Enba, the Dublin-based holding company for European Internet-only financial services, has signed 10,000 customers in Britain since it launched its first banking product, first-e, in September.
www.first-e.com offers 24-hour access and currently operates solely as a savings account earning 5.92 per cent interest per annum one of the top rates offered in Britain.
Mr Gerhard Huber, the firm's chief executive, says the average deposit is €10,000 (£7,875) which is in line with expectations, and well above the average banking deposit figure of €4,695.
He expects 200,000 customers will have signed to Enba by the end of its first operating year.
In January, Enba will enter the German market, to be followed by France, Spain and Italy. At present, the Republic is not part of its expansion plans. However, the company's headquarters are in Dublin, where the workforce has grown rapidly to 120 within a year. It is to recruit up to 300 additional employees.
Enba is modelled on its US counterpart, Net.B@nk.com, the first Internet-only bank. Recently, NetB@nk's chief lender, Mr Jeff Watson joined Enba as chief information officer.
In September the company completed a €45 million second round of financing. Investors include Capital Z Financial Services, a private equity fund specialising in financial services, CGU, Britain's largest life and general insurance group, and Morgan Stanley International, part of US financial services firm Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
This followed a first round of financing where Enba raised €13.2 million. Investors included Intel.
