt Bank chose Engine by Starling, the SaaS subsidiary of Starling Bank, to offer next-gen banking in Romania. The bank leveraged Engine’s features to onboard customers digitally, manage accounts and provide savings products, process payments and card transactions, and manage operations via Engine’s proprietary operational portal, among others.
