Europe-based military banking challenges
Despite military-friendly traditional banks and digital-first ‘neobanks’ in Europe, Europe-based military personnel still face financial challenges. Military life includes frequent moves, temporary duty abroad, deployments, and career transitions, which present unique financial challenges. A recent Rand report stated that ‘service members make many transitions throughout their careers—from location to location, from military job to military job, and, eventually, to civilian life.’
The 2023 Military Family Support Programming Survey results clearly show compounding challenges for military families, such as ‘the expense of frequent moves and the hidden costs associated, like paying for first and last month rent or extended stays in temporary lodging due to lack of housing availability.’
Splitting finances between households, opening host country bank accounts, and buying a car or home are some challenges that disproportionately impact military personnel living and working across Europe.
Additionally, some multinational service members and spouses reported slow transfers, high fees, monthly limits, or losing money when exchanging and transferring their salary to their home accounts. Excessive fees, commissions, and limitations on managing finances while living and serving in Europe were consistent observations with existing solutions. Prospective customers also expressed a desire for personalisation and having ‘one bank that provided all the services required to enable living/serving abroad’.
These stories and observations led to the creation of DECC’s digital financial services for Europe-based military personnel and spouses/partners.
‘When we talk to multinational soldiers from 15 different nationalities, many express satisfaction with their home bank services despite long money transfer times and problems with card use or blocking abroad. When opening local accounts, they often feel frustrated by the complexity, bureaucracy, and lack of IBANs and country-specific bill payment options. Common challenges with neobanks include rising fees, currency exchange limits, and automated customer service. More significantly, soldiers face greater financial difficulties when buying cars and homes overseas,’ said Victor R. Morris, DECC Founder.
Why DECC is not just another digital military banking app
‘We believe that military banking across borders should be seamless, supported, and rewarding for all our defence customer segments and their unique international lifestyles. The defence community deserves more personalised financial products, improved user experience, unique rewards, and better service tailored to their needs and exceeding their expectations’.
‘We founded DECC because we see all NATO and key partner nation military personnel and their spouses or partners as a market that deserves digital-first financial services for their unique professional specialties, lifestyles, and missions’, Victor added.
For example, local account setup is designed to be a breeze through DECC’s streamlined and secure ‘open local account’ process. It allows customers to complete the entire account application within minutes through the app before or after they move, eliminating the need for extensive paperwork or long in-person visits to bank branches.
To ensure this vision becomes a reality, DECC was created by US-Army Veteran, NATO Consultant, and London School of Economics (LSE) alumnus Victor R. Morris. Led by a founding team with app development, European fintech, global financial services, and NATO digital marketing expertise, DECC provides personalised financial services for the Europe-based defence community through its partnership network and secure, easy-to-use app.
Key DECC initial products:
- Local accounts and transferable reward points across European defence hubs
- Low or no fees for international transfers, exchanges, and payments
- High-yield savings while deployed in Europe (Up to $10,000 may be deposited, earning up to 10% interest annually while deployed)
- Low-interest military-only ‘Defender credit card’ (APR as low as 11.24%; as low as 6% while deployed)
- Low-interest ‘Defender Career Starter Loan’ for European military cadets entering active military service (APR as low as 3% for up to €25,000)
- Financial intelligence products for all defence hubs
DECC’s High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA) is designed to benefit soldiers deployed within Europe as part of multinational battlegroups. Eligible soldiers can earn up to 10% annual interest on their savings, specifically during deployment. This rate is prorated for deployments lasting between 6 to 9 months, ensuring fair earnings relative to the duration spent enhancing forward presence and deterrence.
Defender card points increase during large-scale training exercises like Defender Europe, Steadfast Defender, Steadfast Deterrence, and Steadfast Duel. Visit www.defcomcap.com to learn more about DECC’s initial product eligibility as well as terms and conditions (T&Cs).
‘Our digital-first approach enables us to pass our savings on to customers through high-yield savings, low interest rates, and location-specific customer service. With this approach, we can also provide a high level of flexibility, customisation, and convenience that other banks don’t prioritise for military customers in Europe,’ added Victor R. Morris.
Notably, the DECC business model is transparent. We make money through:
- interchange fees from merchants
- revenue sharing with partners
- interest income
- premium subscriptions from customers (2026)
The free app subscription entitles customers to our high-yield deployment savings, credit cards, financial intelligence, and future low-interest career, car, and home loan products.
Security and ease of use by design
DECC is a fintech company, not a traditional bank. Money is secured in licensed banks, and DECC’s mission-driven bank partners provide banking services. Our technology prioritises ease of use, user privacy, and security through fraud alerts, the ability to block/unblock cards, and personalised financial intelligence products that support moves and travel.
DECC is also planning to integrate a system for offline payments for specific operational environments. This feature enables secure offline payment transactions with additional privacy protection and higher levels of data security.
‘At DECC, we’re reimagining what a digital-first military bank for the international defence community could be – from seamless cross-border banking, cashback for on-base shopping to high-yield savings and tailored credit and lending solutions exclusively for our community, all in one highly secure place,’ said Victor.
Learn more about DECC and join our community by visiting defcomcap.com