The planned merger would be carried out through a share exchange, wherein the bank will purchase the fintech from its investors in return for a €10.4 million holding (or 40% of the merged company).

Puro Finance is expected to operate its invoice financing service as a subsidiary of the bank following the transaction close, which is anticipated to occur in May, subject to customary closing conditions. The service supports invoicing, financing, credit insurance, collection, and bookkeeping functions.

The bank states that from that point on, its strategy will be centered on "digital banking and finance services for SMEs," with a particular emphasis on promoting its corporate lending and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) operations. The latter service is expected to expand at a pace of 25% annually through 2026.

In order to access fresh growth in its client volumes, the bank will use BaaS to take use of the fintech's current partner network, which includes its largest shareholder, Accountor. This is followed by the statement that it has already been agreed upon with the investor to provide "integrated banking services to Accountor's clients and will commence investigations regarding cooperation with respect to also other finance services."

Apart from this mandate, it lists "capital efficient growth, growth in customer volume, technological trailblazing and strong synergies" as the deal's main motivations.

The merger of the two companies will "create significant short and medium-term synergies" for the bank's expansion and profitability, according to Juha Saari, interim CEO of Alisa Bank. It will also "significantly increase our customer potential and supports our strategy to provide integrated banking services in the channels of financial administration providers and other partners," Saari claims.