First-e boss takes swipe at online rivals

NEWS Speaking in an interview with Irish newspaper The Sunday Tribune, Gerhard Huber, CEO and co-founder of Enba, the holding company behind First-e, admitted he had underestimated the competitive threat posed by other online banks. However, he claimed that despite major advertisement campaigns and intensive brand building, rocky market conditions and internal wrangling will see many leading online banks fold back into their parent firms within the next two years. He admitted that the survival of his own company's offering rests on a merger with Uno-e, a financial services subsidiary of Spanish banking giant BBV. The merger is currently awaiting approval in Spain, but if it approved it will create a new internet bank called Uno-first with an estimated market value of E250m (E159m).