komuno – digital platform for municipal loans goes live

"komuno", the digital platform for the arrangement of municipal loans, has now gone live. The joint venture between Helaba Digital, the invest­ment company of Helaba Landes­bank Hessen-Thüringen, and Lucht Probst Asso­ciates (LPA) makes public tenders for investment loans and cash advances significantly faster, more efficient and easier to process.

komuno is a web-based, location-independent and secure solution with the infra­structure of a digital market­place. This is where supply and demand meet and - tailored to the needs of both sides - are brought together in an optimal way. Depending on individual requirements, local autho­rities themselves decide which investors they would like to approach; and, if desired, in a variety of different ways. The range of services includes new loans and prolongations, short-term liquidity and long-term fixed interest rates. Thanks to key budget figures, information on budget status and upload options for budgets, budget statutes, credit approvals, etc., investors can make quick, well-founded decisions with a minimum of effort.

Before going live, the functionalities of the komuno platform were put through their paces in a closed test phase with selected savings banks and munici­palities. Particular emphasis was placed on the intuitive ease of use, the high degree of trans­parency on the platform and its needs-based design for municipal professionals, including audit-proof process docu­mentation. In a subse­quent open test phase at the beginning of August, financial institutions were able to register for komuno and see the benefits of the platform for them­selves. More than 60 savings banks, Landes­banks and local autho­rities have already taken advantage of this option. With the start of the official onboarding phase on 3 September 2018, registration and use for business trans­actions on komuno is now possible.

At the same time, work is already underway on the further develop­ment of the platform. The aim is to completely digitise municipal financing for munici­palities and financial institutions. Among other things, work is being done on digital contract drafting, digital signatures and automatic interfaces to the platform users' IT systems.

At present, only savings banks and Landes­banks are approved to use komuno in addition to local authorities. After reviewing the first trans­actions on komuno and the reactions of municipal users and partici­pants from the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, a decision will be taken to expand the investor base.

Helaba Digital GmbH is an invest­ment company owned by Helaba Landes­bank Hessen-Thüringen that focuses on inno­vative companies that are the driving forces behind the issue of digital trans­formation in the areas of financial services (Fintechs), regulation (Regtechs) and the real estate sector (Proptechs). This leads to investments that actively com­plement the Helaba Group’s business model and optimise the bank’s core processes.