When Yiannis Giokas graduated from business school in Athens in 2008, he secured a job with a major multinational corporation that had him moving around Eastern European countries every year. Despite having a solid credit history back in Greece, he could not open a bank account to manage his personal and business finances. Everytime, he had to start again from scratch, an issue that countless Europeans face when moving from one EU member state to another.
In 2018, when the EU rolled out the new PSD2 regulations and open data sharing, Giokas saw an opportunity to solve this problem. That same year he co-founded Finclude (originally called Verge.Capital), an API that allows Europeans to transfer their financial profile between EU countries, opening up opportunities for them to open bank accounts and access lending and credit products.
Finclude is just one of dozens of tech-driven startups built in the past five years that are helping European families and small business owners build a credit history and access safe and affordable credit. Each of these startups has a unique and creative approach to offering services that traditional banks cannot.
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Read the full blog post, "Alternative Lending Innovation: A Lifeline for Consumers and Small Businesses in Europe During the Pandemic" or return to the Europe page.
