Turning the corner: From fintech outsiders to key European players heading into the future

Clearhaus is celebrating 10 years on the Danish and international fintech scene. The Aarhus-based company, which sent its first payment in 2015, now has over 33,000 online shops as customers across 33 European markets. And while the company initially battled slow onboarding processes and clunky legacy solutions, the next move is now ready: Unified Commerce.

“Clearhaus was founded with the ambition to change the way online payments work. We did away with the long onboarding processes, opaque terms, poor interfaces and limited technical support for businesses. Since 2015, we’ve grown rapidly and we’ve strived to ensure fast onboarding, robust APIs and an intuitive dashboard. Soon we will also be able to handle redemption from physical stores,” says Francois Vachon, Managing Director at Clearhaus.

During 2025, Clearhaus will expand its acquiring license to cover physical payments (POS). This will enable customers to use the same solution for online, mobile and in-store – one channel, one technical platform, one data set. This is a significant strategic shift that positions Clearhaus as one of the first Danish players to seriously invest in Unified Commerce.

“Being able to act as an acquirer for physical payments is a natural next step towards bringing Unified Commerce to Denmark. Unified Commerce is not a trend – it’s the future,” says Francois Vachon.

Aarhus fintech in German hands

With the expansion to POS and American Express certification coming in 2026, Clearhaus is accelerating its European growth. Since 2021, the company has been part of Unzer Group – a German payments giant with access to capital, infrastructure and international customers. This has strengthened Clearhaus’ ability to move quickly in a market characterized by fierce competition and high technological complexity.

Clearhaus is not the only company owned by Unzer Goup shaping the fintech landscape in Aarhus. Quickpay was launched in 2004 and is today one of Denmark’s largest online payment gateways with over 30,000 webshops and four million transactions every month. Quickpay was also able to mark a sharp, round corner with its 20th anniversary last year.

After the sale to Unzer Group in 2021, Quickpay has increased its European footprint and, like Clearhaus, set its sights on unified commerce with the ambition to unite online and offline channels in a single payment solution.

“In recent years, several retailers have switched from physical store operations to online sales, which has given our revenue a huge boost. However, we have experienced growth every year since our establishment,” says Mark Eskelund Pedersen, Commercial Lead at Quickpay.

Both companies now operate as sister companies in the Unzer family and are moving in the same direction – but with different approaches and product lines. Where Clearhaus has built its own acquiring engine, Quickpay acts as a gateway and link between webshops and the many available payment methods.

From outsiders to fintech community

A lot has happened since Clearhaus started up in 2015. Founder Claus Christensen has previously told TechSavvy about this.

“It took us a long time to raise capital. So we spent the first few years building our systems and preparing to go live. When we finally got the last capital in 2014, we went live the following year. Many would say it was too slow, but we simply couldn’t raise that money at a faster pace. If I had to do it all over again, I’d probably get on a plane to London,” said Claus Christensen in 2022.

Quickpay founder Thomas Jensen also remembers a different time. In 2004, the payment market was chaotic and fragmented with over 100 gateways in play. Quickpay stood out as one of the few players with a proprietary platform and a clear strategic direction from the start.

“Quickpay really gained a foothold when the market was regulated. VISA/Mastercard required providers to obtain PCI (Payment Card Industry) certification to tighten security and professionalize the industry. Many dropped out because the certification was complex, demanding and costly. We ended up being among the few remaining gateway providers. Since then, the market has consolidated further,” says Thomas Jensen.

Fintech is no longer just a niche industry in Aarhus – it has also become its own community. In northern Aarhus, the four fintech profiles and founders Morten and Søren Soltveit, Claus Methmann Christensen and Thomas Jensen have transformed a former data center into POP2: A thriving fintech hub.

After exiting Quickpay and Clearhaus, the four decided to invest in the local ecosystem. The result is a co-working space that today houses over 20 companies – primarily fintech and tech startups. Residents include Anyday, Eio Energi, Jysk Energi, Hakio, MyMedCards, Safty, Vibrant and a satellite branch of Copenhagen Fintech.

Indlægget Turning the corner: From fintech outsiders to key European players heading into the future blev først udgivet på TechSavvy.