Striga vs average fintech blockchain - How does it fare?
Striga vs average fintech blockchain - How does it fare?
- Mousser R.
- 8 min read
Table of Contents
For many in the FinTech world, embedded finance and banking-as-a-service (BaaS) are not new notions. Many user-facing companies have built their apps on top of a financial infrastructure provider. This way, they can focus on growing their product and getting more users.
The problem:
As a response to increasing interest in crypto, FinTechs now want to build crypto wallets, exchanges, and cards into their own apps. Unfortunately, shifting regulations and complex technology end up creating long delays, unplanned costs, trouble with banking and financial institutions, and regulation scale.
The opportunity:
In parallel, cryptocurrency adoption has been growing at a staggering rate over the last 2 years. Early adopters in general no longer consider banking and financial services to be complete if they don’t have integration with the digital asset world.
The solution:
Enter Crypto-BaaS. A nascent industry that provides all the infrastructure for companies to integrate crypto and fiat features into their own apps. The market is starting to take shape: In the US, SolidFi is gaining ground against Synapse. For Europe, Striga is positioning itself to be the top player.
But enough context – The question here is: How does Striga compare to the average Crypto-BaaS?
Striga Vs. Average Crypto-BaaS:
Time to Market
Time to market is affected mainly by the features chosen to be integrated and the skill of the client’s developer team. Integrating just a wallet takes much less than launching a physical card program, where design and manufacturing are needed.
That said, most Crypto-BaaS, Striga included, usually take between 6 weeks and 3 months to fully deploy a product, from the moment you sign a contract. This is faster than all other categories of financial infrastructure providers out there.
Striga
Average Crypto-BaaS
Time to Market
1.5 – 3 months
1.5 – 3 months
Striga Vs. Average Crypto-BaaS:
Financials
The usual commercial structure is broken down into two:
- Upfront cost: The average cost to start operations with a Crypto-BaaS range between EUR 20,000 and EUR 30,000. Striga currently charges EUR 5,000.
- Monthly minimum/subscription fee: Usually, the average Crypto-BaaS requires either minimum spending, or even a fee, of EUR 10,000. Striga currently charges EUR 3,000.
Financials
Striga
Average Crypto-BaaS
Upfront Cost (EUR)
5,000
20,000 – 30,000
Monthly Minimum / Subscription Fee (EUR)
3,000
10,000
Striga Vs. Average Crypto-BaaS:
Services Offered
All blockchain infrastructure companies offer standard banking services, like IBAN accounts. What usually differentiates them is having some or all of the following 5:
- Native crypto support: Per the concept of the business, all Crypto-BaaS are crypto-friendly
- White label infrastructure: Only some Crypto-BaaS provide white label infrastructure. Striga is among those who do
- Card Issuing: All the main Crypto-BaaS, Striga included, offer card issuing features
- Apple Pay & Google Pay support (Tokenization): All the main Crypto-BaaS, Striga included, offer some degree of tokenization
- Product lifecycle management via a dashboard: All the main Crypto-BaaS, Striga included, provide a dashboard
Services
Striga
Average Crypto-BaaS
Native Crypto Support
Yes
Yes
White Label Infrastructure
Yes
Sometimes
Card Issuing
Yes
Yes
Apple Pay & Google Pay
Yes
Yes
Product lifecycle management via dashboard
Yes
Yes
Striga Vs. Average Crypto-BaaS:
Technical Setup
While financials and services are essential to make a product great, you need to integrate the APIs first. Ask any developer team: if the technical setup is not properly designed, a simple —even enjoyable— setup, can become a months-long nightmare.
Besides the documentation being high-quality, the 4 following elements make the technical setup friendlier:
- Publicly available sandbox: Among the main Crypto-BaaS, it is not standard practice to allow people Sandbox access without first submitting credentials and getting approved. Striga, on the other hand, does allow interested companies to use and learn the sandbox freely.
- The number of partners required to go live: Integrating with a Crypto-BaaS is usually a one-partner integration, as these platforms, Striga included, already combine cards, IBANs, exchanges, and KYC/AML compliance under one platform.
- 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, so clients can test and learn in real-time each step of the guide.
- Public API Documentation: All Crypto-BaaS have publicly available API documentation
Technical Setup
Striga
Average Crypto-BaaS
Publicly Available Sandbox
Yes
No
Number of Partners Required to Go Live
1
1
Interactive Setup Guide
Yes
No
Public API Documentation
Yes
Yes
Striga Vs. Average Crypto-BaaS:
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. The big question here is “who handles the KYC/AML process and holds the licenses”. Being in charge allows for more flexibility, but requires more resources and responsibility.
- On KYC: Given the number of integrations a Crypto-BaaS brings together, it is a common practice for them to do KYC for you. Striga also follows this practice, handling all KYC so you can focus on growing your business.
- On AML: Crypto-BaaS, as a general rule, don’t allow AML outsourcing. It has to be handled by them, given the importance of preventing money laundering. Striga is no exception and will provide companies with the right AML processes, backed by reputable AML specialists.
- On Licenses: Part of the value of a Crypto-BaaS, Striga included, is to make integrations easier for their clients. Because of that, the client is not required to have a license or commercial registration to start connecting with them. The downside of this is less flexibility on KYC and AML outsourcing, as mentioned above.
Regulation & Compliance
Striga
Average Crypto-BaaS
Outsourceable KYC
No
No
Outsourceable AML
No
No
Licenses or Commercial Registrations NOT Required
Yes
Yes
Verdict
Is Striga better than the average Crypto-BaaS?
It really depends on what you are looking for.
If what you want is to operate straight away in the US market, you may explore fintech cryptocurrency providers in North America, as there are a couple of very good ones.
If you want to operate in the European market, and want to get both excellent financials and an easy technical setup, then Striga can be an ideal choice for you.
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