The FinTech Bilderlings Pay Limited is regulated as an authorized e-money institution under reference No 900637 since May 2018. The institution is doing business as Bilderlings (www.bilderlings.com and www.bilderlings.eu) and offers international payments with an app and debit card. Like TransferWise et al. The company was established in December 2015 and is led by Latvians Deniss Polakovs and Andrejs Zaharovs. Until recently, Latvian Aleksandrs Peskovs was listed as the beneficial owner. Currently, no person with significant control (PSC) is listed at UK Companies House. Either no one owns more than 25%, or the company has not filed a report.
The functionality of Bilderings is similar to TranserWise, at least by design. However, the registration process is much more cumbersome than at TransferWise and the other tier-1 FinTechs. Before registering, you have to pay €75, which is not refundable. Like TransferWise, Revolut, Monzo, Starling Bank, or German N26 Bilderings is aimed at private customers and businesses (merchants). We have not yet identified any unique feature with this FinTech. The payment app doesn’t seem to be a blockbuster and has been hardly downloaded yet.
On its paid Trustpilot profile, Bilderings has received 49 reviews and a 3.9-star rating. So far, we have not received any indications of the institution’s involvement in scams in the course of scam screenings.
The company was established in December 2015 by the Latvian Bilderlings Holdings SIA (OpenCorporates) with a share capital of €350,000. As of December 9, 2020, the company had a share capital of €1,950,000, which is quite remarkable. Evidently, 2019 was a good year. The company recorded a revenue growth from €1 Mio in 2018 to €1,6 Mio in 2019 and a first-time profit of some €100,000. The company is most likely to derive its revenues and profits from the merchant business. Consumer use of the app is close to zero.
We registered with Bilderlings today as a test and will give a review update on our impression shortly. We are grateful for all information and experience reports.
