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There are multiple types of financial institutions and banking service providers out there. A group of them focus not on investments, but on providing infrastructure. Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Crypto-banking-as-a-Service (Crypto-BaaS) —like Striga’s platform— fall within that category, and though they sound quite similar, they are in fact quite different.
What is BaaS?
A BaaS company is one that offers banking infrastructure for other companies to integrate into their own products, so they can offer banking features. Traditionally, they tend to hold Electronic Money Institution Licenses and connect directly to BIN Sponsors.
Examples of them are Contis, Railsbank, and Modulr, though there are many others.
What is Crypto-BaaS?
Crypto banking-as-a-service refers to companies that provide banking infrastructure —usually both crypto & fiat— for other companies to integrate into their own products. Crypto-BaaS usually offer features regarding:
- Crypto wallets
- Crypto exchanges
- vIBAN accounts for individual users
- Virtual and Physical Cards
- KYC & AML controls
Examples of them are Striga, Solid, and Synapse
Where do BaaS and Crypto BaaS overlap?
BaaS and Crypto-BaaS overlap in card issuing and vIBAN account creation. Basically, as the name implies, Crypto functionalities (wallet, exchange, crypto KYC/AML) are what makes Crypto-BaaS special
Striga Vs. Modulr
Time to Market
Modulr: The integration to the Modulr platform usually takes anywhere between 2 and 4 months, though it can vary a bit depending on the provider and the features to be implemented.
Striga takes between 6 weeks and 3 months to fully deploy a product, from the moment you make the decision, through the integrations, until going live.
Verdict: Striga is the faster option overall.
Striga
Modulr
Time to Market
1.5 – 3 months
2 – 4 months
Striga Vs. Modulr:
Financials
Modulr: The BaaS platform of Modulr has been known to charge between EUR 20,000 and 100,000 as an upfront cost, with monthly minimums or subscriptions in the EUR 3,000 – 30,000 range, though it may vary depending on each particular case.
Striga: The Crypto-BaaS platform of Striga charges EUR 5,000 as an upfront/integration cost, plus EUR 3,000 monthly.
Verdict: Striga is, by a long shot, the cheaper option, though Modulr may get cheaper as the volume of transactions scales.
Financials
Striga
Modulr
Upfront Cost (EUR)
5,000
20,000 – 100,000
Monthly Minimum / Subscription Fee (EUR)
3,000
3,000 – 30,000
Striga Vs. Modulr:
Services Offered
Modulr and Striga offer a relatively similar service portfolio. Except for crypto wallets and exchange functionalities —which only Striga offers— they both include the following:
- White label infrastructure
- Individual vIBAN accounts
- Physical and Virtual Card Issuing
- Apple Pay & Google Pay support (Tokenization)
- Product lifecycle management via a dashboard
Verdict: In terms of services, on the Fiat side, both options are good. If crypto functionalities are desired, Striga is the only way to go.
Services
Striga
Modulr
White Label Infrastructure
Yes
Yes
Individual vIBAN accounts
Yes
Yes
Physical and Virtual Card Issuing
Yes
Yes
Apple Pay & Google Pay support (Tokenization)
Yes
Yes
Product lifecycle management via a dashboard
Yes
Yes
Striga Vs. Modulr:
Technical Setup
Besides the documentation being high-quality, the 4 following elements make the technical setup friendlier:
- Publicly available sandbox: Striga offers both a publicly available sandbox.Modulr does not appear to have a publicly available sandbox.
- The number of partners required: Assuming you start from scratch, to go live with a full crypto banking platform, you need Modulr and 3 other partnerships (Wallet provider, Exchange connectivity, and KYC/AML partner). Striga, on the other hand, is already connected with all of the above, so you only need the connection to Striga.
- Interactive setup guide: Though all companies have setup guides, they tend to be static. Striga is the only one with a guide that actually connects to its servers interactively, so clients can test and learn in real time each step of the guide.
- Public API Documentation: Striga has publicly available documentation, as does Modulr also
Verdict: Connecting to Striga requires less effort given the extensive availability of resources it provides, as well as the simplicity of connecting to only one partner, as opposed to 3 for Modulr
Technical Setup
Striga
Modulr
Publicly Available Sandbox
Yes
No
Number of Partners Required to Go Live
1
3
Interactive Setup Guide
Yes
No
Public API Documentation
Yes
Yes
Striga Vs. Modulr:
Regulation & Compliance
So, integrations were easy to connect, the app has all the features your user’s love, and it is actually making you money due to great financials. The only thing that could put a stop to it is making a regulatory mistake and getting shut down. There are 3 things to know if you want to stay in business: Know your customer (KYC), Anti-money laundering (AML), and Licenses.
- On KYC: Modulr, usually, does not require their sponsored clients to take and handle their own KYC operations. Outsourcing it or building it is generally optional. Striga doesn’t allow for KYC outsourcing, it handles it on behalf of the client.
- On AML: Modulr, usually, does not require their sponsored clients to take and handle their own AML operations. Outsourcing it or building it is generally optional. Striga doesn’t allow for AML outsourcing, it handles it on behalf of the client.
- On Licenses: Striga does not require its clients to hold virtual asset licenses or commercial registrations. Modulr, on the other hand, does. It usually requires either a detailed registration with them or a digital asset-related license.
Verdict: Modulr is more flexible in terms of oversight, but requires more responsibility on the clients’ part too. Overall, Modulr is better in terms of regulatory flexibility if you have the time, money, and resources to get the licenses and build the KYC/AML operation. Striga is better if you don’t have them, and just want to focus on building your product.
Regulation & Compliance
Striga
Modulr
Outsourceable KYC
No
Optional
Outsourceable AML
No
Optional
Licenses or Commercial Registrations NOT Required
Yes
Yes
Verdict
Is Striga better than Modulr?
It really depends on what you are looking for.
If what you want is a partner with a fiat-only banking focus, and extensive resources to expend, then Modulr may make sense. Usually, this makes more sense if you’re already a big company because Modulr can get cheap at a high volume transactional level.
If, on the other hand, you are interested in building both fiat and crypto infrastructure, and would prefer to spend fewer resources on the project, then Striga is the solution for you. Striga is ideal for growing companies that want a solution that leaves them space to breathe and expand their operations.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
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