An Interview with Daniel Nicolescu CEO & Co-Founder Symphopay: The Story Behind ‘Welcoming Banks and Merchants into the Future’
🇷🇴 Romanian Fintech Association
The local professional association, formed by tech companies building proprietary products and their partners.
Symphopay is reshaping the payments landscape, transforming simple transactions into meaningful opportunities for engagement. Guided by its tagline “From Payment to Engagement,” the company seamlessly connects banks, merchants, and customers to deliver value at every interaction.
But what inspired its creation? In this exclusive interview, CEO and Co-Founder Daniel Nicolescu reveals the story behind Symphopay - from its beginnings to its bold vision for the future. He discusses the challenges that shaped the company’s journey, its unique value to the fintech market, the key lessons learned along the way, and much more. Let’s explore.
RoFintech: What inspired you to create Symphopay, and how did your previous experiences shape its vision?
Daniel: I've been passionate about digital payments since 2001, and that drive led to the creation of Symphopay. Our aim was to revolutionize in-store payment processing by using technology to unlock new opportunities for large retailers and their banking partners. Rather than relying on the traditional direct link between payment terminals and banks, we developed a digital platform that acts as an intermediary. This approach delivers a more flexible, efficient, and engaging payment experience for retailers, banks, and customers alike.
RoFintech: What were the toughest challenges you faced in the early days of Symphopay, and how did you overcome them?
Daniel: When we talk about payments, we need to think about 'trust.' Our team's reputation significantly helped us start the business, but earning a seat at the table required hard work, determination, and patience. Fortunately, we received tremendous support from our first customers, initial investors, and business angels.
One of our toughest challenges was securing our first contract, which involved deploying a solution unlike anything else on the market. We invested over 200,000 euros to develop a mobile payments solution that could handle transactions for multiple merchants using the same mobile terminal. After the successful launch, we raised industry eyebrows and began to pursue new opportunities.
RoFintech: In a competitive fintech market, how does Symphopay stand out and bring unique value to customers and businesses?
Daniel: Symphopay distinguishes itself in the competitive fintech market as a consumer-centric platform. Unlike any other solution, Symphopay allows merchants to easily integrate marketing campaigns at the POS, transforming every payment into a new business opportunity. Transactions are routed to multiple banks based on the selected payment method and merchant rules, typically aiming to reduce costs by up to 20% while delivering a memorable shopping experience.
Tailored for enterprise needs, our platform supports high transaction volumes with robust fallback systems for maximum speed and uptime, ensuring reliability and efficiency.
RoFintech: What advice would you give to fintech entrepreneurs who are trying to secure funding and grow their businesses?
Daniel: I'm not sure I'm the best person to give advice about investments, especially in these times when funding is hard to come by. My journey was fortunate, thanks to Radu Georgescu, our first investor, who believed in our vision and execution.
As a high-level guidance, fintech entrepreneurs follow the 4T strategic framework: Team, Technology, Traction and Timing.
Team: Start with a great team. We were lucky to work with top engineers with proven payment expertise, a key to our success.
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Technology: Focus on innovative technology. We developed a disruptive architecture that integrates business processes with payments in real-time, combining online platforms and payment terminals.
Traction: Show market validation through customers, revenue, or partnerships. Early on, securing Letters of Intent from merchants and banks validated our ecosystem and opened doors.
Timing: Timing is critical. Though we started a bit early, it gave us a head start as the demand for payment orchestration solutions matured.
RoFintech: How do you see the future of digital payments, and what role do you envision for Symphopay in this evolution?
Daniel: I see no future without digital payments. Cards, wallets, digital coins, and instant credit have already become the norm. While cash will still exist, it will primarily be used by some to maintain a sense of control over their spending.
Symphopay will continue to strengthen financial connections and related services between banks and merchants. We will use innovation as the main driver of value creation, ensuring we remain at the forefront of the digital payments evolution.
RoFintech: What are Symphopay's goals for international expansion, and what steps are you taking to reach new markets?
Daniel: We are preoccupied with international expansion, but our priority is building a strong, mature local ecosystem to ensure a solid foundation for future growth.
RoFintech: In fintech, how do you balance the drive to innovate with the need to stay compliant with regulations?
Daniel: As a Technical Service Provider, we are not required to be licensed as a financial institution. However, we comply with PCI-DSS, the highest credit card security standard, audited annually since 2018. By embedding robust security into our technology, we prioritise compliance to build trust while driving innovation.
About Symphopay
Symphopay is a powerful payments orchestration platform that simplifies payment integration at the point of sale. Designed for banks and merchants, Symphopay optimizes transaction processes, reduces costs, and enhances customer experiences by seamlessly connecting multiple payment methods.
Unlike traditional solutions, Symphopay is a fully digital platform that empowers merchants with advanced business tools, real-time reports, and analytics. Merchants gain unparalleled control and insights into consumer payments and behaviours, elevating the level of management and understanding of transactions.
Founded in 2015, Symphopay was established by a team of seasoned experts in digital platforms and payment applications. The company has successfully secured two investment rounds, led by GECAD Ventures and Early Game Ventures.