Business

Why CEN Standardization is Good for Big Tech and Small Businesses

Published

4 years ago

March 6, 2021

CEN is the European Committee for Standardization and works to create standards for 34 European countries in the European Union and European Economic Area. CEN standards, which you can access on iTeh Standards, are used to establish industry standards and technical documents for a variety of industries including:

Construction
Consumer products
Chemicals
Air and space
Energy and environment
Food for human consumption
Food for animal consumption
Health and safety
Defense and security
Machinery
Pressure equipment
Smart living
Transport and packaging
And more

Why standardization is essential

Standardization in any industry automatically increases important processes’ efficiency and makes it easier and cheaper to do business. Less time is wasted, less materials are wasted, and standards are continually revised to reflect the most efficient processes.

When small businesses and large corporations adopt industry standards, it strengthens the market competition, which supports economic growth. According to CENELEC, an organization that works jointly with CEN, standards “facilitate innovation and promote the adoption of new technologies.”

What’s so special about CEN standardization?

CEN standards are special because they apply to entire industries across the EU.

Any company can create their own standards in business, but they may not have all the information required to know if their standards are actually best for the industry and customers. When businesses in the same industry create their own standards, they’re not operating at their highest potential. They’re also operating in conflict with one another, which can sometimes make it hard to switch manufacturers and suppliers.

Having CEN standards relieves businesses from having to figure out their own standards at a fundamental level. They can still create their own standards for how they wish to do business, but the base level industry standards will be covered.

Having CEN standards also forces manufacturers and suppliers to conform to a set of industry standards, which helps them stay competitive in the market. When manufacturers and suppliers are required to meet the same standards businesses are accountable for, businesses can order raw materials and products from certified sources.

Standardization enhances the customer experience

No matter what gets standardized, it all leads to a better customer experience by creating consistency. In the end, every bump you can smooth out and every wasted second of time you can eliminate leads to a productive work environment. When teams are productive and things are running smoothly from top to bottom, customers are happier.

Likewise, standards also work to maintain safety, which also enhances the customer experience. For example, health departments set standards for handling and storing food to keep it safe, and machine shop workers follow standards for wearing protective gear and clothing to prevent injury.

You can standardize just about anything in a business, including job activities, rules, procedures, technology, services, behaviors, and measurements.

CEN standards are well-tested and documented

The advantage of CEN standards is they’re well-tested and documented. They weren’t just arbitrarily thrown together by collecting theoretical information across industries. CEN standards are created by studying and testing to see what works, what’s most effective, eliminating what doesn’t work, and establishing a set of rules that can be universally applied across the industry.

On the other hand, when organizations come up with de facto standards, they’re often illogical, ineffective, and counterproductive. De facto standards become a big problem when they’ve remained unchallenged for a long period of time. People want to do things the way they’ve always done them, and introducing standards can be off-putting to many.

Many businesses may not even be aware that their standards are actually inefficient methods like workarounds that have simply been in place for a long time.

There’s always room for more standardization

Standardizing industries is a big task – one that is infinite in scope and duration. There will never be an end to standardization. As technology evolves, standards must evolve alongside whatever tech is being brought to the industry.

While the world’s technology evolves, CEN will continue to work hard to create and develop standards for industries. Hopefully, more businesses will embrace these standards and see them as a support system for their business rather than an inconvenient hurdle.

Business

High Volume, High Value: The Business Logic Behind Black Banx’s Growth

Published

4 days ago

June 16, 2025

Matthew Wiles

In fintech, success no longer hinges on legacy prestige or brick-and-mortar branches—it’s about speed, scale, and precision. Black Banx, under the leadership of founder and CEO Michael Gastauer, has exemplified this model, turning its high-volume approach into high-value results.

The company’s Q1 2025 performance tells the story: $1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, $4.3 billion in revenue, and 9 million new customers added, bringing its total customer base to 78 million across 180+ countries.

But behind the numbers lies a carefully calibrated business model built for exponential growth. Here’s how Black Banx’s strategy of scale is redefining what profitable banking looks like in the digital age.

Scaling at Speed: Why Volume Matters

Unlike traditional banks, which often focus on deepening relationships with a limited set of customers, Black Banx thrives on breadth and transactional frequency. Its digital infrastructure supports onboarding millions of users instantly, with zero physical presence required. Customers can open accounts within minutes and transact across 28 fiat currencies and 2 cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ethereum) from anywhere in the world.

Each customer interaction—whether it’s a cross-border transfer, crypto exchange, or FX transaction—feeds directly into Black Banx’s revenue engine. At scale, these micro-interactions yield macro results.

Real-Time, Global Payments at the Core

One of Black Banx’s most powerful value propositions is real-time cross-border payments. By enabling instant fund transfers across currencies and countries, the platform removes the frictions associated with SWIFT-based systems and legacy banking networks.

This service, used by individuals and businesses alike, generates:

Volume-based revenue from transaction fees
Exchange spreads on currency conversion
Premium service income from business clients managing international payroll or vendor payments

With operations in underserved regions like Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, Black Banx is not only increasing volume—it’s tapping into fast-growing financial ecosystems overlooked by legacy banks.

The Flywheel Effect of Crypto Integration

Crypto capabilities have added another dimension to the company’s high-volume model. As of Q1 2025, 20% of all Black Banx transactions involved cryptocurrency, including:

Crypto-to-fiat and fiat-to-crypto exchanges
Crypto deposits and withdrawals
Payments using Bitcoin or Ethereum

The crypto integration attracts both retail users and blockchain-native businesses, enabling them to:

Access traditional banking rails
Convert assets seamlessly
Operate with lower transaction fees than those found in standard financial systems

By being one of the few regulated platforms offering full banking and crypto support, Black Banx is monetizing the convergence of two financial worlds.

Optimized for Operational Efficiency

High volume is only profitable when costs are contained—and Black Banx has engineered its operations to be lean from day one. With a cost-to-income ratio of just 63% in Q1 2025, it operates significantly more efficiently than most global banks.

Key enablers of this cost efficiency include:

AI-driven compliance and customer support
Cloud-native architecture
Automated onboarding and KYC processes
Digital-only servicing without expensive physical infrastructure

The outcome is a platform that not only scales, but does so without sacrificing margin—each new customer contributes to profit rather than diluting it.

Business Clients: The Value Multiplier

While Black Banx’s massive customer base is largely consumer-driven, its business clients are high-value accelerators. From SMEs and startups to crypto firms and global freelancers, businesses use Black Banx for:

International transactions
Multi-currency payroll
Crypto-fiat settlements
Supplier payments and invoicing

These clients tend to:

Transact more frequently
Use a broader range of services
Generate significantly higher revenue per user

Moreover, Black Banx’s API integrations and tailored enterprise solutions lock in these clients for the long term, reinforcing predictable and scalable growth.

Monetizing the Ecosystem, Not Just the Account

The genius of Black Banx’s model is that it monetizes not just accounts, but entire customer journeys. A user might:

Onboard in minutes
Deposit funds from a crypto wallet
Exchange currencies
Pay an overseas vendor
Withdraw to a local bank account

Each of these actions touches a different monetization lever—FX spread, transaction fee, crypto conversion, or premium service charge. With 78 million customers doing variations of this at global scale, the cumulative financial impact becomes immense.

Strategic Expansion, Not Blind Growth

Unlike many fintechs that chase customer acquisition without a clear monetization path, Black Banx aligns its growth with strategic market opportunities. Its expansion into underbanked and high-demand markets ensures that:

Customer acquisition costs stay low
Services meet genuine needs (e.g., cross-border income, crypto access)
Revenue per user grows over time

It’s not just about acquiring more customers—it’s about acquiring the right customers, in the right markets, with the right needs.

The Future Belongs to Scalable Banking

Black Banx’s ability to transform high-volume engagement into high-value profitability is more than just a fintech success—it’s a signal of what the future of banking looks like. In a world where agility, efficiency, and inclusion define competitive advantage, Black Banx has created a blueprint for digital banking dominance.

With $1.6 billion in quarterly profit, nearly 80 million users, and services that span the globe and the blockchain, the company is no longer just scaling—it’s compounding. Each new user, each transaction, and each feature builds upon the last.

This is not the story of a bank growing.

This is the story of a bank accelerating.