Roman Mazur, Co-Founder and COO, Narvi

Today we're meeting Roman Mazur, Co-Founder and COO at Narvi Payments. They specialise in licensed multi-currency business banking with dedicated EUR IBANs, SEPA and SWIFT access, crypto OTC, and white label BaaS for fintech and payment firms.

Over to you Roman - my questions are in bold:

Who are you and what's your background?

Law by education, banker by experience. I spent my career in financial services. First in investment banking, then inside fintech at Revolut. I saw how slow the old system moved, and how fast fintech shipped without always thinking about endurance. Narvi was created to bring the discipline of banking and the execution of fintech into one place.

What is your job title and what are your general responsibilities?

I am Co Founder and COO of Narvi. I handle operations across commercials and compliance. That includes licensing, regulator relations, product structure, risk, pricing, and partnerships. My role is simple. Keep the organisation sharp, controlled, and able to scale without losing trust.

Can you give us an overview of your business?

Narvi is a licensed EMI based in Finland. We provide multi currency business banking with dedicated EUR IBANs, SEPA and SWIFT access, crypto OTC, and white label BaaS for fintech and payment firms. Reliability, compliance, and direct human support are our core principles.

Tell us how you are funded?

We are fully bootstrapped. Built from scratch with no VC. Bootstrapping keeps us accountable to clients, not investors. If clients stay and grow balances, you have a real business. If you need external fuel every 12 months, you do not.

What's the origin story? Why did you start the company? To solve what problems?

We saw two problems. Entrepreneurs struggled to access business banking that actually worked. And fintechs struggled to build banking infrastructure without burning time and capital. Onboarding turned into a compliance tennis match. Banks and vendors made it harder, not easier, to build. We started Narvi to fix that. Clear onboarding, reliable access to European accounts, and infrastructure that firms can build on without chaos.

Who are your target customers? What's your revenue model?

We serve SMEs, fintechs, marketplaces, payment institutions, and digital firms that need reliable EUR accounts, SEPA and SWIFT rails, or white label banking infrastructure. Our revenue comes from onboarding fees, account maintenance, transactions, and BaaS licensing. Straight and transparent.

If you had a magic wand, what one thing would you change in the banking and/or FinTech sector?

Access to core rails. Fintechs are told to innovate, but most still rely on legacy banks to move funds. EMI and PI regimes helped, but the highest value and real time rails are still locked behind old gatekeepers. If regulated fintechs had direct access, the industry could stop building workarounds and start building real products. Direct SEPA access for fintechs is a good sign, but progress is slow. Europe risks losing ground to regions that open access faster.

What is your message for the larger players in the Financial Services marketplace?

Stop claiming to be fintech friendly if your default move is to block accounts or ignore SMEs. Real risk control requires context and dialogue. Partner with fintechs, treat them as part of the system, not a threat. Clients will reward the firms that do this.

Where do you get your Financial Services/FinTech industry news from?

Finextra, AltFi, Sifted, Bloomberg, and LinkedIn. I focus on operators who build, not commentators who chase engagement.

Can you list 3 people you rate from the FinTech and/or Financial Services sector that we should be following on LinkedIn, and why?

• Kristo Käärmann (Wise) – for building one of the few fintechs that actually works at scale, proving that sustainable growth and profitability can coexist in this industry.
• Nik Storonsky (Revolut) – for sheer execution power and his ability to drive vision into reality has reshaped modern banking.
• Anton Golub – one of the most insightful voices bridging traditional finance and blockchain innovation, always pushing for smarter regulation and transparency.
• And of course, Marcel van Oost – for consistently spotting emerging fintech trends before they hit the mainstream and connecting the ecosystem in a way few others do.

What FinTech services (and/or apps) do you personally use?

A mix of legacy banks, Revolut, Wise for business and personal use, and of course Narvi.

What's the best new FinTech product or service you've seen recently?

Self hosted DeFi tools. The evolution in custody and staking is moving fast. Solflare stands out. It shows that self custody can be practical and secure when done properly.

Finally, what trends do you think are going to define the next few years in the FinTech sector?

Embedded finance becomes a default model. RegTech will mature, driven by AML, DORA, and VoP. Crypto and fiat rails converge. Users will not care if value moves through SEPA or a stablecoin path. They will care that it settles fast, fairly, and with trust.

Thank you Roman. Read more about Narvi Payments at their website my.narvi.com.