Norwegian mobile payments pioneer Auka announced today that its mobile payments application Settle is now officially available in Croatia.
Settle is the European mobile payments app built on Auka’s proven mobile payments platform that has already seen major success in the Nordics. Now, Auka is bringing this innovation to Croatia; the first EU country where ‘Settle’ is being introduced, with additional markets to follow in the coming months.
To distribute and promote Settle in the Croatian market, Auka has signed an exclusive partnership with Sberbank Croatia.
Csaba Soós, CEO of Sberbank Croatia, comments: “Sberbank's key strategic objective is to offer market services based on digital technology and with this business cooperation we are proving our commitment to that goal. I am very excited about our cooperation with the Norwegian fintech company Auka. Our goal is to offer new mobile payment technology and to improve mobile user experience with managing money in the easy way.”
Settle removes the inconvenience of cash transactions and lengthy bank account numbers. Users can pay and receive money instantly with their phone. Users can also send money from their debit and credit cards as well as from their bank account to any mobile phone number. The received money is instantly available on the user’s Settle Account and it can also flow directly into the user’s bank account. Settle is the best way for private individuals as well as for companies to manage their finances and to grow their business.
Daniel Døderlein, CEO and Founder of Auka, is thrilled to bring this Nordic award-winning solution to the Croatian market: “We are excited for the whole Croatian population , who can now choose to digitize their money. We have changed the way people pay and get paid in our home market, now it's time to share the benefits with the rest of the world, starting right here in Croatia.”
“In the Nordics and in Asia, the adoption of payment tools like Settle has been significant. Mobile payments is a completely new way for people and business to pay and get paid, and companies use the tool to build and grow their business. It’s extremely powerful and it will change the payment landscape in Croatia.”
With Settle, there are no transaction fees for sending and receiving money to and from Croatian users. All transactions are safe and secure, backed by the EU-wide financial services license held by Auka which is subject to EU regulation as an e-money institution. The core platform is built by Auka from the ground up, and has securely powered some of the most successful bank solutions since 2010, running 100 percent in Google Cloud.
“We understand the importance of security for our customers. Auka is a regulated financial institution, and we guarantee that users’ electronic money is safe and completely secure” says Døderlein.
Settle is operated with local support and marketing provided through Settle Croatia, a local legal entity ensuring that a majority of the revenue from Settle in Croatia is used to create local jobs and to return value to the local business community.
Whilst this launch phase is aimed at consumers making P2P (person to person) transactions, the vision for Settle is to also become a business solution, enabling merchants to send and receive payments with their customers. They can do so without relying on point-of-sale terminals and card terminals, lowering costs and enabling quicker adoption, specifically for smaller and independent merchants such as cafes and restaurants.
“We will launch merchant functionality in Croatia in the coming months, empowering consumers to pay for a product or service quickly by using the QR codes or the NFC functionality, and enabling merchants to easily take payments.” says Døderlein.
Settle is compatible for all users in Croatia, regardless of the bank or type of card. The app is also platform agnostic, meaning it works with Apple and Android devices and is available on iOS (on Apple App Store) and Android (on Google Play Store).