Paytend Technology, a Chinese company developing and selling financial services software, has announced choosing Vilnius, Lithuania, for its European headquarters. The company plans to hire up to 50 highly qualified professionals in the fields of sales marketing, compliance, product development and customer support in the following 3 years.
One of the main reasons why the company, which will operate in Lithuania via subsidiary Paytend Europe, chose Lithuania was the country’s favourable and flexible regulatory environment.
“Obtaining an electronic money institution license from the Bank of Lithuania was a straightforward, transparent and efficient process,” Junqing Li, CEO of Paytend Europe, say. “As newcomers, we found the required support starting from the initial phase. Lithuania has proven to be the right choice for our European headquarters.”
In Europe, the company seeks to expand its business and provide low-cost and efficient digital banking services for clients with needs of Cross-Border Remittance, Card Issuance and Acquiring.
“At least five Chinese fintech companies have been licensed by Bank of Lithuania. On the one hand, China is one of the most prominent countries when it comes to swapping traditional payment methods – cash and credit cards – for mobile payments and other modern fintech solutions. This results in Chinese companies having accumulated immense competency which is brought to the Lithuanian market. On the other hand, the emerging opportunities to pay for goods and services in an easier, cheaper and safer way creates better conditions for local companies that want to increase their export sales to China,” Virginijus Sinkevičius, Lithuania’s Minister of Economy, states.
According to Mantas Katinas, Lithuania is already home to more than 120 fintech companies, and the community keeps growing.
“China is miles ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to Fintech. Research from JPMorgan states that the industry might continue growing at a fascinating rate of 44% per year, and more and more companies will start targeting Europe as one of their desired markets,” Mantas Katinas believes. “Lithuania comes to the picture as a launchpad for such companies due to our supportive regulatory policies and a talent pool that has strong competencies both in IT and finance.”
