Banks, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Good for Business, Lithuania

The fully digital bank will serve customers only online.

Fjord Bank CEO Veiko Kandla says the bank is launching operations at a time when the whole world is faced with unprecedented challenges triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

"From the very beginning, however, we have been developing fully digitized banking services and processes so that we can serve customers remotely, without physical contact,” he said in in a press release on Wednesday. 

Kandla noted that competition among credit institutions, which benefits consumers at all times, even at a time of economic woes, remains too low in Lithuania compared with other northern European countries. 

For example, while specialized digital banks' share of the loan market in Norway is as high as 40%, it has only recently crossed 25% in Lithuania. 

The CEO admitted, however, that the current economic situation had made the company more cautious about its initial business plans and procedures.

"At the beginning of this year, we planned a robust start, but now we forecast more moderate growth and have reviewed our risk management processes," he said. 

Founded in Lithuania in the spring of 2017, Fjord Bank has more than 40 shareholders, mostly private investors from Norway.