- The Spanish fintech joins forces with French tech firm Powens to form Powens Group, aiming to become the leader in Open Finance and Embedded Banking in Europe and Latin America, positioning itself as the only fintech to combine these solutions in a single platform.
- Unnax will maintain its brand and continue operating in the Iberian and Latin American markets, where it has a strong presence and reputation.
- Unnax co-founders and co-CEOs join the group, assuming key roles. In addition to serving on the Executive Committee, Julián Díaz-Santos and Jordi Pérez will lead business activities in Iberia and LATAM, respectively.
- Bertrand Jeannet becomes CEO of Powens Group and will be supported by a mixed Executive team, including members from both Powens and Unnax.
Barcelona, April 2024 – Powens, a leading French fintech in Open Finance, has successfully completed the acquisition of the Spanish fintech Unnax. Recently approved by the Spanish regulatory and supervisory authority – Banco de España – this acquisition gives rise to a powerful new entity, combining the strengths of two major players in the sector to offer innovative and comprehensive financial solutions.
The decision to unite with Unnax, one of the leading fintechs on the Spanish and Mexican markets, reflects Powens’ desire to keep disrupting the industry, evolving from a major European player in Open Finance to a market-leading position, combining Open Finance and Embedded Banking in a single platform, thus consolidating its position as a trailblazer in the industry.
The operation has been driven by PSG, a growth equity firm investing in software and technology services companies to accelerate their growth in Europe and the United States. PSG already invested in Powens in 2022 and is now investing in Unnax, bringing the two fintechs together under one group with the aim to create a European and transcontinental benchmark in the field of Open Finance and Embedded Banking.
As part of this transaction, Unnax will preserve its brand identity and continue operating in the Iberian and Latin American markets, where it has a solid presence and reputation. Meanwhile, Powens, in addition to its presence in the French market, will be the reference brand for the rest of Europe.
By joining Powens and backed by PSG, Unnax will have access to additional resources that will allow the company to grow with confidence and accelerate its time to market, further strengthening the company’s position. Additionally, with a license as an Electronic Money Institution and with extensive experience in Spain and Mexico, Unnax brings its expertise, regulatory layer, and technology to the group.
A unique combination to respond to a constantly evolving market
This strategic addition enables Powens Group to provide a unique, modular platform, including access to financial data in over 12 countries, coupled with instant data categorization and analysis, as well as IBAN issuing, payment and collection solutions. Businesses will thus be able to facilitate and accelerate their payment automation and reconciliation processes via a single provider, guaranteeing unrivalled convenience and efficiency.
“This merger of two services allows us to offer our clients an unprecedented financial experience, combining financial data connectivity with the convenience of embedded banking solutions. With this new combined service, we consolidate our position in the market and our ability to anticipate and respond to the evolving needs of all our clients. The short-term goal of Powens Group is to become the leading provider of financial technology in Europe and Latin America,” emphasizes Bertrand Jeannet, CEO of Powens Group.
Founders of Unnax, key figures in the new group
To lead Powens group’s activities in Iberia and Latin America, Unnax founders will assume key roles. Julián Díaz-Santos will lead business activities in Iberia and Jordi Peréz in LATAM. They will also be part of the Executive Committee, bringing their experience and strategic vision to the company’s growth and development.
Julian Diaz-Santos, Head of Iberia, highlighted that “today we begin a new stage at Unnax after 8 years of work that have led us to be one of the leading fintech companies in Spain. This union will allow us to continue growing, innovating, and offering more efficient and inclusive financial solutions in an increasingly digitized world. We are very excited and committed to our goal of being a key player in the Open Finance and Embedded Banking sector.”
“Joining Powens offers us an expanded platform and additional resources to continue innovating and offering more robust and accessible financial solutions. Unnax’s main objective has always been to democratize access to financial solutions, and to do so efficiently and inclusively. Therefore, by joining forces with Powens, we are taking a significant step towards realizing this vision,” emphasized Jordi Pérez, Head of Latin America.
Further appointments within the group
Following the integration of Unnax with Powens, the composition of the management team has been modified.
Bertrand Jeannet, current CEO of the French fintech, becomes Powens Group CEO and will be supported by a mixed Executive team, including members from both Powens and Unnax.
Unnax announces three appointments. Eric Raduan, currently serving as Chief Operating Officer at Unnax, will assume the same role within the Group; while Estefanía Ramos, until now Chief Compliance Officer of the Spanish fintech, will take on this role within the Powens Group. Similarly, Gwendoline Savoy, current Chief Marketing Officer at Unnax, will be in charge of leading the department globally.
Powens Group: Nearly 300 clients, 3 offices, and a network of pioneering financial solutions
With nearly 300 trusted clients worldwide and a growing volume of transactions, the group is well positioned to become the partner of choice for financial institutions, fintechs, and financial management software publishers seeking innovative and scalable solutions. Together, Unnax and Powens processed over 1.2 billion API calls and over 1.4 billion euros in payments in 2023.
The group will now have offices in Paris, Barcelona, and Mexico City, thereby strengthening its presence in the international market.
About Powens
Powens was founded in 2012 in Paris as one of the pioneers in Open Finance for B2B clients in Europe. Today, Powens delivers Open Finance solutions through a unified API that go beyond PSD2 to enable more than 210 leading financial services institutions to create next-generation Open Finance experiences and access financial data from more than 1,800 institutions in 12 countries across Europe. Powens’ powerful end-to-end Open Finance platform not only enables access to more accurate financial data from multiple sources (current and savings accounts, loans, investments and assets) in a fully compliant way, but also provides solutions to streamline customer onboarding, enable credit decisioning and automate billing and payments. The company was originally founded under the name Budget Insight and in 2022 adopted the “Powens” identity to pave the way for its ambitious international growth strategy. The company is an authorized provider of Account Information and Payment Initiation Services with a passport to operate throughout the European Union.
About Unnax
Founded in 2016 in Barcelona, Unnax has become one of the leading Open Finance & Embedded Banking providers in Spain, offering both financial data aggregation in Spain and Mexico and powerful embedded finance capabilities through API technology. The company has a strong customer base of more than 60 leading financial services players in banking, consumer finance, fintech and software in both Spain and Latin America. The company is a licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI) as well as an account information and payment initiation service provider, passported to operate throughout the European Union.
