Cringle Blog

[cringlenet]

Gibt es eine Alternative zum Online-Banking?

Online-Banking ist nicht mehr aus unserem Alltag wegzudenken. Musste man früher für eine Überweisung noch extra zu seiner Bank gehen, einen Überweisungsschein ausfüllen und einwerfen, reichen heute ein paar Klicks am Computer oder Smartphone.

2018 sind es schon über 42 Millionen Deutsche, die Online-Banking nutzen. Zieht man jenen Bevölkerungsteil ab der gar kein Konto eröffnen darf, dann bleibt nur noch ein geringfügiger Teil, der Online-Banking nicht nutzt. Online-Banking hat es also in fast jeden Haushalt geschafft und den Zahlungsverkehr maßgeblich vereinfacht. Dieser Beitrag würde allerdings nicht existieren, wenn es da nicht auch ein Problem geben würde.

Online-Banking ist nicht für den Alltag ausgelegt

Bei jeder Online Überweisung wird neben der TAN auch die IBAN, der Name, manchmal die BIC abgefragt. Bei Daueraufträgen muss dieses Prozedere nur einmal durchgeführt werden. Wechseln die Beträge oder der Empfänger aber, muss oft alles wieder neu eingegeben werden. Nicht verwunderlich, dass nur knapp 25% aller Transaktionen über das Smartphone abgewickelt werden. Kleine Beträge werden daher oft aufgeschoben und vergessen.

Cringle - eine moderne Alternative

In den USA gibt es „Venmo“ und in Schweden begleicht man kleinere Beträge unter Freunden mit der App „Swish“. Mit Cringle bieten wir eine europäische Lösung, die Alltagstransaktionen nicht nur schnell und einfach abwickelt, sondern auch die nötige Sicherheit mitbringt.

Bei Cringle werden alle Transaktionen im Hintergrund über das bewährte SEPA-Lastschriftverfahren abgewickelt, welches vielfach in Supermärkten eingesetzt wird. Durchgeführt werden die Lastschriften dabei von unseren Partnerbanken der DKB und Consorsbank. Der Vorteil: die ständige Eingabe von IBAN und TAN entfällt und spart Zeit & Nerven.

Es geht auch einfach.

Bei Cringle haben wir darauf geachtet, die Bedienung so einfach wie möglich zu gestalten. Die Registrierung dauert nicht länger als eine Minute und sobald die Handynummer mit dem Girokonto verbunden ist, kann man Geld sofort senden und anfordern. Kosten für das Taxi, das gemeinsame Geburtstagsgeschenk oder das Mittagessen lassen sich so mit Cringle in Sekunden teilen oder begleichen. Kosten entstehen dabei übrigens nicht. Unsere App ist natürlich gratis im App- und Play Store verfügbar.

Weitere Informationen unter https://cringle.net

[cringlenet]

Spenden mit Cringle für einen guten Zweck

(English version below)

Liebe Cringler Nutzer,

auch in diesem Jahr möchten wir euch daran erinnern, dass es nicht so schlimm ist, wenn das Paket von Amazon nicht rechtzeitig ankommt. Im allzu stressigen Alltag vergessen wir leider viel zu oft, dass unsere Probleme eigentlich keine wirklichen Probleme sind. Daher arbeiten wir auch in diesem Jahr wieder mit zwei gemeinnützigen Organisationen zusammen, die wirklich benachteiligten Menschen helfen.

Wie kann ich mit Cringle Gutes tun? Unsere App ermöglicht nicht nur, dass ihr Freunden und Verwandten schnell Geld senden könnt, sondern auch, dass ihr ohne großen Aufwand spenden könnt. Wenn ihr bei Cringle registriert seid, müsst ihr euch nur in die App einloggen und den Menüpunkt „Neuigkeiten“ anklicken. Anschließend wählt ihr eure bevorzugte Partnerorganisation und die Spendensumme aus. Senden drücken, fertig. Das Geld wird dann direkt auf das Konto der gemeinnützigen Organisation gesendet. Einfacher und schneller geht es wirklich nicht. 

An wen kann ich spenden? Wir möchten euch kurz unsere beiden gemeinnützigen Partnerorganisationen vorstellen.

BAGIV Der erste Partner, Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Immigrantenverbände in Deutschland e.V. (kurz, BAGIV), stammt aus Berlin. BAGIV ist ein Dachverband für die Integration von Flüchtlingen. Ihr Ziel ist es, nicht nur durch Sozialarbeiter, sondern auch durch Einheimische und Expats, die Flüchtlinge in die deutsche Gesellschaft zu integrieren. Neben den üblichen Sprachkursen und Integrationsschritten organisiert BAGIV Veranstaltungen, die den Flüchtlingen die deutsche Kultur näherbringen und arrangiert Betreuer für sie.

Über diesen Link direkt spenden: https://cringle.me/donate/bagiv

DEIN MÜNCHEN DEIN MÜNCHEN e.V. ist unser zweiter Partner. In München leben mehr als 30.000 Kinder in Armut. Tendenz steigend! Sie ermöglicht Kindern am Rande der Gesellschaft kostenlosen Zugang zu Bildung, Kultur und Sport - und das nachhaltig. Das stärkt Ihre Persönlichkeit und verbessert Ihren sozialen Status.

Über diesen Link direkt spenden: https://cringle.me/donate/dein-muenchen Jetzt helfen.  Viele Menschen haben nicht das Glück, in einer sicheren Umgebung großgeworden zu sein. Mit deiner Spende hilfst du, dass benachteiligte Menschen eine Chance bekommen ihr Leben selbst gestalten zu können.  Auch mit einer kleiner Spenden kannst du Großes bewegen.  Vielen Dank für eure Unterstützung und ein friedvolles Weihnachtsfest.  Euer Cringle Team 

Dear Cringle users,

This year we would like to remind you again that it’s not so bad if our Amazon package doesn’t arrive on time. Unfortunately, during our stressful daily routine we forget that most of our problems are not as big as we think they are. To reach out to the ones really in need, we have initiated yet another donation campaign, so that we can contribute to their problems all together.

How can I contribute via Cringle? Our app does not only allow you to send money to friends and family in a convenient way, but now also enables you to donate easily. If you are registered with Cringle already, just login and click on the menu item "News". Then you will be able to choose your preferred partner organization and the donation amount. Press “Send” and you are done! The money will then be sent directly to the non-profit organization's account. There is really no easier and faster way to donate.

Who can I donate to? We would like to briefly introduce our two non-profit partner organizations:

BAGIV Our first partner Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Immigrantenverbände in Deutschland e.V. (BAGIV in short) is from Berlin. BAGIV is an umbrella organization for refugee integration. They aim to integrate the refugees into the German society, not only with the help of social workers, but also locals and expats. BAGIV organizes events introducing refugees to the German culture, arranges mentors for refugees in addition to language classes and regular integration steps.

Here the link for a direct donation: https://cringle.me/donate/bagiv

Dein MÜNCHEN Our second partner DEIN MÜNCHEN e.V. is from Munich. They give children from different clusters of society free access to education, culture and sport - in a sustainable way. This strengthens their personality and improves their social status.

Here the link for a direct donation: https://cringle.me/donate/dein-muenchen

Contribute Now Many people are not fortunate enough to be raised in a safe environment. With a small contribution, you can help unprivileged people get a chance to shape their lives as well.

Your small donation can make a big change.

Thank you for your support and a Merry Christmas,

Your Cringle-team

[cringlenet]

„Wir machen es wie Steve Jobs“ – Die Replik des Cringle-Chefs

Translation of the piece by Heinz-Roger Dohms Finanz-Szene.de 30.11.2017

“We do it exactly like Steve Jobs” replies the Cringle Co-founder Malte Klussmann

After we linked the criticism of the FinTech blogger Leopold Bosankic regarding the business model of the German P2P payment provider, we approached Malte Klussmann, Berlin start-up Cringle’s Co-founder, asking if he could write a short replica. So much was anticipated: in the end, the short reply became a long one:

By Malte Klussmann, Co-founder and COO of Cringle

First of all, I would like to say thank you. Because, as much as anticipated, I agree with Mr. Bosankic that in the mobile payment area, especially in the German market, there is still a strong need for clarification. This article contributes to this purpose, so thank you very much!

While reading the article, already at the headline "Venmo, MobilePay, Cookies, kwitt, N26's MoneyBeam, PayPal, Wavy, Lendstar ... and now Cringle" I flinched briefly. Why? For this I would like to travel back with you a few years into the past, into the year 2014. The exact year, that according to the data in Leopold Bosankic’s article serves as base for the description of the P2P situation in the year 2017.

In 2014 already, we officially launched Cringle and publicly announced our cooperation with Deutsche Kreditbank AG. This was the year a fresh FinTech and one of the largest direct banks in Germany started working together. This partnership was a breakthrough back in the former "Banks vs Fintechs" environment. Needless to say, this was way before Cookies, Kwitt, MoneyBeam and Wavy (contrary to what the headline suggests).

We launched Cringle because back then we lacked a mobile alternative to cash and online bank transfers. Because, as Mr Bosankic rightly points out, cash still dominated the market in 2014. But the need for a simple, digital solution seemed to exist even then. I would like to use this opportunity to also pull out and throw an old statistic like "Mobile Wallet: Success Factors for the Digital Wallet" (2013) by PwC into the room. So, back then, the majority would use the mobile wallet to simply send money to other people. The technology that could underline cash and online banking alternatives was out there, but there was no implementation of a simple solution customized to this need. Cash remained the only option.

Bosankic also points out the decline in cash payments from 2008 to 2014. In fact, it seems to be only a slow change. But the growth of adoption of new technologies is not a linear process in my opinion and has been picking up more and more momentum as the evolution progresses. In its 2014 study, the Bundesbank itself forecasts a decline in the cash portion below the 50% mark in the medium term, driven by the "growing technology-savvy generation". Medium term is defined as "one to five years", so that shows that there are exciting times ahead of us.

And by that I would say, we had enough memories of the past. Let's jump back to today, since a lot has happened in the meantime.

Contributions like that of Leopold Bosankic show that mobile payment / P2P with the smartphone and the associated convenience of faster transactions are raising mass awareness. After all, 55% of bank customers recommend friends and family their FinTech solution whereas only 32% recommend their bank (2017). Likewise, every second private customer wishes his bank to work more closely with Fintechs, in particular with regard to P2P payment area (2017).

Following Cringle's example, new providers are now appearing on the playground, such as Sparkassen, the cooperative banks (Genossenschaftsbanken), Cookies / Wavy and also Paydirekt with its new P2P functionality!

Of course, as Bosankic points out, for everyone "having a customer base is important". But this is valid for everyone, not just for Cringle. In this regard, Bosankic rightly asks whether P2P solutions are even used in Germany, as the German market is not comparable to for instance the Danish market. However, there Mobile Pay became the industry leader for over four years, since it started operating in 2013. So, it is not always the "missing mentality" of the Germans, but also the lack of technological possibilities at a certain period of time can be blamed. If somebody lacks digital alternatives, there is no choice but to use cash. This counts for the offer part, as well as the acceptance points. Where some countries have already reached a mature stage for mobile payment, Germany is still right at the start. Only when people have an extensive range of digital solutions, they can actually make a conscious decision for or against cash.

We do it exactly like Steve Jobs and believe that „You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”

Finally, of course, there remains the approach with which the goal is to be achieved.

Naturally, I see that Cringle's pan-European approach is a misjudgement. Many of our users got first introduced to and started adopting mobile P2P solutions abroad. This is actually when they come across Cringle in Germany too. These users have many friends and acquaintances in other European countries, many are often working cross-border in Europe. We know for a matter of fact that they are looking forward to using Cringle as a unified solution all across Europe.

Context-based payments are absolutely a future topic. Among other things, we use this approach with our Cringle API, which enables Cringle P2P functionality to be integrated into third party apps.

The question of whether P2P is a product or a function does not appear significant to me.

„What this implies is that P2P payments are a use case too small to merit an own app and are thus a feature and not an app.” is from my point of view another rather bold statement from Mr. Bosankic. With Venmo, Swish and Zelle we have seen that there are certainly providers who have made P2P very successful as a standalone product. Likewise, integrated P2P functions offered by Sparkasse and cooperative banks (Genossenschaftsbanken) certainly have supporters, but have been less successful compared to for instance paym.

For me, there are other important questions.

Is P2P a "winner-takes-it-all" market? There is a clear no coming from the PayPal CEO.

Wouldn’t you agree that the demands of users regarding payment solutions are as diverse as the payment solutions themselves? Is this not exactly what makes app stores so successful, that I can install the solutions I like and prefer? So, should we not rather discuss making the solutions interoperable?

At this point, Bosankic’s article doesn’t provide us with valuable figures supporting his claims and nor can I.

Therefore, I would simply leave this decision to the users.

[cringlenet]

Cringle Chamäleon-Effekt

Cringle ist die einfachste Möglichkeit mit dem Smartphone Geld an jede Handynummer zu senden. Doch wir wollten nie versuchen, dass Bezahlverhalten der Deutschen allein zu ändern. Wir wollten immer gemeinsam mit den Banken ein starkes, pan-europäisches Netzwerk aufbauen. Ein Netzwerk, in dem jeder profitiert. Banken erhalten ein Produkt, welches den Kunden für Zahlungen zwischen Freunden wieder zurück zur Bank bringt. Cringle + Bank = Innovation + Vertrauen, eine starke Kombination, das wissen Bankkunden zu schätzen. Bankkunden erhalten eine innovative Bezahllösung, die auf dem vorhanden Girokonto aufbaut und unkompliziert Zahlungen an jede Handynummer in Europa ermöglicht.  Besonders für diesen europäischen Ansatz ist es wichtig, eine einheitliche Lösung zu entwickeln. Ein Lösung, die alle in Europa verstreuten Freunde, Bekannte und Kollegen unter demselben Namen kennen: Cringle.

Doch genau hier liegt auch eine unserer größten Herausforderungen. In einer App die Ansprüche von privaten Nutzern und Bankpartnern vereinen. Bei allen Entscheidungen müssen beide Perspektiven berücksichtigt werden. Das ist wie beim Mittagessen mit Kollegen: Ich esse nur vegetarisch, ich mag kein Sushi, Pizza hatte ich gestern, gibt es dort glutenfreies Essen?

Mit Cringle 2.0, unserem bisher umfassendsten Update, meistern wir diesen Spagat wieder ein großes Stück besser. Dank unseres “Chamäleon-Effekts”. Wie zuvor erkennt unsere App die Referenzkonten unserer Partner und passt dementsprechend die App an. Doch nicht wie bisher. Wir setzen nicht weiter “nur” das Logo unseres Partners in die App. Cringle 2.0 ist so entwickelt, dass sich das Aussehen entsprechend der Design-Vorgaben unserer Partner anpasst. Während unsere Partnerbank die gesamte Aufmerksamkeit des Nutzers erhält, verschwindet Cringle beinahe gänzlich im Hintergrund. 

Mit Cringle 2.0 bündeln wir die Corporate Identity aller europäischen Banken in unserer Cringle-App. Somit können wir allen Partnern, die ihr Produktportfolio um eine smarte mobile Zahlungslösung erweitern möchten, einen schnellstmöglichen Zugang bieten.  Hier könnt ihr unsere neue App downloaden. Wir wünschen viel Spaß beim Cringeln. 

[cringlenet]

Sechs Monate Bankhaus August Lenz und Cringle

Jochen Werne, Direktor Marketing beim Bankhaus August Lenz, im Gespräch mit Malte Klussmann, Mitgründer von Cringle.

Sechs Monate besteht unsere Partnerschaft mit dem Bankhaus August Lenz inzwischen. Begonnen hatte alles im April 2016, als ich Jochen in Köln auf der „What the Fintech #3" traf. An diesem Tag hielt ich einen Vortrag über die Zusammenarbeit von Fintechs und Banken. Was sind die Herausforderungen? Was gilt es zu beachten? Und vor allem: Was sind die resultierenden Mehrwerte? Nach meinem Vortrag kam Jochen auf mich zu und wir tauschten uns weiter aus. Passend zu unserem Gespräch hielt Jochen im Anschluss einen Vortrag über die Möglichkeiten für Banken, in disruptiven Zeiten konkurrenzfähig zu sein und welche Rolle dabei auch Fintechs einnehmen. In der Mittagspause führten wir unser Gespräch fort und uns wurde schnell klar: Bankhaus August Lenz und Cringle, das passt!

Malte Klussmann: Lieber Jochen, wir haben uns auf einem Fintech-Event kennengelernt und ich wundere mich im Nachhinein nicht, Dich gerade dort angetroffen zu haben. Du bist sehr oft als Speaker bei Fachkonferenzen geladen und immer auf der Suche nach innovativen Lösungen, um das Angebot für eure Kunden zu verbessern. Was hat dich persönlich von Cringle überzeugt?

Jochen Werne: Generell überzeugt mich die Strategie, alltägliche Dinge auf innovativem, aber auch intuitivem Wege anzupacken, um Lösungen mit echtem Mehrwert zu kreieren. Cringle schafft es, eine smarte Peer-to-Peer Lösung ohne umständliche Tan- oder Pin-Eingabe anzubieten, direkt von Smartphone zu Smartphone. Das überzeugt.

Malte Klussmann: Euer Anspruch ist es, die persönlichste Privatbank zu sein. Über Partnerschaften, unter anderem mit Fintechs, vertieft ihr diese Beziehung. Für diesen innovativen Ansatz habt ihr kürzlich die Auszeichnung als „Deutschlands Kundenchampions 2017“ erhalten. Welchen Mehrwert bietet euren Kunden die Partnerschaft mit Cringle?

Jochen Werne: Freunde und Bekannte für jede einzelne Überweisung nach deren Bankdaten zu fragen ist nicht nur lästig, sondern dank moderner Technik auch unnötig. Mit Cringle kann das eigene Smartphone als Überweisungsmedium durch die Verwendung von Rufnummern genutzt und somit noch weiter ins eigene „financial system“ integriert werden. Unsere Kunden schätzen diesen einfachen und innovativen Service, um kleinere Beträge überweisen zu können.

Malte Klussmann: Ich bin sehr glücklich darüber, wie schnell aus unserem Treffen eine erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit entstanden ist. Ihr seid sehr engagiert und die Zusammenarbeit mit Euch ist nicht nur effizient, sondern macht auch viel Spaß! Für Cringle seid ihr als Privatbank ein starker Partner, um unsere Vision des digitalen Bargelds weiter voran zu treiben. Welchen Mehrwert bietet unsere Partnerschaft dem Bankhaus August Lenz?

Jochen Werne: Ihr wisst, dass das Bankhaus August Lenz selbst noch vor wenigen Jahren eine klassische analoge Bank war. Heute werden wir in der Branche bereits als Innovationstreiber bezeichnet. Der Schulterschluss mit Fintechs, der direkte Austausch mit innovativen jungen Köpfen wie euch ist ein wichtiger Faktor für unseren Erfolg. Unser Anspruch ist es, den Kunden bereits heute Lösungen für Herausforderungen von morgen zu bieten. Dies ermöglichen wir einerseits über die persönlichste Beratung mittels unserer Family Banker®, aber auch über innovative und digitale Tools wie Cringle.  

Malte Klussmann: Wie gesagt kenne ich kaum jemanden, der auf mehr Fintech- und Banken-Events unterwegs ist. Wie siehst Du die Zukunft des Bankings? Was sind deiner Meinung nach die größten Herausforderungen?

Jochen Werne: Es ist wirklich interessant zu beobachten, wie sehr die einschneidenden Veränderungen und Kooperationen, die wir eingegangen sind, im Markt Beachtung finden und auf wie vielen Kongressen, national als auch europaweit, wir als Speaker gefragt sind. Im kommenden Jahr wird sich im Banking einiges ändern. Im Bereich der Fintechs ist die Marktkonsolidierung bereits jetzt abzusehen. Viele Fintechs und Banken suchen die Kooperation, weil nicht nur beide Seiten voneinander profitieren, sondern auch damit letztlich den Kundenbedürfnissen entsprochen wird. Die Novelle PSD2 wird mit Inkrafttreten am 13. Januar 2018 das Banking einschneidend verändern. Bislang gab es nur eine Handvoll Fintechs, die sich ähnlich erfolgreich wie Cringle positionieren und am Markt etablieren konnten. Durch die neuen Regularien und der Möglichkeit des Kunden, seine Daten einfach an Dritte weiterzugeben, profitiert dieser sicherlich von ganz neuen Dienstleistungen. Es bleibt spannend, wie der Bankenmarkt darauf reagieren wird.

Malte Klussmann: Jochen, danke dir vielmals!

[cringlenet]

Interview mit der Consorsbank

Peter Fuchs, Head of Business Strategy der Consorsbank, im Gespräch mit Malte Klussmann, Mitgründer von Cringle.

Zunächst möchte ich sagen, dass ich mich riesig freue die Consorsbank als neuen Partner an unserer Seite zu wissen! Mit der Consorsbank haben wir eine weitere führende Direktbank in Deutschland für unser Netzwerk begeistern können. Aktiv gestalten wir nun gemeinsam die Landschaft für digitale Zahlungen in Deutschland und Europa.Es gibt eine Person, bei der ich mich ganz besonders bedanken möchte. Das ist Peter Fuchs, Head of Business Strategy bei der Consorsbank. Mit Peter habe ich die ersten Gespräche geführt. Mit Peter habe ich mehrmals die Woche telefoniert. Mit Peter habe ich den Stein ins Rollen gebracht.

Malte Klussmann: Peter, wir haben uns auf einer Fintech-Veranstaltung in Berlin kennengelernt. Zwischenmenschlich und geschäftlich waren wir direkt auf einer Wellenlänge. Aus deiner persönlichen Sicht, was gefällt dir an Cringle am besten?

Peter Fuchs: Vielen Dank für die Komplimente. Das hat wirklich sofort gepasst. Wie du schon sagtest, gefällt mir an Cringle auf jeden Fall der Mindset und die Art zu arbeiten. Das ist zwischen unseren beiden Unternehmen sehr stimmig und eine Grundvoraussetzung in einem Kooperationsmodell Fintech/Bank, um erfolgreich zu sein. 

Malte Klussmann: Die Consorsbank hat sich meiner Wahrnehmung nach sehr gut positioniert. Durch eure Firmenhistorie habt ihr ein starkes Angebot im Bereich der Finanzanlagen. Jüngst wurde das Privatkundengeschäft der DAB Bank komplett in die Consorsbank überführt und eure Position in diesem Marktsegment weiter gestärkt. Mit eurem kundenorientierten Ansatz wart ihr eine der ersten Banken, die die Gestaltung des Privatkundengeschäfts durch die eigene Community leiten lässt. Wie passt Cringle in die strategische Ausrichtung der Consorsbank?

Peter Fuchs: Die Consorsbank wächst sehr stark und befindet sich in einer Transformation. Wir erweitern unser Produktangebot auf dem Weg zu einer digitalen Vollbank. Ebenso werden wir den Kunden neue Services im Bereich digitaler Beratung anbieten und setzen dabei auf künstliche Intelligenz. Innovation spielt in unserer Strategie eine entscheidende Rolle. Daher passt Cringle mit seiner maßgeschneiderten Lösung für P2P Zahlungen perfekt zu uns..

Malte Klussmann: Es ist kein Geheimnis, dass Fintechs und Banken sich im Rahmen einer Partnerschaft aufeinander einstellen müssen. Was würdest du sagen, war aus Sicht der Consorsbank die größte Herausforderung bei der Zusammenarbeit mit Cringle?

Peter Fuchs: Für mich waren das die unterschiedlichen Geschwindigkeiten in den Unternehmensprozessen und im Projekt. Obwohl die Consorsbank bereits viele agile Konzepte umgesetzt hat und auch maximalen Pragmatismus anwendet, ist es klar, dass Cringle dennoch viel schlanker und wendiger ist als eine Bank mit mehr als 1200 Mitarbeitern.

Malte Klussmann: Lass uns abschließend noch einen kleinen Blick in die Kristallkugel wagen. Was sind deiner Meinung nach weitere Fokusthemen, die das Banking von morgen prägen werden?

Peter Fuchs: Ich glaube, dass sich ein ganzheitliches Banking durchsetzen wird. Die vielen Einzellösungen und isolierten Banking Apps stellen den Kunden auf Dauer doch nicht zufrieden. Das Banking der Zukunft muss einerseits radikal auf Customer Experience ausgerichtet sein, andererseits einen ganzheitlichen Ansatz und nicht nur Inseln bieten. Im Banking von morgen kann der Kunde über einen integrierten Chatbot mit der Bank 24x7 Fragen klären und Services erhalten. Die Banken werden massiv Artificial Intelligence und Data Analytics einsetzen, um an der Schnittstelle Kunde-Bank viel interaktiver mit zielgenaueren Informationen präsent zu sein. In den Kristallkugel sehe ich auch, dass die Kunden mit Cringle ganz unkompliziert Geld an Freunde schicken….

Malte Klussmann: Ich danke dir vielmals, Peter!

[cringlenet]

Wir feiern unsere neue Kooperation mit der Consorsbank!

Es ist offiziell! Seit dem 07.11.2017 ist die Consorsbank Partner von Cringle.

Die Consorsbank, eine Marke der international angesehenen Bank BNP Paribas, hat sich dazu entschlossen, unsere App in ihr Produktportfolio aufzunehmen. Natürlich sind wir sehr stolz über diese Zusammenarbeit, zählt die Consorsbank mit über 1,4 Millionen Kunden zu einer der bekanntesten Direktbanken in Deutschland. Kunden der Consorsbank konnten zwar schon in der Vergangenheit Cringle nutzen, genießen aber nun einige Vorteile. Dank der Kooperation, können wir Kunden der Consorsbank ein erhöhtes Sendelimit zur Verfügung stellen. Statt den bisherigen 100 Euro im Monat, können jetzt 250 Euro im Monat gesendet werden. Des Weiteren werden Transaktionen unter Kunden der Consorsbank schneller abgewickelt. Konkret heißt das, dass diese Transaktionen Werktags innerhalb von 15 Minuten abgewickelt werden. Die Lastschriften werden zusätzlich von der Consorsbank sicher und zuverlässig durchgeführt.

Natürlich ist Cringle auch in Zukunft kosten- und werbefrei und Geld kann an jede Bank in Deutschland und Österreich gesendet werden.  Wir freuen uns auf eine tolle Zusammenarbeit mit der Consorsbank und wünschen alle Kunden viel Spaß mit unserer App.  Euer Cringle Team

[cringlenet]

Cringle & Snack Republic - Snacks einfach mobil zahlen

- English version below - 

Vielleicht haben einige von euch eine Kiste mit unterschiedlichen Snacks im Büro stehen, für die 0,80€ oder 1€ gezahlt werden müssen? Diejenigen, die solchen Boxen kennen, kennen sicher auch ein Problem hierbei: “Ich habe Lust auf diesen Schokoriegel! Aber ich habe anstatt 0,80€ grad nur 0,60€ im Portemonnaie. Na gut, zahl ich nächstes Mal einfach 1€!” Hier ist das Problem, dies geschieht oftmals nicht. Die Schuld wird vergessen und jemand anderes muss dafür aufkommen. Unfair.

Snack Republic ist einer der größten Snack Anbieter für solche Boxen in Deutschland. Das Repertoir der Boxen umfasst typische Knabbereien wie Schokoriegel und Nüsse, besteht aber auch aus gesunden Alternativen wie Suppen von regionalen Anbietern. Diese Boxen liefert Snack Republic in viele Start-ups, aber auch in große, bekannte Unternehmen mit mehreren tausend Mitarbeitern.

Unser Partner kennt die Problematik des Bargelds und verliert durch die “Ich werde es später zurückzahlen”-Nutzer viel Geld. Also haben wir uns zusammengesetzt und gemeinsam nach einer Lösung gesucht, wie wir diesem Zahlungsausfall entgegenwirken können.

Mit Cringle haben wir die perfekte Plattform, um Geld ganz unkompliziert mit dem Handy zu senden. Gute Voraussetzungen um nicht nur Freunden und Kollegen Geld zu senden, sondern sich auch schnell einen Snack für 0,80€ zu gönnen. Wir freuen uns sehr, dass wir zukünftig unseren Partner Snack Republic dabei unterstützen, die vielen fleißigen Mitarbeiter mit Snacks zu versorgen.Diese können nun ganz einfach mit Cringle bezahlt werden! Wie das funktioniert, kann jeder ganz einfach den Hinweisen auf der Box entnehmen.

Cringle & Snack Republic - pay snacks easily with your phone

Cringle, your favorite platform for payment products, is now happy to announce its first Point-of-Sale (POS) customer: “Snack Republic”  Snack Republic is one of the biggest snack providers of Germany; delivering typical snacks as well as healthy alternatives, sandwiches, beverages and soups directly to offices for free. Started in a small office in Münster, Snack Republic is currently providing snack alternatives to small start-ups along with big and well-known companies with thousands of employees.  

The idea of a corporation with Snack Republic was born by thinking simply actually; our developers were getting very hungry after lunch but they refused to carry coins with them. There was always someone that wanted to buy a Snickers for 80 cents but only had EUR 1 with him, who decided to pay later but forgot to pay back in the course of the day (why pay more, right?). We were thinking about how to recover these losses and a lightbulb: why not enable micro-payments via the app and replace coin payments with Cringle? 

Snack providers are losing a lot of money, because of these “I will pay back later” customers and we are proud to have stepped-in at the right moment with our digital, secure and free solution and to have found our place within so many offices in Germany, thanks to this cooperation. With this partnership we want to prove, that Cringle is a great digital payment solution to reduce losses due to unpaid consumption. You can use our Cringle app to pay your friends after lunch or split the vacation expenses however it doesn’t end there. Obviously, in Germany you can pay with cards at bigger super market chains, at department stores or at international retail brands’ shops; but what about the smaller merchants and small & medium sized establishments (“German Mittelstand”) who actually have a rather big market share, compared to retail stores?  

What about your local dry cleaner who cleans your shirts every week but doesn’t accept cards? What about the local repairmen who comes over to fix your kitchen sink and charges you EUR 175? Do you have to keep big amounts of cash with you or at home for situations or such? We don’t think so! 

That’s why we decided to step into the world of business payments and enable small and medium sized merchants another payment option for which they can use an already existing tool; smartphones. This way, small and medium sized merchants won’t be forced to use expensive and high maintenance POS devices (compared to their capacity) and access smart business solutions with just one click2. 

Stay tuned for more exciting news ;)

[cringlenet]

Es ist Wiesn Zeit - Des is a gaudi!

Bier, Brezel, Zuckerwatte, Gesang, Tanz und Attraktionen -  endlich geht das Oktoberfest in München wieder los. 

Vor 184 Jahren startete das größte Volksfest der Welt mit einfachen Tauschhandel. Seither feiert man am in geselliger Runde mit seinen Liebsten und mit diesen macht  das Teilen besonders Freude - Dabei möchte Cringle Euch unterstützen!

Egal ob Ihr die nächste Runde bezahlt, einem Freund Geld leiht oder ihr die Kosten für die Wurstplatte teilen möchtet - mit Cringle sendet Ihr Geld per Smartphone oder fordert es von euren Freunden an. Einfach, sicher und zuverlässig!

[cringlenet]

Pressemitteilung: Cringle und Deutsche Vermögensberatung ermöglichen bargeldloses Bezahlen per App für DVAG-Kunden

Berlin, 22. August 2017 - Die Deutsche Vermögensberatung AG (DVAG) und Cringle schließen eine Partnerschaft und vereinfachen damit das Versenden von Geld per Smartphone für Kunden der Deutschen Vermögensberatung. Durch die Zusammenarbeit der beiden Unternehmen können kleine Geldbeträge ab sofort schnell, sicher und einfach über die neue Kunden-App der DVAG „MeineApp” versendet werden. Das Empfangen sowie Senden von elektronischem Geld ist dabei für den Nutzer kostenlos. Bei der innovativen Zahlungslösung stellt Cringle den über sechs Millionen Kunden der DVAG seine benutzerfreundliche P2P Zahlungsinfrastruktur für die Geldtransaktionen zur Verfügung.

„Unsere Vermögensberater sind die ersten Ansprechpartner für ihre Kunden bei allen Fragen zu den Themen Finanzen, Absicherung und Vermögensaufbau. Wir als DVAG bieten unseren Vermögensberatern einen hervorragenden Service rund um das Thema Geld und sind für sie stets am Puls der Zeit. Die Innovation von Cringle ist hierfür aus unserer Sicht der richtige Schritt, denn davon profitieren sowohl unsere über sechs Millionen Kunden als auch unsere Vermögensberater, die damit einen echten Mehrwert im Bereich unkompliziertes, bargeldloses Bezahlen bereitstellen können“, sagt Christian Glanz, Vorstand der Deutschen Vermögensberatung AG, über die Partnerschaft der beiden Unternehmen.

Der Grundgedanke von Cringle ist, in Alltagssituationen mit Freunden oder Bekannten unkompliziert und bargeldlos Kosten zu teilen, so zum Beispiel für ein Geburtstagsgeschenk oder für ein gemeinsames Abendessen. Einer zahlt und die anderen 'cringeln' bzw. transferieren das Geld per Smartphone. Die einfache und unkomplizierte Nutzung der Applikation – und das nach höchsten Datenschutzstandards – ist hierbei der Ansporn des Startups. Die Zahlungsinfrastruktur basiert auf dem SEPA-Lastschriftverfahren, für welches sich das Startup ganz bewusst entschieden hat. Durch diese Infrastruktur ist kein virtuelles Zwischenkonto notwendig. Cringle macht es möglich, Geldbeträge zwischen den ausgewählten Girokonten durch das Lastschriftverfahren an jedes deutsche oder österreichische Girokonto zu senden. Durch die geschlossene Partnerschaft macht Cringle diesen innovativen Service innerhalb der "MeineApp" zugänglich. Die Applikation „MeineApp“ der DVAG bietet Nutzern digitalen Zugang zu ihren Verträgen und Dokumenten und erleichtert die schnelle und komfortable Kommunikation zwischen Vermögensberater und Kunde. Sie bietet einen Gesamtüberblick über Finanz-, Vorsorge- und Absicherungssituation. Zu den weiteren Assets der App zählen das einfache Versenden von Geld über Cringle sowie digitale Services, wie z.B. eine Schadenmeldung, bei den DVAG-Produktpartnern.

"Mit unserer Cringle App haben wir bereits eine Möglichkeit für alle Privatkunden geschaffen, schnell Geld an Freunde mit dem Smartphone senden zu können. Dank unserer Cringle API können wir P2P Zahlungen nun direkt über unsere API Partner zum Use-Case bringen. Wir freuen uns, mit der DVAG solch einen starken Partner gefunden zu haben, der mit uns die Digitalisierung des Zahlungsverkehrs unter Privatpersonen weiter nach vorne treibt." - Joschka Friedag, CEO Cringle GmbH.

[cringlenet]

Crowdfunding 101

by Elif Kocaoglu

Haven’t you heard? Cringle started its second crowdfunding via Companisto on August 22nd. We thought that this could be a good opportunity to talk about crowdfunding and create a crowdfunding guide for starters.

First of all, what the heck is crowdfunding? Crowdfunding is an alternative method of finance that allows the sum of very small capital to form one big chunk of investment and can be counted as one of the ultimate financial tools hence it disables classic financial intermediaries and channelizes the funding via individual platforms on internet (like Companisto, Kickstarter etc.). Crowdfunding also allows the small crowds and non-industry related individuals to contribute into and become a part of niche projects (which could be personal or business projects) as opposed to the monopoly created by big financial players.

Why go crowdfunding? Crowdfunding is attractive to start-ups from many ways; it is great for publicity, doesn’t come with a lot of bureaucracy or strict goals like other types of investments and also gives the start-up a chance to benchmark its company value, especially from the user point of view. In return for the investment, start-ups are expected to distribute small amount of stock to a (rather) big pool of investors.

From an investor point of view, crowdfunding is attractive since it comes with almost zero risk (especially compared to other investment tools); gives investors the possibility to trial and error since it (mostly) doesn’t require minimum investment amounts and also since the investors are only charged if the start-up reaches the minimum or the targeted investment amount. Therefore, anybody can have a chance to join the project and most importantly it enables investors to explore and hop on to interesting projects.

How to pick the better project? It’s more about the feeling the investor gets from the company actually. Of course, it is crucial to review the growth analysis and disclosed financial data as well as the company profile however, the more important part is to understand the value the company wants to create (not the product but the value hence some products might be too complicated at first sight) since the investor might not have the know-how to analyze the industry and create predictions just by scrolling down on internet for a couple of hours, which normally takes weeks (sparring the experienced investors here).

And how is our experience so far? I can speak on my behalf tell you that opening up to the crowds is a lot of fun but is also a l-o-t of work. Crowdfunding requires full commitment, full transparency as well as diligence. We know that in start-ups and big organizations most people tend to automate their small decisions for time efficiency (i.e. Mark Zuckerberg and Obama choosing a minimalist dress code for time efficiency *(1)) however, we have observed that it’s not the case outside our small bubble: Mr. Mueller actually spends 3 hours investigating the company figures before investing 50 EUR in a crowdfunding campaign or there are users calling our customer service every day to double-check the data displayed on internet. Therefore, there was a lot of preparation from our side before “opening up to the crowds”. It could be said that, compared to VC funding or angel investing, crowdfunding is more of a team work since with this type of funding, it’s not only the company and the management that is under highlight; but the focus is also the whole team and all the small decisions the start-up ever made. That’s why crowdfunding requires a lot of preciseness and commitment; crowds tend not to tolerate mistakes.

Nevertheless, as a start-up, seeing the support and affection of your users at first hand (not only through Apple Store Reviews but also in person!) definitely gives you a feeling of what kind of actual value your start-up creates and whether you are on the right path or not: no amount transferred to your bank account from VCs (after a lot of paper work and stress = time I might add here by the way) could give a start-up the satisfaction of the taste crowdfunding gives, I assure you.

Lastly- why invest in Cringle? Well, why not? Check our Companisto page out and decide it for yourself :)

Invest now: www.cringle.net/companisto

*(1) http://marketmeditations.com/choice-minimalism/

[cringlenet]

SPREAD THE WORD – CRINGLE GOES CROWD FOR THE SECOND TIME

It seems like it was only yesterday that we successfully raised 800.000 Euros through Companisto, but it has actually been a year since we announced our first crowdfunding campaign. Last year we found it pretty spectacular to watch the numbers go up minute by minute and to observe the trust our users had in us, at first hand. More than 1.400 investors believed in us during the campaign and supported us in every possible way. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to accept the funding from many other investors due to time constraints. We would like to change this. Please spread the word - starting from today, we will be initiating another crowdfunding campaign; to make sure that EVERYONE has the opportunity to be a part of our journey this time. 

With the capital from the last campaign we were able to move and advance Cringle a lot! We built a couple of awesome products for our beloved users and already started planning how we can surprise them in 2018. Here is a quick overview of what happened over the past 12 months:

Well-known companies and FinTech investors such as Axel Springer, the Investitionsbank Berlin and yabeo invested in us.

We have been able to renew and re-design the Cringle App for a leaner user and partner experience. Cringle 2.0, as we call it, will be launched with plenty of new features in the upcoming weeks. We can’t wait to demonstrate our group payment & cost sharing function with you all!

We have developed the Cringle API to integrate our smart P2P solution in third party apps.

We have doubled our lovely team of experts

We have doubled our user numbers and already exceeded the 3.500.000 EUR transaction volume milestone.

We have expanded to Austria, as a part of our European expansion. 

We have added 3 new partners to our partner network.

... and much more

You can find a full overview under www.cringle.net/companisto

Nevertheless, we are not done yet! We would like to pull cash from the market and to enable Cringle throughout the whole SEPA Europe. In order to become the one and only P2P and cost sharing app for Europe, we need additional growth capital and that’s why today at noon, we will be hitting the green button to start our second crowdfunding campaign on Companisto. We are planning on raising an additional 600.000 Euro from the crowd in exchange for shares in Cringle.

And what do we do? We develop mobile payment solutions and we are the trusted partner for banks and app providers in Europe. Users can use our payment solutions to send money directly to any mobile number, as easy as an SMS. We make payments practical, easy, fun and social.

Invest now: www.cringle.net/companisto

[cringlenet]

Does your p2p payment solution have a real-time verification process in under 60 sec? Cringle got it!

In cooperation with our pioneering partner figo we developed Cringle Connect, the first real-time verification process. 

With the real-time verification, users can verify their current account within 60 seconds, thanks to the integration of the figo API. 

“With the introduction of real-time account verification, we are revolutionizing the traditional registration processes for banking products. These processes used to be incredibly complicated and time-consuming because of the valid data required and Cringle Connect provides the opportunity to verify an account within seconds - with the greatest possible security regarding the user’s sensitive data, “says Joschka Friedag, founder and CEO of Cringle, and continues: “We are the first German p2p company to offer this new type of verification and are thus taking a whole new path within the industry that will change the whole p2p market.”

Let’s also hear it from André M. Bajorat, CEO of figo: “Account management via access to existing online banking is the simplest and smartest solution for the user. We are delighted that Cringle is doing this through the figo platform, and we are confident that it will be another small part of the success of Cringle“.

[cringlenet]

Ask an Expert: Dr. Carsten Lösing

by Elif Kocaoglu

In this issue of our Ask an Expert series, we invited Dr. Carsten Lösing, Local Partner of White & Case Hamburg, Banking & Finance, to talk about FinTechs and financial regulation, from his point of view.

It is no secret that the German FinTech scenery is undergoing some changes due to the European “legal reformation” and its reflections on the German lawmakers. The new laws started circulating a lot of terms (open banking, API, XS2A, TPPs etc.) unfamiliar with us mortals along with a lot of new concepts one doesn’t know how to interpret precisely. Will it be good? Will it be bad? Are the banks ready to push the green button on January 2018 for PSD2? Will AMLD4 limit the independence of the FinTech start-ups and make them dependable on the banks? Are the current FinTech services GDPR compliant? We all have guesses but honestly, nobody can tell for sure. They say it takes two lawyers in the same room to come up with three opinions however this time each lawyer in the room has at least four opinions about what is going to happen. That’s why we thought it is the right time to get an independent opinion from an expert who is positioned close enough to understand what’s going on but far enough to observe from a safe distance, and we contacted Carsten to pick his brain.

Just a short introduction: after graduating from Bucerius Law School, Carsten worked as a consultant until he joined White & Case, where he specialised on financial institutions, project finance and regulatory law. I know that most people in the FinTech scene had an unpleasant experience with the market lawyers once or twice but I assure you that Carsten is not like these stereotypical big law firm lawyers you know; I was amazed by the calm, serious yet friendly harmony of the whole Banking & Finance team at White & Case Hamburg when I was working there during my master studies, which very much contradicts the “Suits” kind of experience I had during my legal practice back home, burning the midnight oil with artificial urgencies most of the time.

Here we go;

· Thank you for agreeing to this Carsten! I know that you are quite busy. Can you please briefly introduce yourself for our FinTech audience? Also, what I always find interesting is the start of a story – how did you find yourself wrapped up in banking and finance law?

Carsten: Sure. Elif, and many thanks for being able to speak to you on the various issues that are now affecting the financial services world. Actually, I was working in banking and finance already in my very early twenties during my international business studies. I was working for Börsen-Zeitung, Commerzbank and SocGen and followed this path after graduation when I advised banks as a business consultant at zeb/. It was at the time that I have really felt the significance and importance of regulation on the financial services industry. This was also one of the reasons why I then decided to get a deeper understanding of the law and decided to study law. After graduation at Bucerius and the following two state exams, it then just seemed a logical step to extend the legal expertise and combine it with my former bank/finance experience.

· I have realised that you are quite up-to-date with the FinTech market and the regulatory developments. What is your stand on FinTechs? We all know that banks think they will conquer the technology whereas FinTechs argue that they will make the banks redundant. What do you think about the future of FinTechs as a part of an independent industry player?

Carsten: The FinTech market is developing intensively and there are many interesting ideas, developments and FinTech companies out there. It is really exciting! It is a rapidly evolving area and there is a real digital transformation of the financial services industry. I think Bill Gates, back in 1995, said something along the line that banking is necessary, but banks are not. Certainly, there is also some exaggeration and hype around certain FinTechs, but banks should and do take this threat serious and react to these developments. On the other side there will be several FinTechs who will struggle to sufficiently scale up their size and grow sufficiently fast within the respective windows of opportunities – in particular those without the support of private banks or other networks. We will see further and increased collaboration between banks and FinTechs. However, FinTechs that have developed as a part of an independent industry player like PayPal, Alipay or others will play an increasingly significant role. The digital economy will support players with strength in areas like data mining and artificial intelligence.

· Let’s speak a bit about the elephant in the room: PSD2 and AMLD4. What’s your general opinion on these?

Carsten: PSD2 and AML4 are EU directives heavily affecting the financial services sector. In particular, PSD2 and the regulatory technical standards (RTS) on strong customer authentication are currently heavily discussed. PSD2 and what is called open banking will foster change and innovation. The difficulties in agreeing on a definite form of RTS and the corresponding delays are regarded by many FinTechs as the result of bank lobbying. However, the cornerstones are set in PSD2, and even if it will take some time to agree on standards, the path to “open banking” is set. There are people developing use cases and new business models in anticipation of some of the regulatory changes.

· To be more specific, do you think the banks will be able to accelerate the innovation through open banking as expected by the lawmakers?

Carsten: For banks, real innovation might be a challenge because these are grown organisations with established systems, cultures, policy agendas and established ways of working. I have heard a lot of bankers considering open banking and the application programming interface as a threat to their current business model. It will depend on who and how many people are embracing and fostering real change. PSD2 can support this, but will not be the main driver to overcome resistance.

· In this scope, is open banking a real remedy for slow digitalisation progress or will it create chaos since it will probably take ages to settle on a system that is compatible for all the market players?

Carsten: Open banking is no real remedy for innovation. You have to start at the customer, not at the regulation, if you want to develop interesting innovations. There are delays with respect to the regulatory technical standards. However, I don’t think it will take indefinitely for the standards to develop. And I guess, to a certain extent, it’s probably best to leave it open to the market to develop the best API standards. The issue has been around for a while now and certainly there is much lobbying by the various players and interest groups around the API standard. At some point in time, there will be a political decision on the regulatory standards.

· Do you think the lawmakers were able to make a thorough observation before “releasing the beast”? My two cents about the topic is that the Member States have such different market operability rules that it will be very hard to find common ground anyway (i.e., in some Member States like Croatia you have to ask for an official approval before cooperating with any FinTech). Also, technical infrastructure varies from Member State to Member State, let alone the differences between the banks.

Carsten: It is true that the current situation is quite different in the various Member States. I don’t think we have know-it-all law makers, but if you look, for example, at the extensive research that EBA has exercised during the course of the hearing process in advance of the adoption of the RTS, my feeling is that a lot of concerns have been taken into account and that in the end the general line of the law makers to open banking will prevail. There are – for sure many difficulties around various issues, but discussions in the US and Asia as regards to open banking show that the EU is at the forefront on this issue and that, at the end, the overall result will foster innovation.

· What do you think about the New AML Law *(1)? Do you think it will create a partner bank dependency for some FinTechs? How is this supposed to help the “market disruption”?

Carsten: Based on AML4, the new German law changes the AML landscape quite significantly. The law for the implementation of the AMLD4 has come into effect on 26 June 2017. The core issue of the law is the introduction of a new so-called transparency register and accompanying extensive disclosure requirements associated therewith regarding the beneficial owners of the companies. The requirements are considered to be fulfilled if these companies are listed at an organised market, or if the required information results from certain public registers (especially the commercial register). Furthermore, it will allow for a risk-based approach. It will clarify some formerly unclear terminology and bring some new requirements for a large number of companies. The new law won’t create a partner bank dependency, but it will certainly require that the broad and complex and requirements are fulfilled. That can be done internally, if there is sufficient capacity and resources or otherwise by using banking know-how and processes or by co-operating with specialised service provider. Some legal requirements, however, will need to be complied with, even if external support is used.

· Let’s talk a bit about RegTech - do you find it realistic that lawyers will be replaced by AI soon? Does White & Case Hamburg have any RegTech cooperations or use any RegTech solutions?

Carsten: RegTech is a very interesting area for us. White & Case is developing RegTech in a very fast pace, because we think that everything that can be done by a computer will be done by a computer. However, we do not operate such systems on an office-by-office basis, for example, in Hamburg, but have a common set of tools and solutions across our global network. Our Chief Knowledge Officer Oz Benamram has presented four new tools at our Spring Town Hall by our global technology service. He and his team are systematically looking at tools in legal research, e-discovery and due diligence, drafting assistance, practice analytics, matter management, predictive and expert systems. Speech recognition does already and will play an even more important role in the future. Regarding document drafting, we now have systems in place that go far beyond the traditional spell and grammar check, but check for definitions, cross-references and the like. Lawyers won’t be replaced by artificial intelligence any time soon, but some old forms of lawyering work such as screening of mass documents for certain keywords will certainly be automated and replaced by RegTech systems.

· Do you think RegTech will help companies to automate the rather routine compliance tasks and reduce operational risks? In the end, the subject technology will need to stay up-to-date with current regulatory developments; wouldn’t this turn the application into a human risk again?

Carsten: Yes, operational risks can and will help companies automating their compliance tasks. In the banking industry, for example the German Regulatory Authority BaFin has just recently published a circular that requires the use of certain risk management tools, including tools that track chats and messages on trading platforms. There are also many providers that now offer smart ways of screening payment transactions that might be suspicious in terms of money laundering or terrorist financing based on a dynamic set of input factors.

· I know we took a lot of your time so I would like to switch to a lighter topic for my last question – have you been introduced to some really interesting FinTech ideas so far? Was there one that particularly impressed you personally?

Carsten: Yes, I have seen a few of some very interesting ideas, some of which really seem to have the potential to be disruptive for many players in the market. I really like working with creative people – irrespective of their age. There is a lot of technological and scientific expertise in so many people and companies. This is really great fun to see those ideas developing. Personally, I was most impressed by certain real innovations in the payments area, some driven by technological change, but there also a few new ideas based on out-of-the-box thinking that use existing technology in new business or contractual structures.

----------------

If you’d like to reach Carsten for professional purposes or debate this interview, please feel free to contact him through “[email protected]”. In case you have any regulatory topics to discuss, alternatively, I could personally suggest you drop by the White & Case office in Hamburg, overlooking the beautiful Binnenalster for quick cup of coffee. Carsten is always very helpful, and they have a very good coffee machine in the office (best office coffee I’ve had so far).

*(1) Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Vierten EU-Geldwäscherichtlinie, zur Ausführung der EU-Geldtransferverordnung und zur Neuorganisation der Zentralstelle für Finanztransaktionsuntersuchungen (adopted from the draft called "Referentenentwurf eines Gesetzes zur Umsetzung der Vierten EU-Geldwäscherichtlinie, zur Ausführung der EU-Geldtransferverordnung und zur Neuorganisation der Zentralstelle für Finanztransaktionsuntersuchungen") http://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Downloads/Gesetze/2017-06-24-G-z-Umsetzung-Vierte-Geldwaescherichtlinie.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=8]

[cringlenet]

Three Reasons Why Cringle Should Be Your Preferred p2p Payment Provider

by Elif Kocaoglu

What is Cringle? – Cringle is a payment solution provider that focuses on peer-to-peer (“p2p”) payments. We have our Cringle app for micro-payments and cost sharing; Cringle API for integrated payment services and merchant payment solutions (stay tuned- exciting times). Cringle is actually the first German p2p provider that expanded to offer cross-border payments and it has been up and running since 2013 with a dedicated team of finance and technical experts.

What is p2p then? – p2p is a technology that allows end-customers to send and receive money (using their bank account or credit card) to another end-customer via a (portable) device (i.e. mobile phones).

You see, p2p is not only a buzzword but also a lifestyle – it means that the end-customers can cut of the middle-man or the intermediaries to actualize banking transactions and integrate banking into their daily flow, taking the bank branch queuing culture out of their lives forever. p2p allows Alexander to send his share of the dinner bill directly from his giro account to Maria’s giro account, using his iPhone 5. This way Alexander is not so much dependent on cash anymore and once Alexander gets used to this kind of comfort, he never wants to go back to old means of cost sharing and payments – at least none of the Alexanders we know ever did.

We believe everything was clear until this point – it’s not rocket science after all. But this is the point things get complicated – how do we expect the end-customers to make an educated decision considering the app “littering” on the app store? From a customer point of view, they all look the same: they all channelize transfers, they are all “mastering” p2p, a lot of ambiguous terms and fancy ads. Even FinTech experts are having a hard time making a decision, we have heard.

We are here to help - our team decided to make your lives easier today and we accumulated 3 reasons which make Cringle awesome for you (besides being free of charge for our beloved users of course):

First - Are all your friends using the same home bank? Not really? Or you just don’t know? Well this makes sense – it is actually a low chance that you and your best friend Christian use the same bank for the daily banking transactions and it is even a lower chance that you know Christian's preferred bank. Cringle is actually here to make sure that you never have to track this information: with Cringle’s open system, you can send money to (and receive from) any person that has an bank account. You don’t need to know the IBAN either: just select a contact and our system will handle the rest - Cringle is here to make sure that you never have to scroll down websites to check whether the person you owe to belongs to the network of partner banks of one payment provider or not.

Second - Is the person you are sending money to using Cringle as well? You don’t care? Well, we don’t care either. Our system (we call it “Cringle Me” so that it sounds a bit fancier) can send money to anyone, whether they have downloaded Cringle or not. You just select the mobile phone of your contact and we handle the rest, sending them an SMS including instructions (and a magic link ;)).

Third - Are you a frequent flyer? Are you living in one Country (i.e. Germany) but prefer the beaches of another Country (i.e. Mallorca of Spain) for your Instagram moments? Do you have an international group of friends and like visiting them from time? Then we suggest that you download Cringle so that you have only one app to make cross-border payments instead of 28 separate payment apps for 28 different Member States (please contact [email protected] to learn more about our expansion plans and the countries that Cringle will be supporting until the end of this year).

Do not forget that thanks to our smart security system, you don’t need to carry your TAN list or remember the password for the iTAN app by the way – finger print consent is sufficient and it is totally safe.

y o u a r e w e l c o m e 😉

[cringlenet]

Cringle goes to Paris #VivaTech

50.000 attendes, 5.000 startups, 1.000 investors, 7.000 CEOs and all of them are dedicated to innovation. This is VivaTech and BNP Paribas invited us to be part of their tradeshow stand. We are happy and highly appreciate this opportunity to demonstrate our app Cringle. An environment like VivaTech is one of the most important and relevant innovation fairs in Europe. Bringing progress together faster forward by collecting meaningful ideas and connecting - in the first place - unusual partners.

It is more than our pleasure to spend the next three days in Paris at this event. Salut - we keep you tuned!

[cringlenet]

Ask an Expert: Julius Bachnick & Dennis Czombera

by Elif Kocaoglu

Right before the release of the Cringle p2p Payment API, our developer rockstars Dennis and Julius agreed to turn off their monitors and to come together, in order to walk us through Cringle API and explain the product from a more technical point.

Buckle up, because the conversation is about to get geeky.

Let’s start with the basics, what is an API or a server-side Web API?

Dennis: API stands for Application Programming Interface. In the context of the web it defines clear defined interfaces for the consumer of the API. For instance, a third-party application can use a web API in calling certain endpoints of an API in order to interact with the provider of these interfaces. Typically, all the communication happens through the Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) or the more secure Hypertext Transport Protocol Secure.

Sounds like there are different APIs for different products. What is the Cringle API and what does the Cringle API do then?

Julius: The Cringle API enables third parties (i.e. external developers) to use the functionality of Cringle outside the Cringle App. For example, the Cringle P2P Payment functionality could be used by a Website or another App. As the API is a RESTful web API, it adheres a well-used standard and is widely platform-independent. Hence, the integration of the API into the own product is straight-forward. By using the API, an API consumer can handle Users, Bank Accounts and Transactions – the core of the Cringle App, without even opening the App once.

What does it mean to have a RESTful web API?

Dennis: REST is an acronym for Representational State Transfer. It represents the underlying architectural principle of the web. In a RESTful API the client does not need to do anything about the structure of the API. The server takes on this task where the client is provided with any information it needs in order to use the service.

Dennis, you mentioned HTTP while explaining the API. What is the role of HTTP in the context of a web API?

Dennis: HTTP uses verbs and resources to make so called requests that are send to the server. Two mainstream verbs are GET and POST. Additionally, some other verbs that are defined by the HTTP standard are PUT, PATCH and DELETE. These verbs are applied to resources, which are provided by the server. On the server-side, the logic behind the API knows how to handle each combination of HTTP verb and resource.

So, now that we understand what the Cringle API is, can one of you walk us through the development steps of the Cringle API? Let’s assume that we shook hands and signed the contract, what happens next?

Julius: At first, one needs to be registered as an API Consumer, e.g. receiving a Consumer ID and a secret API Token. Both can be obtained by directly contacting us. Once the necessary information is received, API Calls can be made. Every API Request thereby requires a JWT in the 'Authorization' Header that is signed by the Caller using the secret API Token.

Once the relevant authorization information is obtained, RESTful HTTP calls can be made to the cringle API URL.

Depending of the permissions of the issued token, available resources can be:

a. `/users`: For creating and modifying User data such as the name or the address.

b. `/bank_accounts`: For managing the bank account(s) of a User, including mandate management.

c. `/transactions`: For sending money, requesting money or updating the status of transaction(s).

Sounds easy 😊 (I am not the one that has to do it!) Can you also explain from your point of view what can the third parties use Cringle API for? What are the use cases?

Julius: As mentioned earlier, the Cringle API enables third parties to use the functionality of Cringle without the requirement of having the App installed. Hence, User(s) and their bank account(s) can be managed, and money can be sent or requested. Due to the easy integration of the Cringle API and the simplicity of the Payment System behind Cringle, third parties can easily integrate a peer-to-peer functionality within their app or website while keeping the look-and-feel of their own product. Use case thereby range from a donation app to a web app which might want to offer tipping for a user, e.g. a recipe website.

I know that Cringle app works on iOS and Android. Is it the same for the Cringle API? Is it supposed to work on any device? Also, what tools are required to test the Cringle API?

Julius: On iOS and Android, both native and web apps can use the p2p Payment API.

Due to the RESTful nature of the cringle API, can be tested using widely available tools such as cURL. Also, a sandbox will be provided and the corresponding documentation will be available using Swagger.

Thank you both for this insightful summary. Last but not least, I expect the readers to wonder about the product schedule. When is the release planned?

Dennis: The release is planned for this summer since the Product team already started developing custom made payment solutions for some of the new partners and is currently busy with new partner onboarding.

You can get in contact with [email protected] to learn more about our payment solutions and product schedule.

Enjoyed this interview? This could also be relevant for you: “Cringle Payment API: Check out the New Payment Solution in Town”