OPP helps Collin Crowdfund achieve compliance with the Crowdfunding Regulation

Collin Crowdfund is a crowdfunding platform that connects entrepreneurs and investors. Since its founding in 2014, the platform has facilitated over €1 billion in business financing, supporting ambitious entrepreneurs with the help of more than 50,000 investors. To ensure its financial flows are securely structured and compliant with the European Crowdfunding Regulation, Collin Crowdfund partnered with OPP.

Before the regulation came into effect

Before the regulation came into effect, Collin Crowdfund used a separate foundation to handle payments between lenders, borrowers, and the platform itself. “This system worked well, but it was no longer allowed under the new regulation. To stay compliant, we would have needed to apply for a licence from the Dutch Central Bank (DNB), which is a rather involved process,” explains Roel van de Plas, Manager Operations at Collin Crowdfund. “An alternative was to engage a payment service provider that would take over the payment processing and the licensing requirements. That option was most appealing to us.”

Experience with legislation

“Our main requirement for a payment service provider was that it had to be a stable company we could rely on. Especially as a market leader in a sector where large sums are involved, a strong reputation is crucial,” Van de Plas stresses. “We wanted to take a step forward and be certain that the systems handling our payments had robust control mechanisms. During talks with various providers, Online Payment Platform (OPP) stood out for its solid reputation, extensive knowledge of legislation and regulations, and its expertise in platform payments, such as multi-split payments. Moreover, OPP was the only party able to offer the flexibility we needed in the onboarding process.”

Migration and implementation

Before the migration to OPP, Collin worked closely with a customer success manager who guided them through the process. Van de Plas: “Since this is a critical system for us that processes €2 million in transactions each month, we didn’t take the decision lightly. We mapped out all our payment flows in detail and ran extensive tests during and after implementation. Throughout the migration and still today, we experience a great deal of personal attention and flexibility from OPP. They always look for solutions: what is possible? For instance, we wanted to remain part of the onboarding process ourselves to keep the personal connection with our users. Together, we found a great structure for this. It’s also helpful to work with a company that has Dutch roots and understands the local implementation of European regulations. Especially for a topic like this, it helps to be able to communicate in Dutch,” says Van de Plas.

Focus on customer experience

At Collin Crowdfund, there is great appreciation for OPP’s creativity and focus on the customer experience for platform users:

“When setting up the new payment platform, all our borrowers were supposed to sign a new direct debit mandate. Together with OPP and the bank, we created a solution that made this unnecessary. We achieved this without major changes or inconvenience for the user. These kinds of unique solutions define our collaboration, which goes far beyond just processing our transactions,” says Van de Plas.

Ambitious growth plans

In addition to supporting thousands of ambitious entrepreneurs, Collin Crowdfund also has ambitious growth plans itself. The platform is expanding into Germany and exploring other European markets. “Of course, we are taking a very thorough approach. It’s reassuring to know that OPP can support us outside of the Netherlands as well. They have also gained valuable insights from their own expansion into these markets. In every respect, this feels like a partnership that will continue to grow with us.”