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A FINNISH BANK aimed at small and medium enterprise customers will open its doors in Ireland next month.
Holvi, which is already active in Finland and Austria, is an online bank which provides free current accounts, debit cards and business functions to SMEs.
Businesses can also take advantage of invoicing, ecommerce, accounting and an e-commerce portfolio.
The online shop is how Holvi makes most of its money, by charging a 3% commission on sales conducted on its platform.
While the bank won’t be making loans for SMEs yet, it says that it will be rolling this feature out in the coming months.
Holvi was previously voted as the hottest start-up in Finland by Wired Magazine, and the company also plans to make ten new hires to support its expansion in Ireland.
A lack of financing alternatives to traditional banking models has been identified as a major barrier to SME growth by cross-border small business body Intertrade Ireland in the past.
The company is backed by Nordea Bank, a major lender in Scandinavia, and is part-funded by venture capital outfit SpeedInvest.
Holvi Ireland spokesman Tom O’Reilly acknowledged that some Irish businesses may have concerns about a bank that is regulated elsewhere, especially following difficulties around the ‘passporting’ in of foreign financial services providers like Setanta Insurance.
“I think it’s natural for people to be sceptical, but if you look at the likes of RaboBank, they’ve been very successful in Ireland without being regulated here.”
Holvi will launch next month in Ireland.
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Love these kind of articles, keep it up!
The floozie should be put back on O’Connell street
It would be somewhere for the junkies to rinse their syringes…
What happened to the Time in the Slime? Who remembers that one..
I had never seen the “Jokers Chair” it the Stardust memorial. Really nice touches :)
Great to see these highlighted and there in Dublin,s fair city.Have seen most of them but the one in Fr. Collin,s park is a new one to me
Nice article
Be good if they scrapped sean russell and put something worthwhile in its place.
They should’ve ran live insulated wire throughout the statue and if some one tries to decapitate it again, they ll get a nasty shock.
Quite right. It’s important we celebrate nazi collaboration and ignoble deaths on uboats. Well done you.
What? Am I going mad or was there an article on here about coffee this morning that’s disappeared??
I knew I shouldn’t have drank that paint thinner last night
Worked quite near to blessington street for four years and still pass it regularly and never knew that basin was there
That Paul o Connell statue,that isn’t a Paul o Connell statue, could be a statue of Paul o Connell.
The Anna Livia would look great in the river itself. Maybe a bigger version. The Spike is just so bland and meaningless.
Great article, well researched, thanks for your hard work
Thanks for those. Must get round to seeing these. There’s a memorial to the Stardust in Beaumont Hospital.
The link to the Council List isn’t working on my phone. Any chance of putting up a Google map pic of the location for number 7? Thanks.
Blessington Street Basin is one of my favourite places in the city. Lovely area, so peaceful and quiet, a hidden gem that I frequent when I’m home.
You forgot Jedediah Springfield
OK, so where are you hiding the sunstone…
Quite right Paul (and Mary)… Updated now, with that info! Thanks for pointing it out. Daragh.
Wouldn’t go near the peace garden at Christchurch without back up and a powerhose, scobie central.
Like these articles tho, keep em up!
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