Xolo, a leading service provider for micro-businesses, and Wirecard Bank, a global innovation leader in digital financial technology, have launched banking for solopreneurs and freelancers available through Xolo’s online platform.
Xolo is a unique one-stop-shop that brings together company formation, business banking, web software for running the business and full accounting service in the background – all accessible via an integrated online platform.
Solopreneurs who are launching their companies through Xolo can now get a bank account fully online, including the know-your-client (KYC) process. The bank accounts are opened and payment cards shipped within 48 hours. Business banking will be available for clients all over the world.
Over 30,000 solopreneurs globally have signed up with Xolo. Their enterprises are either fully-owned, Estonian-registered companies or using Xolo’s unique partnership-based “virtual company” model. Xolo manages a third of companies incorporated by Estonia’s e-residents.
“This removes the last obstacle for a quick and seamless launch of an EU company through Estonia’s unique e-Residency program. Previously, the customers either needed to travel to visit the bank or opted for using e-money providers such as TransferWise. Now, they can get a fully-licensed bank account online,” said Xolo CEO Allan Martinson.
“This new partnership marks a significant step for Xolo as we strive to establish a new virtual nation for freelancers and solopreneurs. With the addition of Wirecard’s pioneering digital banking solution, we will continue to build out our vision for enabling millions of solopreneurs to get to market quickly and without the bureaucracy,” said Martinson.
“We are pleased to support Xolo’s ecosystem of business users with a streamlined and integrated payment and banking experience which will allow them the freedom to innovate and harness the success they seek,” said Leonard Coen, Head of Sales, Financial Institutions & Fintech Europe at Wirecard.
The cooperation with Wirecard follows a successful Series A funding round, the launch of the “virtual company” service and the roll-out of a mobile app in 2019.
Freelancers, micro-business owners and solopreneurs are a rapidly expanding group:
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56.7 million Americans were doing freelance work in 2018 (Forbes).
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Freelance numbers have increased by 45% from just under 6.2 million to 8.9 million in 2013, making them the fastest-growing group in the EU labor market, according to the report: Future Working: The Rise of Europe’s Independent Professionals.
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According to the Professional Contractors Group: Spain and Slovakia both have 13% rates of self-employment. In Italy, 21% of its workers are self-employed.
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There are now nearly 5 million self-employed workers in the UK according to the Office for National Statistics.
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In Japan, the Cabinet Office estimates that up to 3.4 million people work as freelancers or about 5% of the nation’s 66 million-strong workforce.
