Estonian financial technology company IuteCredit bought the first 9.976% of the Moldovan Energbank’s shares, which is the first step for the company towards becoming a bank. During the transaction on the Moldovan stock exchange, 199,519 shares were purchased at a price of 170.44 leu per share, with a total value of 1.7 million euros.

Tarmo Sild, CEO of IuteCredit Europe: “IuteCredit would like to become the majority shareholder of the bank. As well-informed sources have already suggested to the Moldovan press, we have in fact received approval from the Moldovan Central Bank to buy Energbank. We will keep on working to achieve our desired goal,” said Sild.

According to Lilian Guzun, CEO of IuteCredit Moldova, the “Iute spirit” to be instilled into the EnergBank shall boost the digitalisation of the bank, by bringing the best practices from Baltics and Scandinavia.

Sild believes that in the next two years, the company could reach a million customers and a balance sheet of one billion euros, and the acquisition of the bank is part of the plan. “IuteCredit must become a convenient and fast fintech neobank, money should move very freely, smoothly, like human speech. At the same time, our main promise is to offer an extraordinary experience in personal finance, so maintaining a human touch is very important at a time when technology is becoming a bigger part of our lives,” said Sild. In addition to acquiring the bank, IuteCredit plans to expand all the services that the company offers on mobile phones and offer investment opportunities.

IuteCredit intends to expand beyond its current core markets in the Balkans and Moldova in the coming years and to expand its service portfolio. “Most of the current revenues come from installments loans, but in the future digital payments could account for half of the company’s portfolio,” said Sild.

IuteCredit – established in 2008 – is a leading European personal finance company. The Group is specialized in consumer credits via its 100% subsidiaries. IuteCredit serves customers currently in Moldova, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina. IuteCredit’s loan products are unsecured consumer loans with maturities between 1 month and 48 months and car-secured loans with maturities up to 72 months. IuteCredit operates its own ATM network which are used with a mobile app. The mission of IuteCredit is to create the extraordinary experience in personal finance by exceeding customers’ expectations.

Commercial Bank “Energbank” S.A. has been operating in the financial market of the Republic of Moldova for 25 years. During this period, the bank has become one of the best mid-sized financial institutions in the country, with total assets of 2.96 billion lei (EUR 147 million) as of 30.11.2021. With its extensive network of 45 branches and agencies, the bank provides a full range of services dedicated mostly to Individuals and small and medium-sized businesses, offering financial services across the country.