BERLIN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Deutsche Bank announced on Thursday that it has acquired a five-percent stake in Deposit Solutions, an open banking platform connecting banks and clients.
The software by Deposit Solutions, headquartered in Hamburg, is comparing interest rates by around 100 financial institutes from 18 countries throughout the world and has transmitted more than 14 billion euros (15.45 billion U.S. dollars) in deposits.
Having completed the latest financing round, the German fintech company is now valued at over one billion euros and achieved the so-called unicorn status.
"We have been investing in our capabilities to also operate as a digital platform for a considerable length of time," said Karl von Rohr, deputy chairman of the management board of Deutsche Bank.
"In the digital age, the only players who will maintain client contact are those who can offer the best products, even if they are provided by third party vendors," von Rohr added.
Deutsche Bank was also seeking to "benefit from the expected growth in valuation of Deposit."
In 2017, Deutsche Bank already set up its private customer platform, using software of Deposit Solutions and is now planning to "open it up to a wider range of clients,"
Tim Sievers, CEO and founder of Deposit Solutions, emphasized that the investment by Deutsche Bank was a "milestone" because it would help "grow even faster."
With the investment by Deutsche Bank, Deposit Solutions became Germany's second most highly valued fintech after N26, an online bank based in Berlin.
