Sbanken is Norway´s first digital-only bank and has had a faithful customer base since the get-go. It didn't take long from the story broke that skeptical Sbanken customers joined forces and showed their collective fury and dislike around the possible acquisition.

Threats of changing over to other banks started, and challenger banks Bulder Bank and Himla Bank saw a huge surge in new customers and inquiries during that week.

So far more than 100 news articles have been published about the acquisition (and it will probably continue to increase). It has been a while since any acquisition has made so much noise and headlines in the media.

We can´t share them all, so here are a few news articles covering different perspectives:

• Previous Sbanken employee: Only an acquisition from an international player stop this acquisition. Read
• Will the vulture devour Norway’s most popular bank? Read
• Will the competition landscape minimize if the acquisition goes through? Read
• Sbanken: from the beginning. Read
• DNB should change to Sbankens platform, says Bent Gjendem (previous Head of at Sbanken) Read

This article is a part of our newsletter. Subscribe here for such updates in the future.

Recap of Norwegian Fintech in April 2021
Note: Most articles are in Norwegian and some are behind payment wall.

Top story: DNB looks to acquire Bergen-based challenger bank Sbanken for 11.1 billion NOK

🚀 Incredible innovation happening during the pandemic according to Berit Svendsen (Vipps) and Henrik Lie-Nielsen (serial entrepreneur and investor). Read

💸 Stacc acquires Escali. Have ambitions to become a strong international fintech player. Read

💸 Fintech startup, Finanstipset, has refinanced loans up to 1 billion NOK and get top investors on board. Read

💸 Tjommi raises 5.6 MNOK for further growth. Read

💸 AML startup, Beaufort Solutions, receives 50 MNOK funding. Read

💸 Arcane Crypto acquires Swedish crypto exchange, Trijo. Read

💰 Finanstipset priced at 47 MNOK. Read

💰 Tjommi is valued at 25MNOK. Read

💰 Bulder Bank has given loan offers worth 2 billion NOK to Sbanken and DNB customers. Read

💰 Sparebanken Vest and Agenda Vestland assign 9 MNOK to Norwegian Cognitive Center, the AI-research center run by industry clusters, NCE Finance Innovation, NCE Media, GCE Ocean Technology, NCE Seafood Innovation, and Proptech Innovation. Read

💰 In a matter of few hours, Solgt.no raises 20 MNOK through their crowdfunding campaign. Read

💰 The Norwegian Crowdfunding adventure continues. 423 MNOK was invested in Q1. Read

🏛️ Norway's central bank, Norges Bank, looks to test a new digital currency, the e-krone. Read

💛 Norwegians new found love for crypto and increased activity on the MiraiEx exchange creates trouble for the company. Read

🏦 Sparebank1 launches cryptocurrency on Svalbard. Read

🏛️ Equity from cryptocurrency gains gets rejected by banks when Norwegian customers apply for loans. Unnecessary says former Head of Crypto group at the Norwegian Tax Authorities.
Read

🤝 Neonomics signs on their largest client so far, the international credit reporting company, Experian. Read

🤝 Zwipe enters partnership in France, looks to deliver biometric payment cards in the Benelux region. Read

🤝 SR-Bank, Monner, and TheFactory launch a new non-industry specific accelerator. Read

🇱🇧 Zwipe looks to expand to the Middle East and hire their first employee in Beirut, Lebanon. Read

💡 Finstart Nordic changes its business model from a startup factory to a pure investment company due to challenges. Read

🏆 Huddlestock wins international prize for their innovative wealth asset management services. Read

💹 Bulder Bank: Interest rate guarantee is not a hoax. Customers are ensured that their interest rate does not increase during 2021, even if the Norwegian policy rate increases. Read

👋 Fintech Norway, a special interest group for fintech startups, in dialogue with the Norwegian FSA. Read

🌿 Fana Sparebank aims to be emission-free by 2030. Read

🙋‍♀️ Norwegian banks, Sparebanken Vest, and Fana Sparebank signal job opportunities for Sbanken employees looking for new opportunities. Read

🇪🇺 PSD2 deadline is approaching. The European Banking Authorities recommend the Norwegian FSA to sanction banks not following the PSD2-regulations within 30 April. The Norwegian FA has not commented yet on the matter. Read

⌛ The Norwegian Competition Authorities extend Vipps's special terms (3rd party solutions).Read

💡 Despite hitting the wall in 2019, Nöffe, the digital saving piggybank, is now ready to expand to Europe. Read

🕵️‍♂️ Defero stopped scouting for investors the minute they announced they were surveilling identity theft on the "Deep Dark Web. Read

📈 The Norwegian Fintech scene and job opportunities in financial services see a huge increase in Western-Norway in comparison to the national level. Read

😐 With the PSD2 deadline looming, Fintech Norway is still not impressed with the banks' readiness. Read