PlusMarie: Vienna Fintech Finances Heat Pumps and Pools in Installments
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A heat pump in installments instead of draining the savings account: The new Vienna-based fintech PlusMarie wants to help small trade businesses offer their customers financing without having to build their own credit processes and bank comparisons. The start-up was founded in the summer, has been on the market since late August and, according to the company, already works with about 30 trade businesses and several established banks, including bank99, Bank Austria, Oberbank and easyleasing.
First the Project, Then the Money
Michael Bayer, a co-founder, sees the difference from classic loan comparison sites in the approach. “Most financing platforms ask how much money you need and organize it. Because we specialize in the home improvement market, we first ask about the project and help find the best solution,” he told Trending Topics. For solar panels and heat pumps, leasing is often cheaper than a loan, he said, and the installments are frequently matched to the expected savings on electricity. “With swimming pools, people often have room left on the mortgage on their house, so we refinance the mortgage.”
Also for Private Customers
In addition to going through trade businesses, private customers can also finance their projects directly at plusmarie.at. According to PlusMarie, the most requested projects are solar panels, air-conditioning, pools, bathrooms, windows and sun protection, roofs, heating, heat pumps and gardens. Depending on the project, the platform checks loans, leasing or mortgages, and it also handles the refinancing of existing mortgages.
For customers, the comparison is free and nonbinding. PlusMarie itself is not a bank: The contract is signed directly with the partner bank whose offer the customer chooses, and it only becomes binding once it is signed. According to the start-up, banks offer the same interest rates through PlusMarie as through other financing platforms. The commission only indirectly affects the interest rate, the company says, and competition among several banks can even make the financing cheaper overall. Documents such as an ID and proof of income can be submitted later in the application.
Status Updates for Businesses
The second target group is the businesses themselves. Austria’s home improvement market has more than 20,000 of them, most with fewer than 10 employees. “When a business sends its customers to another comparison platform, it doesn’t know whether and when the customer will get the money,” Mr. Bayer said. PlusMarie provides status updates and allows businesses to offer installment plans directly. Until now, that has mostly only been possible through direct partnerships between a business and a bank, “but then the end customer has no way to compare.”
Additional pressure comes from an amendment to Austria’s consumer credit law that takes effect at the end of November. Businesses that offer installment plans themselves will then have to check and document their customers’ creditworthiness and may only grant installments if repayment is likely. Without their own credit and legal departments, that is hardly feasible, PlusMarie argues.
Erste Bank and Raiffeisen in Its Sights
The country’s two largest banking groups are not yet among the partners. “I don’t want to jinx anything, but we hope to be able to announce a partnership with one of them soon,” Mr. Bayer said of Erste Bank and Raiffeisen. Some banks are more flexible when it comes to working with partners like PlusMarie on consumer financing, he added. The goal is ambitious: “I think that by this time in 2027 we will probably have 10 or more bank partners.”
The business model is a classic one: PlusMarie receives a referral commission from the banks, calculated as a percentage of the financing amount. The start-up was founded by Mr. Bayer and Matthias Hausberger, who both studied at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. Mr. Bayer then spent four years at Morgan Stanley in London, and Mr. Hausberger spent four years in product management at the Berlin software company Contentful.
The Competition
PlusMarie is up against established loan comparison sites and banks that partner directly with businesses. In Germany, the Berlin climate fintech Bees & Bears takes a similar approach: It lets trade businesses offer installment plans for solar panels, heat pumps and batteries directly during the sales consultation. The start-up has secured a €500 million financing facility for this. Already active in Austria is the Berlin energy fintech Cloover, which offers installers a software and financing platform for solar panels, heat pumps, batteries and wall boxes. Cloover has opened an office in Vienna and plans to finance installations worth about €50 million in Austria this year. Founded in 2023, the company says it is profitable and has an annualized run rate of more than €300 million, measured by the value of the installations sold through its platform.
