Fintech company Contis Group plans to set up operations in Lithuania

U.K.-based fintech firm Contis Group has planned to set up a new division in Vilnius, Lithuania in order to drive the growth of Lithuanian fintech sector. The move is a part of the company’s €1 million investment plan over the next two years, Finextra reported.

By setting up its operations in Lithuania, Contis Group will be joining numerous international fintech providers who have recently moved to the Baltic country including the U.K. fintech company Revolut, payment platform developer, Moneta International among others.

“At the beginning of 2016, it was difficult to imagine that Lithuania would become an attractive location for world-renowned Fintech companies,” Mantas Katinas, General Manager of the foreign investment development agency Invest Lithuania, said. “Yet today, we have a growing cluster of forward-looking industry leaders based here. And an attractive value proposition for this sector that we have just prepared in cooperation with the Bank of Lithuania will allow this industry to be further fostered and strengthened this year.”

He also stated that he believed in a rapid growth of the Lithuanian Fintech sector in 2016 that will be strongly consolidated this year.

The new Lithuania division will have 20 financial experts and will be handling business expansion and relations in the Baltic and Nordic region. It will also be responsible for interbank settlements in Euros for all of the group’s customers; customer service; project implementation; as well as the development of technology products for use in the Eurozone. The new location was selected as it is a combination of a business-friendly regulatory framework, advanced ICT infrastructure and a pool of banking talents.

“When deciding where to invest, we focused on the analysis of regulatory environment and the technological opportunities available. In Lithuania, we found what we needed for the expansion of our business in the Eurozone. Moreover, the open attitude of the Bank of Lithuania and the numerous specialists who have experience in the banking sector also contributed significantly,” Peter Cox, Contis Group’s Chairman of the Board, stated, as reported by Finextra.

Contis is a pan-European E-Money institution, regulated by the FCA, and Issuer of Visa Europe and Visa certified processor. It operates in four core markets: Financial inclusion, Travel and FX, Payroll and gift and loyalty.