Smart Fintech

What Smart Fintech does

Smart Fintech is a Romanian open banking infrastructure provider operating as a payment institution authorized by the National Bank of Romania (license IP-RO-0011/02.04.2021) and listed in the European Banking Authority's central register. Founded in 2019 in Bucharest by four co-founders with prior IT experience, the company delivers two complementary API products: SmartPay for payment initiation and Smart Accounts for account information aggregation. Through PSD2-compliant integrations with the top 13 Romanian banks, the platform covers over 95% of the domestic banking market via a single API connection.

The technology stack is anchored on IBM Cloud Pak for Integration and IBM API Connect, with the SmartPG Hub — developed with IT Smart Systems — serving as the underlying PSD2-compatible API gateway. Monetization combines transaction-based fees on SmartPay (claimed to be at least 50% lower than card payments, with rates as low as €0.10 per transaction and zero commissions on instant digital transfers) with usage-based or subscription fees for Smart Accounts API access. The company is API-first and B2B, with all distribution routed through platform partners.

Go-to-market is partner-led: Smart Fintech embeds its APIs into invoicing, ERP, e-commerce, and financial-services platforms — including SmartBill (85,000 users), EasyBill (45,000 users), Facturis Online (15,000 SMEs and accountants), Goldring (a Bucharest Stock Exchange broker), and RoCapital IFN — which then expose open banking services to their own end customers, primarily Romanian SMEs and accounting firms. The company is self-described as self-sustained and bootstrapped, with 14 employees and no disclosed external funding.

Name

Smart Fintech

Legal name

Smart Fintech S.R.L.

Website

https://smartfintech.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Smart Fintech is a BNR-authorized Romanian open banking API provider offering SmartPay (payment initiation) and Smart Accounts (bank aggregation) across 13 banks covering over 95% of the local market, distributed to SMEs and financial firms via platform partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Banking / Financial APIs

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

A2A Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) (FSAMAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Payment Initiation & Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments (PIS, RTP initiation) (FSAGACAI), A2A Bill Pay & eInvoicing (Open Banking Enabled) (FSAMAFAL), Open Banking APIs & Connectivity (FSAMAFAA), Open Banking, Account Aggregation & Payment Initiation APIs (BPAMAFAJ)

Keywords

• Open banking APIs
• Payment initiation services
• Account information aggregation
• PSD2 compliance platform
• Bank aggregation software

Headquarters

HQ city

Bucharest

HQ country

Romania

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Transaction-based payment initiation fees (SmartPay): SmartPay charges transaction fees for each payment initiated through its platform. The company states fees are at least 50% lower than card payment fees, reaching as low as 10 euro cents per transaction depending on volume. There are zero commissions for instant digital transfers. The revenue is generated per transaction processed, with the fee borne by the merchant/payment recipient.
2. Account information service fees (Smart Accounts): Smart Accounts generates revenue through per-query or per-integration fees charged to partner platforms (ERPs, invoicing software, e-commerce) that embed the account information API. Revenue is derived from B2B partnerships where the partner integrates the service into their platform and pays for the account data aggregation functionality.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Smart Fintech provides PSD2-compliant open banking API services to Romanian businesses: SmartPay enables account-to-account online payment initiation directly from a user's bank account without card intermediaries, while Smart Accounts aggregates bank account data (balances, transactions, IBAN, creditor details) from the top 13 Romanian banks. Both services are authorized by the National Bank of Romania and exposed through a single API integration that covers over 95% of the Romanian banking market, primarily delivered via partner platforms such as ERP, invoicing, e-commerce and brokerage software.

Product overview

Smart Fintech offers a dual-product Open Banking platform comprising SmartPay (payment initiation) and Smart Accounts (account information), both authorized by Romania's National Bank. The products serve complementary functions: SmartPay enables account-to-account online payment initiation while Smart Accounts aggregates bank account data from 13 Romanian banks. Built on IBM Cloud Pak for Integration technology, the platform targets SMEs, accounting firms, and e-commerce businesses seeking to automate financial operations and reduce payment processing costs. Both services are available via OpenAPI for business integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SmartPay: Secure online payment solution for account-to-account payments through open banking. First local online payment service authorized by the National Bank of Romania. Provides payment initiation services for e-commerce and businesses.
• Smart Accounts

Products and services

• SmartPay

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 80% reduction in companies' accounting operations through open banking automation
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• GoldringcoreTechnology or Integration · 13 June 2023Goldring, an investment broker at the Bucharest Stock Exchange with approximately 1,000 clients and 25 years of market presence, integrated SmartPay for instant account funding. Investors can fund trading accounts directly from the platform without third-party intermediaries, with zero commissions and instant settlement. Supported banks include BCR, ING Bank, Banca Transilvania, Libra Bank, and BRD. Goldring plans to expand SmartPay integration into future trading platforms.
• Facturis OnlinecoreTechnology or Integration · 17 May 2023Facturis Online, an invoicing and cloud stock management platform serving over 15,000 SMEs and accounting firms, integrated Smart Accounts for automated collection and management of financial data. The integration enables automatic reading of all banking operations from all company accounts, contributing to increased efficiency in the invoicing process and elimination of manual data handling errors.
• SmartBillcoreTechnology or Integration · 15 March 2023SmartBill, the most widely used invoicing and inventory management program in Romania with over 85,000 users, integrated Smart Accounts for automated bank account data retrieval. This partnership enables SmartBill's customer base to connect their bank accounts to SmartBill for seamless financial data synchronization and invoice reconciliation, eliminating manual data entry operations. SmartBill also plans to integrate SmartPay for payment initiation.
• EasyBillcoreTechnology or Integration · 15 February 2023EasyBill, an online invoicing platform with over 45,000 users, integrated both SmartPay (payment initiation) and Smart Accounts (account information). SmartPay enables EasyBill users to pay invoices directly from their bank accounts with fees at least 50% lower than card payments. Smart Accounts provides automated financial data collection. The partnership represents a premiere in Romania's digitalized payments market.
• IBM (Cloud Pak for Integration / API Connect)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2019Smart Fintech's bank account services are developed on IBM technology from the Cloud Pak for Integration suite, with a partnership spanning over 20 years. The API Connect platform provides API management for creating, securing, and maintaining APIs. This long-standing technology partnership underpins Smart Fintech's technical infrastructure.
• IT Smart Systems (SmartPG Hub)coreTechnology or IntegrationSmartPG Hub, powered by IT Smart Systems, is the underlying API gateway technology for Smart Fintech's open banking services. SmartPG is a PSD2-compatible payment gateway that helps fintechs accelerate electronic payments and financial management services, and is open for fintech startups to accelerate innovation and reduce entry barriers in the PSD2 space.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TrueLayer: UK-based PISP/AISP providing PSD2-compliant payment initiation and account information APIs across multiple European markets. Direct functional competitor with similar API-first, partner-led GTM targeting platforms and merchants.
• Salt Edge: Open banking API aggregator offering AIS and PIS connectivity across European and global banks. Comparable in providing multi-bank aggregation and payment initiation infrastructure to B2B customers.
• Token.io: Open banking payment initiation network operating under PSD2 with bank and merchant integrations across Europe. Closely comparable PISP offering account-to-account payment rails for B2B use cases.
• Tink (Visa): European open banking platform acquired by Visa, offering payment initiation and account aggregation APIs across the EU/EEA. Closest pan-European functional peer; could compete for the same Romanian platform partners.
• Yapily: UK/EU open banking API provider offering account information and payment initiation services to banks, fintechs, and merchants. Direct competitor in the same PISP/AISP category targeting enterprise and platform customers.

Emerging players

• Banked: Pay-by-bank PISP providing account-to-account payment infrastructure for merchants and platforms. Comparable emerging player with similar PISP focus but smaller scale and footprint than Smart Fintech's local authorization.

Broad incumbents

• Plaid: Large incumbent in financial data connectivity (primarily US) with expanding European open banking capabilities. Comparable in API-first account aggregation/payments but operates at much greater scale and breadth.
• Klarna Kosma: Klarna's open banking division offering PSD2-based account information and payment initiation APIs to banks and merchants across Europe. Comparable functionality wrapped inside a larger fintech incumbent.
• Finicity (Mastercard): Mastercard-owned account information and payment initiation provider. Similar product surface in financial data aggregation and A2A payments, though it sits within a much broader payments portfolio.

Regional players

• Stanchion Payments: Payment solutions provider operating across Africa and selected emerging markets with open banking and account aggregation capabilities. Comparable AISP/PISP functionality though focused on different regions than Smart Fintech's Romanian footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/smart_fintech
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCjIlURUJ8-pkDyZhbs8lvJg
• Facebookfacebook.com/smartfintech.eu
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smartfintech-eu

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Smart Fintech