Northmill is targeting expansion across the EU, as the Swedish challenger bank reports quarterly pre-tax profits of 56 million kronor (€5.1m).
The retail and business bank currently operates across the Nordic markets of Sweden, Norway, and Finland. The challenger bank was founded in 2006 and secured a full banking licence in 2019, regulated by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority.
It has around 140,000 retail and 4,000 business customers and competes against big incumbent banks in Sweden. It is backed by M2 Asset Management, the Swedish investment company, and the asset management firm Coeli.
Julie Chatterjee, Northmill CEO, said: “We want to continue expanding our presence, with Finland as a key priority — and next year, into new markets as well. Our playground is the entire EU.”
When asked about which specific EU markets, Chatterjee said it was still scanning prospective markets, gauging market fit. Northmill offers savings, credit, payments and insurance. Its Q2 earnings, which were up from 46 million kronor the year previous, were helped by consumer card growth, which now numbers more than 140,000 holders.
Chatterjee also discussed Northmill’s adoption of AI tools. Chatterjee said: "We take a pragmatic view on AI. It should support and accelerate the overall strategy." And in a light-hearted dig at Klarna, she added: “For us, the strategy is scalability through AI, and we apply it where it truly adds value — so you won’t see me as an avatar presenting our Q2 results.”
Chatterjee added: “Our priority is to build internal LLMs and leverage AI to strengthen our capabilities, rather than focusing primarily on customer-facing applications.”
Areas in which the bank is using AI tools include its IT departments using AI coding assistant Cursor, marketing using an AI SEO tool, leveraging AI for automating credit decisions, and using AI as a customer service support tool.
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