Factoring services and loans are already being offered to the businesses in that country. In the future, the range of services provided to these companies will be supplemented by other relevant lending solutions.

“We base our activities on a long-term development strategy and we are currently implementing our geographical development plan by starting to provide services to business customers in Latvia. When we were planning actions and analysing the situation in this market, we could see many similarities with Lithuania - for example, the structure of the small and medium business segment is very similar in both countries. We believe that by combining the experience we gained in Lithuania with the knowledge of local experts, we can ensure a successful start-up and competition,” said Renato La Fianza, CEO of PayRay.

According to La Fianza, the diversification of the area of operations will allow the bank to continue growing and strengthening it capabilities. The development of business financing services is also planned in Latvia, so that the companies operating there will have access to more lending solutions that they need in the future. At the same time, the market for financing small and medium-sized businesses in other countries is being assessed, and opportunities for further geographical development are under examination.

PayRay’s Latvian operations are managed by Mareks Basankovics. In total, the team in Latvia consists of 7 financial sector professionals and it is planned that this number will reach 12 next year.

At the request of the Bank of Lithuania, the European Central Bank issued a licence to PayRay in December last year, which allows the company to provide the full range of banking services. PayRay started its banking activities in October this year.

In June 2018, PayRay started operating in Lithuania’s factoring industry under the name Vilnius Factoring Company. PayRay currently has a share capital valued at EUR 36.4 million.