Lunar opens up infrastructure to enable instant payments in the Nordics

By Gloria Methri

Digital challenger bank Lunar has opened up its payment infrastructure to partners in the Nordics. Starting August 1st Swedish FinTech Trustly will be the first partner to tap into Lunar’s account infrastructure.

The partnership between Lunar and Trustly is the first of its kind in Denmark where Lunar opens up its Nordic banking infrastructure and via an API handles third-party payments and clearing. Through one single integration with Lunar’s infrastructure, Trustly will be able to offer instant payments in local currency.

“We built our payment infrastructure with the ambition to deliver the best everyday banking experience to our Nordic users. The added benefit of this massive investment was that we also suddenly experienced huge interest from national and international banks and FinTechs to use our payment infrastructure to access the Nordics”, said Ken Villum Klausen, founder, and CEO at Lunar Group.

Lunar’s cloud-based banking infrastructure and API solution extend Lunar’s business to include Banking Services.

“Our infrastructure and API solution is cutting-edge and the Trustly partnership is a testament that we have a unique technology offering and a compelling business opportunity in front of us”, says Ken Villum Klausen.

The collaboration with Trustly is an important milestone for Lunar as it demonstrates how significant investments in cloud-based Nordic payment infrastructure can become a source of revenue. Lunar has clearing permits in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and can offer access to cross-border payments and clearing in the Nordics to third parties.

“We are delighted to partner with Lunar to further enhance our account-to-account payments offering in Denmark. Lunar’s API-based offering fits well with our payments platform and our payment solution allowing consumers a seamless way to pay merchants”, said Sandra Sennerlöv, VP of Banking Relations & Partnerships at Trustly.

Starting in Denmark, Lunar and Trustly will together explore the expansion of the partnership to cover the entire Nordics. Lunar is one of few banks with Nordic banking infrastructure and clearing permits in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.