Solaris
Solaris SE is a Berlin-based Banking-as-a-Service platform operating under a full German banking license that enables businesses across Europe to embed compliant accounts, cards, payments, lending, and KYC services via APIs under their own brands.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Solaris does
Solaris SE (formerly Solarisbank) is a Berlin-headquartered Banking-as-a-Service platform founded in 2015 that operates under a full German banking license (CRR-compliant) with EU passporting rights across 30 EEA countries. The company enables non-bank businesses to embed compliant digital financial services — accounts, cards, payments, lending, and identity verification — into their own products via RESTful APIs, without acquiring a banking license of their own. Its modular platform includes five configurable account types with local IBANs in Germany, Italy, and France; debit, prepaid, and credit card programs on Mastercard and Visa networks with Apple/Google/Samsung wallet tokenization; SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit, and SEPA Instant payments; a multi-method KYC/KYB stack (Bankident, Bankident Plus, Videoident, eID, Fotoident, PostIdent); consumer lending and BNPL (Splitpay); and a Data Mesh Architecture supporting decisioning and compliance. The technology foundation runs on AWS, with payment infrastructure migrated to ACI Connetic's cloud-native ledger to address prior BaFin regulatory scrutiny.
Solaris serves 100+ partner companies across SaaS providers (HR tech, cloud accounting, ERP), wealth and financial services, travel, mobility, and digital assets — including Samsung, ADAC, Tomorrow, Bitpanda, Coinbase Germany, Lexware, and Spendit. Its go-to-market combines an API-first self-serve developer portal with consultative B2B enterprise sales and white-label/OEM embedded distribution (B2B2X), positioning Solaris as a regulated infrastructure layer that never competes with partners for end customers. Revenue streams span platform setup fees (€10,000–50,000) plus ongoing revenue sharing, recurring embedded-banking service fees, card interchange and processing, and interest income from consumer loans and BNPL.
In February 2025, following prior financial distress, Japanese conglomerate SBI Holdings became majority shareholder via a €140M Series G rescue round, supplementing prior cumulative funding of approximately €654M (Series D €190M in 2021 including the Contis acquisition, Series F €38M in 2023). Under new CEO Steffen Jentsch, Solaris has repositioned as "Europe's first AI-native bank," cutting approximately 20% of headcount (~80 jobs), discontinuing major parts of its EMI business, phasing out the Contis retail brand, and refocusing on premium corporate banking and digital asset infrastructure — supported by a $650M Convertible Senior Notes offering in October 2025 and a 79% Q1 2026 EBITDA improvement.
Solaris firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Solaris
- Legal name
- Solaris SE
- Website
- https://solarisgroup.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Solaris SE is a Berlin-based Banking-as-a-Service platform operating under a full German banking license that enables businesses across Europe to embed compliant accounts, cards, payments, lending, and KYC services via APIs under their own brands.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Solaris is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Berlin
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Solaris business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- BaaS Platform Partnership Fees: Setup fees (€10,000-50,000 range) plus ongoing revenue sharing with partners who use Solaris as their embedded finance infrastructure. Partners pay platform fees plus per-transaction revenue split rather than acquiring independent banking licenses (€5-15M upfront).
- Embedded Banking Services: Recurring revenue from partners for accounts, cards (prepaid, debit, credit), payments processing (SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit, SEPA Instant), consumer lending, BNPL (Splitpay), and KYC/KYB services. White-label fee structure.
- Card Issuing and Transaction Processing: Revenue from issuance and processing of branded debit, prepaid, and credit cards on Mastercard and Visa networks. Includes interchange fees and transaction processing revenue.
- Lending Revenue (Consumer Loans and Overdrafts): Interest income from consumer loans, BNPL products (Splitpay), and overdraft facilities issued through the embedded finance platform.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Hybrid | Pay-as-you-go | Platform partnership: setup fees plus revenue sharing |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Solaris product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Solaris operates a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform built on a full German banking license (CRR-compliant) with EU passporting across 30 EEA countries. Through a unified set of RESTful APIs, the platform enables partner businesses to embed compliant digital banking services—accounts, debit/prepaid/credit cards, SEPA payments, consumer lending, BNPL (Splitpay), and KYC/KYB onboarding—under their own brand without acquiring their own banking license.
Product overview
Solaris (Solaris SE) operates Europe's leading Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform, built on a single unified API layer that sits atop a full CRR-licensed German banking infrastructure with EU passporting across 30+ EEA countries. The offering follows a platform-plus-modules architecture: the core Digital Banking Platform orchestrates modular products including Accounts (checking, savings, wallets, multi-accounts, sub-accounts), a KYC Platform with the Bankident Plus / Bankident / Videoident / eID / Fotoident / PostIdent add-on methods, a KYB Platform for business onboarding, Cards (Debit Cards, Prepaid Cards, Credit Cards on Mastercard and Visa with Apple/Google/Samsung wallet tokenization), Payments (SEPA Credit Transfer, SEPA Direct Debit, SEPA Instant, TARGET-2, Verification of Payee), Consumer Lending and BNPL (Splitpay). Underpinning all modules are shared capabilities such as the Billing Engine, Dynamic Product Catalog, Data Mesh Architecture, AI-driven real-time fraud detection and risk management, 3D Secure, and PSD2 XS2A APIs. In 2025–2026, the platform was re-anchored around an "AI-native bank" strategy supported by SBI Group's majority ownership and a migration of the payment ledger to ACI Connetic cloud infrastructure.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Bankident Plus: Digital KYC solution combining customer identity verification with bank account activation into a single automated process for AML-compliant onboarding.
- Bankident
Products and services
- Digital Banking Platform
Quantifiable outcome
- 100+ partner companies served via BaaS platform
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Solaris
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Solaris technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
AI capability11 records
Feature7 records
Solaris partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- ACI WorldwidecoreSolaris selected ACI Connetic to future-proof its payments infrastructure. Migration to ACI Connetic cloud-native payment platform enables faster SEPA transfers and supports instant payments. Announced September 29, 2025. The partnership helps Solaris resolve prior regulatory challenges with BaFin by migrating payment ledger to modern cloud infrastructure.
- MastercardcoreMastercard and Solarisbank partner for digital banking push announced June 22, 2025. Mastercard provides card network and acceptance for Solaris-issued cards. Solaris issues cards on Mastercard network for partners across debit, prepaid, and credit products.
- VisacoreSolaris issues debit, prepaid, and credit cards on the Visa network. Powers Tomorrow's sustainable Visa debit cards and Lexware's Visa debit cards for German SMEs.
- IDnowcoreIDnow is a vetted third-party KYC provider powering Solaris' Videoident and eID verification methods. Provides full German AML compliance for lending, credit, and regulated use cases.
- FinLeapcoreCo-developed 'Banking as a Platform' offering with Solaris. Founded by Ramin Niroumand (co-founder of FinLeap). Joint venture style partnership building BaaS infrastructure.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreSolaris is an AWS Partner with cloud-based banking infrastructure. Entire banking infrastructure runs on the cloud, supporting scalability and innovation.
- NetguruminorImplementation and consulting partner helping deploy Solaris-powered banking solutions. Project work covers SEPA payment processing, mobile banking app redesigns, KYC infrastructure, and AI-powered invoice management.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Solaris competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- ClearBank: UK-based BaaS platform with a UK banking license offering embedded accounts, payments, and clearing services to fintechs and corporates across Europe. Directly competes with Solaris in the European embedded finance space with comparable regulatory license-driven model.
- Treezor: French BaaS provider owned by Société Générale, offering payment accounts, KYC, and card issuance to fintechs across Europe. Direct competitor in the European BaaS market with overlapping customer segments and product modules.
- Modulr: UK-based payments and BaaS platform authorized by the FCA, providing embedded accounts, payments, and Open Banking APIs to fintechs and corporates. Comparable to Solaris in target customers, license-based model, and pan-European expansion ambitions.
- Railsr (formerly Railsbank): UK/EU embedded finance platform offering cards, accounts, and compliance infrastructure via API. Direct BaaS competitor focused on European markets with similar product breadth and partner-led GTM model.
- OpenPayd: London-based BaaS provider offering multi-currency accounts, FX, payments, and embedded finance infrastructure across the EEA. Direct peer competing for the same European fintech and corporate partner base.
Broad incumbents
- Marqeta: US-listed modern card issuing platform powering debit, prepaid, and credit card programs via API. Overlaps with Solaris's Cards product line and B2B2X model but operates at much larger scale and is not a licensed bank itself.
- Stripe (Stripe Connect / Stripe Issuing): Global payments infrastructure giant offering Connect (marketplace/platform payments) and Issuing (card issuing) as embedded finance products. Competes with Solaris for SaaS and platform partners seeking embedded financial services at global scale.
- Galileo Financial Technologies (SoFi): Payment processing and card-issuing platform owned by SoFi, providing API-based infrastructure to fintechs and banks. Comparable to Solaris's payments and cards modules, with much broader US-centric scale.
- Starling Bank: UK challenger bank with proprietary banking license and BaaS offering (Starling Platform) for embedded accounts and payments. Comparable regulatory asset and product surface to Solaris, with stronger UK retail presence.
Others
- Plaid: Global Open Banking and financial data connectivity platform powering account verification, KYC data enrichment, and payment initiation for fintechs. Adjacent to Solaris's KYC and payments capabilities, often used complementarily rather than as a direct competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Solaris social profiles
Digital presenceSolaris compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Solaris financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Solaris leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Solaris subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Solaris funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds9 records
Investors25 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Solaris M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Solaris
What does Solaris do?
Solaris operates a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform built on a full German banking license (CRR-compliant) with EU passporting across 30 EEA countries. Through a unified set of RESTful APIs, the platform enables partner businesses to embed compliant digital banking services—accounts, debit/prepaid/credit cards, SEPA payments, consumer lending, BNPL (Splitpay), and KYC/KYB onboarding—under their own brand without acquiring their own banking license.
Is Solaris a public or private company?
Solaris is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Solaris founded?
Solaris was founded in 2015. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Solaris based?
Solaris is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Solaris make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. BaaS Platform Partnership Fees are the primary driver. The others are embedded Banking Services, card Issuing and Transaction Processing and lending Revenue (Consumer Loans and Overdrafts).
Who are Solaris's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are ClearBank, Treezor, Modulr, Railsr (formerly Railsbank) and OpenPayd. Broad incumbents are Marqeta, Stripe (Stripe Connect / Stripe Issuing), Galileo Financial Technologies (SoFi) and Starling Bank. Plaid is listed as an others.
Does Solaris have an API?
Yes. Solaris offers RESTful partner-facing APIs that power its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform. Sample endpoints include: POST /persons (manage retail and business customers' personal information through the complete customer lifecycle), POST /persons/:person_id/identification (digital KYC), POST /persons/:person_id/accounts (real-time cash movement info), POST /persons/:person_id/accounts/:account_id/transactions/sepa_credit_transfer (SEPA Credit Transfers and SEPA Direct Debits with multiple authorization flows), POST /webhooks (real-time notifications and alerts for events such as new account bookings or successful card transactions), POST /persons/:person_id/signings (electronic signatures), POST /cards/:card_id/block and /unblock, POST /cards/:card_id/change_pin, POST /cards/:card_id/close, GET /cards/:card_id, GET /hits/:check_id. APIs are designed for scalability, international expansion, and ease of integration, with a cloud-based banking infrastructure and Data Mesh architecture. PSD2-compliant XS2A APIs are available via a sandbox portal. Webhooks support flexible, event-driven workflows. Developer documentation is at xs2a-portal.solaris-sandbox.de.