Five Degrees buys Icelandic core banking provider Libra
Dutch digital banking technology firm Five Degrees has acquired Libra, a provider of core banking systems in Iceland.
According to Five Degrees, Libra adds value for its prospects and customers through its offering of core banking solutions in the field of securities and loans. Libra employs over 40 staff, who also specialise in the same technology stack as Five Degrees.
“It is the ambition of Five Degrees to expand internationally and achieve a global market leadership position in digital banking,” says Martijn Hohmann, CEO of Five Degrees.
Financial details were not disclosed. Five Degrees doesn’t say whether there will be any redundancies.
Libra offers two products – Libra Securities and Libra Loan.
The former consists of several system units that support the completion of transactions, payments, asset swaps, relations with financial systems, asset management, valuation, corporate actions, disclosure and investment decision support.
The latter keeps track of borrowing and lending and third-party debt management. The system is designed for the Icelandic market and addresses needs, resources and credit variants.
Some of Libra’s customers include Nasdaq, Clearstream and Íslandsbanki (Bank of Iceland).
Libra was started as a part of Computer Pictures in 1996. In 2001, the company was named Libra and became an independent subsidiary owned by TölvuMynda, later TM-Software.
At the beginning of 2006, TM-Software Libra sold to OMX Nordic Exchange. It then got the name OMX Technology in Iceland, later OMX Banks and Brokers in Iceland and finally OMX Broker Services in Iceland.
In 2008, the Nasdaq OMX Broker Services merged with Nasdaq OMX in New York and OMX. In March 2009, Nasdaq OMX sold the firm to domestic investors and it re-named itself to Libra again. Wow. What a drama over a name.
Busy to some Degree(s)
Last month, Five Degrees teamed up with BillPro, an international business payments solutions firm. Together, the two companies will launch a new cross-border banking service in Europe with Five Degrees’ core banking solution Matrix at the centre.
Last year, in an exclusive by FinTech Futures, ABN Amro’s wealth management proposition, Prospery, implemented Five Degrees’ Matrix solution.
