Finom

What Finom is, in 2026

Finom is an EU SMB neobank built specifically for sole traders, freelancers, and small-team businesses across five EU markets. Founded 2019, headquartered in Amsterdam, backed by ~$150M of equity funding across multiple rounds (General Catalyst, Cogito Capital, Northzone). Customer base of approximately 100,000+ business accounts as of 2026, concentrated heavily in German freelancers and EU cross-border SMB operators.

Product surface: multi-country business account with local IBANs in DE / NL / FR / IT / ES under PSD2 passporting from the Dutch EMI parent. Built-in VAT invoicing with country-specific tax handling. Native integrations to DATEV and Lexoffice (the German accounting-software standards) plus Xero and QuickBooks Online. Multi-user roles on Premium and Corporate tiers; multi-IBAN issuance on Corporate.

Structurally an EMI, not a bank. Funds safeguarded under DNB rules — NOT EU DGS-protected at the €100K ceiling. The trade-off matters once balances cross €100K.

At a glance

Who Finom is for: EU-resident sole traders, freelancers, and small-team businesses operating across one or more of DE / NL / FR / IT / ES. The strongest fit is a German freelancer (Einzelunternehmen) running a Steuerberater-mediated bookkeeping workflow — the DATEV + Lexoffice integration depth is materially better than Wise Business or Revolut Business for that operating shape. French auto-entrepreneurs and Italian Ditta Individuale also clear quickly.

Who to avoid Finom for: operators with balances above €100K who need DGS deposit insurance (Qonto's French credit-institution licence is the structural alternative); UK businesses (Finom's UK presence is limited post-Brexit); operators that need native multi-currency operating accounts beyond EUR (Wise Business or Airwallex are better); and businesses requiring working-capital lending or credit-line products (Finom does not offer them).

Safety in one sentence: Finom Payments B.V. is licensed as an EMI by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB); customer funds are safeguarded in segregated accounts at credit institutions and are NOT covered by EU DGS deposit insurance.

Bank structure & EMI safeguarding

The structural question to get right first. Finom Payments B.V. is a Netherlands-incorporated company licensed by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) as an Electronic Money Institution under the PSD2 framework. It is not a chartered bank, does not hold a credit-institution licence, and is not authorised to take deposits in the EU regulatory sense. Operating across EU member states under PSD2 passporting; the Dutch EMI licence travels.

The customer-protection regime under EMI rules is safeguarding, not deposit insurance. Customer funds are held in segregated accounts at credit institutions, ring-fenced from Finom's own balance sheet, and titled in customer name (or in an FBO arrangement). In a Finom insolvency, the safeguarded balances would be returned to customers under DNB-supervised resolution. This is materially different from a DGS-protected deposit at a chartered bank: DGS pays out within a statutory window (typically 7-10 working days) up to €100,000 per depositor per bank; EMI safeguarding has no statutory payout window and depends on the resolution timeline.

The contrast with Qonto matters because they are direct competitors at adjacent tiers. Qonto holds a French credit-institution licence under ACPR — customer deposits at Qonto are DGS-protected up to €100K. Finom holds a Dutch EMI licence — customer funds at Finom are safeguarded, not DGS-insured. For operators above the €100K balance threshold, this is the deciding structural factor. For operators below, Finom's pricing edge and sole-trader-tier depth often outweigh the licence-class difference.

The fee schedule

The pricing math favours Solo for very low transfer volume (under 3 SEPA / month), Start for moderate transfer volume (5-50 / month), Premium for the inflection point where DATEV / Lexoffice integration matters more than the €25 monthly fee, and Corporate for multi-country operators. Card cashback compounds at higher tiers — for businesses with €5K+ monthly card spend, the cashback on Premium / Corporate offsets a material fraction of the subscription cost.

Hands-on notes

Onboarding for a sole trader clears same-day in the typical case: national tax-registration number (Steuernummer / SIRET / P.IVA / KvK / NIF), identity verification (passport or national ID), and selfie-based liveness check. Limited companies (GmbH / SARL / SRL / BV / SL) clear in 1-3 business days with additional documentation (shareholder register, beneficial-ownership disclosure).

The product UX is mobile-first and noticeably tighter than Qonto on the Solo / freelancer tier — the invoicing surface is fast, the VAT handling per country is automatic, and the integration to Lexoffice / DATEV for German users genuinely reduces the Steuerberater-handoff friction. Multi-currency holdings are not natively supported — for non-EUR receivables, Finom routes via SEPA where possible and SWIFT for non-EU corridors, with FX margin around 0.5-0.7% on conversion.

Friction points: per-transfer fees on Solo and Start add up faster than the marketing suggests; double-check your monthly transfer count before defaulting to the cheaper tier. The customer-support experience is in-app chat plus email — quality varies by region (German support strong, smaller markets variable). Working-capital credit lines and lending products are absent; operators that need that surface stack a separate Penta or Qonto Credit relationship.

Plan & tier comparison

Four tiers. Solo for sole traders running very low transfer volume. Start for moderate freelancers and side businesses. Premium for any operator that wants DATEV/Lexoffice integration or multi-user roles. Corporate for cross-EU operators needing multi-country IBANs.

Caveats

EMI, not bank — no DGS cover. Customer funds are safeguarded under DNB rules in segregated accounts at credit institutions, NOT DGS-protected at the €100K ceiling. For balances above €100K, the licence-class difference versus Qonto matters.

Per-transfer fees add up. Solo and Start tiers charge €0.20 per SEPA above the free allowance. For an operator at 30-40 SEPA / month on the Solo tier, the per-transfer fees can exceed the Start subscription within a few months. Do the math against actual transfer volume before defaulting to the cheaper tier.

EUR-only operating account. No native multi-currency holdings beyond EUR. For non-EUR receivables, Wise Business or Airwallex offer better FX cost; Finom routes via SEPA + SWIFT with 0.5-0.7% FX margin.

No lending or credit lines. Working-capital credit lines and merchant-cash-advance products are absent. Operators that need that surface should evaluate Qonto Credit or partner-bank lending relationships separately.

UK presence limited post-Brexit. Finom's UK footprint is materially smaller than its EU presence; UK SMBs should evaluate Tide, Anna, or Starling Business instead.

Finom vs. Qonto vs. Wise Business

Finom vs. Qonto. Qonto is the EU SMB market leader by revenue and customer count, with a French credit-institution licence (ACPR) — customer deposits are DGS-protected up to €100K. Finom is EMI-licensed (DNB) — funds safeguarded, not DGS-insured. For balances comfortably below €100K, Finom's pricing edge and sole-trader-tier depth (DE / NL / FR / IT / ES) often outweigh the licence gap. Above €100K, Qonto's licence-class advantage is the deciding factor.

Finom vs. Wise Business. Wise Business is the multi-currency-native platform — local accounts in 10+ currencies, the best FX rates in the SMB category. Wise is EMI-licensed across multiple jurisdictions, like Finom. The structural difference: Finom is built for EU-domiciled SMBs with EUR-centric operating shape and local-IBAN issuance in five markets; Wise is built for cross-border SMBs needing multi-currency receiving and FX. For a German freelancer paid in EUR with German clients, Finom; for a German freelancer paid in USD or GBP by international clients, Wise.

FAQ

Is Finom a bank?

No. Finom Payments B.V. is licensed as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). It is not a deposit-taking bank — customer funds are safeguarded, not DGS-insured.

Are Finom deposits protected up to €100,000?

No. EMI safeguarding holds customer funds in segregated accounts at credit institutions but does not provide DGS cover. €100K DGS applies to chartered credit institutions only — Qonto, for example, qualifies under its French ACPR licence.

Which countries does Finom serve?

Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain — local IBANs in each. Cross-EU operators get one platform with multi-country IBAN issuance on the Corporate tier.

How does Finom compare with Qonto?

Qonto is bigger (EU SMB market leader) and holds a French credit-institution licence (DGS cover up to €100K). Finom is EMI-licensed (no DGS), with a pricing edge at lower tiers and stronger sole-trader-tier UX across DE / NL / FR / IT / ES.

Does Finom integrate with DATEV and Lexoffice?

Yes — both are first-class integrations on Premium and Corporate tiers. DATEV is the dominant German Steuerberater standard, and the integration depth is one of Finom's structural strengths for German SMBs.

Can I open a Finom account as a sole trader?

Yes — the Solo tier is free and explicitly targets sole traders across DE (Einzelunternehmen), FR (auto-entrepreneur), IT (Ditta Individuale), NL (Eenmanszaak), ES (Autónomo). EU residency required.

What are the structural caveats?

No DGS cover (EMI safeguarding only), per-transfer fees on lower tiers, EUR-only operating account, no lending products, limited UK presence.

Who Finom is for

Use Finom if you are an EU-resident sole trader, freelancer, or small-team business across DE / NL / FR / IT / ES — particularly a German freelancer running a Steuerberater-mediated bookkeeping workflow, where DATEV + Lexoffice integration is the deciding factor. Cross-EU SMBs needing local IBANs in multiple countries get the multi-country IBAN issuance on the Corporate tier. Operators with balances comfortably below €100K capture the pricing edge versus Qonto without taking on the licence-class trade-off.

Use Qonto if you need DGS deposit insurance (above €100K balances), if French / Spanish / Italian / German / Belgian / Austrian / Portuguese / Dutch market presence matters at the EU market-leader scale, or if working-capital credit (Qonto Credit) is part of the structural need. Use Wise Business if you take material non-EUR revenue and FX cost is the deciding factor. Use Tide / Starling Business if you are UK-based. Use Holvi if you are Finnish.

References

Primary-source list, with capture date 2026-05-14. Finom's pricing, licence scope, and country footprint shift across quarters; verify against the source URLs at decision time.

• Finom — Legal & terms
• Finom — Pricing & plans
• Finom — VAT invoicing product
• DNB — Public Register of payment institutions and EMIs (Netherlands)
• EBA — Register of payment and electronic money institutions
• European Commission — PSD2 framework overview
• European Banking Federation — Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) overview
• DATEV — Bank integration directory
• Lexoffice — Integration partner page
• BZSt (Germany) — VAT registration for SMBs
• Service Public (France) — Auto-entrepreneur / micro-entreprise
• Finom — Press, announcements, funding
• EBA — EMI passporting register

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