Optin Bank secured NOK 13.2 million in a strategic private placement from 24SevenOffice.

Optin Bank ASA, an Oslo, Norway-based company building a banking operation business, announced a capital increase of NOK 13.2 million ($1.6M).

The deal was made with the local Norwegian software company 24SevenOffice, which will acquire a 9.9% ownership in Optin Bank.

At the same time, 24SevenOffice will have the option to acquire an additional 10% in connection with subscription rights in Optin Bank ASA and will, when exercising this option, become the bank's largest owner.

By becoming an owner of Optin Bank, 24SevenOffice takes the next step in the development of this type of service and secures both simpler and cheaper banking services and products for its 53,000 corporate customers. The ownership and the commercial cooperation agreements between the parties will also facilitate further integration of services such as payment services under PSD2 and other financial services.

Any exercise of the option may result in 24SevenOffice giving Optin Bank the exclusive right to market individual banking services on 24SevenOffice's platform and in its other communication channels. By using the subscription rights, 24SevenOffice can increase its ownership interest in Optin Bank to 19.99%. 24SevenOffice Scandinavia AB thus becomes the largest shareholder in Optin Bank. The bank can also change its name to 24SevenBank when exercising the option. Exercise of the option is conditional on Finanstilsynet in Norway approving that 24SevenOffice takes a qualified ownership interest in Optin Bank.

Optin Bank ASA was founded in 2017 by CEO Harald Dahl-Pedersen as an alternative to eCommerce financing providers. The company built an end to end solution for all types of payment transactions from payment to debt collection, centered around a banking module integrated into the financial system and combined with access to other financial services such as invoice purchases and loans.

The bank's total assets are NOK 462M ($54M) and the loan portfolio amounted to NOK 147M ($17M).

Optin Bank ASA received a banking license from Finanstilsynet on September 8, 2017.