Crowdpartners kiest OPP voor geautomatiseerde betalingen en naleving van de crowdfundingverordening

Crowdpartners verving zijn derdengeldenrekening door OPP: realtime betalingen, KYC- en AML-checks, gescheiden gelden en naleving van de crowdfundingregels.

OPP and Crowdpartners partnered to replace the platform’s own third-party money account with real-time, automated payments. OPP processes investor payments as they come in, handles KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) checks, keeps investors’ money separate from Crowdpartners’ own, and carries the licence the crowdfunding regulation requires.

Crowdpartners is a crowdfunding service platform for investors and borrowers. Founded in 2014, it aims to make investing in companies accessible to everyone.

The partnership: from once-a-day manual processing to real time

Before OPP, Crowdpartners handled the payment traffic between users itself, through a third-party money account. When an investor registered for a project and paid, the payment was processed by hand, once a day. The regulation then made the choice for Crowdpartners: comply with PSD2, the EU’s Payment Services Directive, through an exemption or a licence from De Nederlandsche Bank, or engage a payment service provider (PSP) that takes over the payment traffic and the licensing requirement.

“This way of working ultimately had limitations for us. For example, it was not possible to make and process intraday payments this way. When investors registered for a project through the website and made a payment, it was only manually processed once a day through our third-party money account. Time-consuming and inefficient.”

Thomas de With, CEO of Crowdpartners

The challenge: compliance, KYC and AML, and a platform migration at the same time

Working with a PSP was the logical route, but it had to be the right one. Crowdpartners was planning a migration to a new platform, and the payment solution had to connect properly to it. It also wanted to respond better to the growing requirements for KYC and AML checks, and to keep investor funds clearly apart from its own.

“With this, we not only meet the legal requirements, but also benefit from additional advantages. Thanks to OPP, we can now process payments from investors in real time and automatically. Also, with the cooperation, we are better responding to the increasing requirements for KYC and AML. With OPP, this is more intelligently digitised and continuously optimised.”

Thomas de With, CEO of Crowdpartners

Our solution: the best technical fit, with an integration plan and a team nearby

Crowdpartners compared payment service providers in the Netherlands and abroad. OPP’s solution was the best technical fit for the new platform, and OPP drew up an integration plan for the migration. Investors are verified through OPP’s customer onboarding: KYC and AML checks are digitised and continuously optimised, an extra pair of eyes that keeps the community reliable and the platform free of fraudulent use. Balances and cash flows from investors to projects, and repayments and interest back to investors, are kept separate from Crowdpartners’ own money.

“Linking our platform with the payment system is essential in our entire chain as a service provider. That is why it is important to get to know the partner you work with well. Proximity is important then. Also, communication with the team at OPP is easy and very approachable. Partly because of this, the implementation and migration ultimately went well.”

Thomas de With, CEO of Crowdpartners

The impact: new payment options without building them

Instead of developing new payment features itself, Crowdpartners draws on OPP’s expertise. Adding payment options in the Netherlands and abroad has become much easier, which matters for a platform that wants investors across Europe and plans to lend in Germany and Belgium. Crowdpartners and OPP now work together on customer experience, reporting and internal processes.

“Being able to process payments across Europe in real time is another important added value of OPP. We have been able to realise most of the wishes we had. Of course, there is always room for improvement, so we will continue to work with OPP to see how we can innovate even further.”

Thomas de With, CEO of Crowdpartners

What this means for you: why crowdfunding platforms should not run their own payment traffic

If you run a crowdfunding platform on a third-party money account, Crowdpartners’ constraints are probably yours: manual processing, funds that are hard to keep separate, KYC and AML requirements that keep growing, and a regulation that now expects PSD2 compliance.

A licensed payment partner turns that into real-time payments, verified users and separated funds, with the licence sitting where it belongs.

Want to see how OPP could automate the payments on your platform? Get in touch to learn more.

Talk to our team

Veelgestelde vragen

Heeft een crowdfundingplatform een eigen vergunning nodig om betalingen van investeerders af te handelen?

Een platform dat zelf geld van investeerders beheert, heeft een vrijstelling of vergunning van De Nederlandsche Bank nodig. Het alternatief is een payment service provider die het betalingsverkeer en de vergunningsplicht overneemt. Crowdpartners koos met OPP voor dat laatste.

Waarom overstappen van een derdengeldenrekening?

Een derdengeldenrekening is een bankrekening waarop een platform geld aanhoudt namens zijn gebruikers. Crowdpartners verwerkte daarmee betalingen van investeerders, maar alleen handmatig, één keer per dag. Met OPP worden betalingen van investeerders realtime en automatisch verwerkt, en houdt een partij met een vergunning de gelden aan.

Wie voert de KYC- en AML-checks voor investeerders uit?

OPP, via de onboarding. De checks zijn gedigitaliseerd en worden continu geoptimaliseerd. Zo kan Crowdpartners de groeiende eisen bijbenen en blijven frauduleuze gebruikers van het platform weg.

Kan een crowdfundingplatform van betaalprovider wisselen terwijl het naar een nieuw platform migreert?

Dat is precies wat Crowdpartners deed. OPP stelde een integratieplan op dat aansloot op de nieuwe technische opzet, en dankzij nauwe, laagdrempelige communicatie bleven de implementatie en migratie op koers.

Kunnen nieuwe betaalmethoden worden toegevoegd zonder ze zelf te bouwen?

Ja. Crowdpartners maakt gebruik van OPP om betaalopties in Nederland en het buitenland toe te voegen. Dat ondersteunt de plannen voor investeerders in heel Europa en voor kredietverlening in Duitsland en België.

Gebruikte diensten

Online payments

Customer onboarding

Virtual IBANs

Instant payouts

Reporting

First-line support

Multi Split