ClearBank Expands Clearing and Embedded Banking Services to Europe

Embedded banking firm ClearBank expanded from the United Kingdom to Europe.

The newly established ClearBank Europe N.V. is headquartered in the Netherlands and has a Dutch banking license. It will offer U.K. and European institutions clearing and embedded banking services across Europe, according to a Friday (Aug. 9) press release.

“We’re thrilled to be open for business in Europe — and this marks the first milestone in our global expansion strategy,” ClearBank CEO Charles McManus said in the release. “We will soon fulfill client demand for euro clearing, as well as sterling, with the U.S. dollar coming next.”

With its new Credit Institution Licence from the European Central Bank, under the supervision of De Nederlandsche Bank, ClearBank can provide operating accounts, virtual accounts and access to major European payment rails, according to the release.

ClearBank Europe N.V. will also offer multicurrency and foreign exchange (FX) services to its European clients, upgrade ClearBank U.K.’s FX capabilities and roll out embedded banking services to European clients, the release said.

The company’s services are underpinned by a real-time cloud-native platform and are accessed via a single API, per the release. The platform holds client funds at the central bank — for maximum security, ClearBank said — and allows efficient and cost-effective transactions.

“With changing regulations impacting banks and payment providers across Europe — many of which will require major overhauls of technology infrastructure — we are best-placed to help our clients deliver compliant, next-generation banking and payments services,” ClearBank Europe CEO Rintse Zijlstra said in the release.

McManus said in April that ClearBank applied for a banking license in the Netherlands and was considering launching in the U.S. by 2026, possibly through an acquisition.

ClearBank also said in April that it posted its first annual pre-tax profit of 18.4 million pounds (about $23.5 million) in fiscal year 2023, after posting a loss of 7.1 million pounds (about $9.1 million) in 2022.

“We have been able to offer resilience and stability in an uncertain market, building services our customers need, including a best-in-class embedded banking offering,” McManus said at the time in a press release. “But this is just one step on the journey, not the finish line.”