PROFIT · Project

Open-Source Platform That Helps People and Banks Make Smarter Financial Decisions

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Imagine trying to make a big financial decision — buying a house, choosing a pension plan, picking investments — but the information out there is scattered, contradictory, and written in language only bankers understand. PROFIT built a free, open-source platform that gathers financial data from public sources, uses crowd intelligence to spot market trends, and then gives you personalized advice based on your actual situation and knowledge level. Think of it like a financial GPS: it knows where you are, where you want to go, and which roads to avoid. The tools were tested with ethical banks across Europe to make sure they actually work for real people.

By the numbers

consortium partners across Europe

countries represented in the consortium

total project deliverables produced

industry partners in the consortium

SMEs involved in development

58%

industry ratio in the consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

Most people and even many financial professionals struggle to process the flood of financial information available today, leading to poor decisions on savings, investments, and pensions. Banks — especially ethical and cooperative banks — need tools to help their customers understand financial products without expensive one-on-one advisory services. Existing commercial solutions are proprietary, expensive, and not designed for financial inclusion across different literacy levels.

The solution

What was built

The project built a proof-of-concept open-source platform (reaching its third version) that combines financial education toolkits, crowd-sourcing tools for extracting collective financial knowledge, market sentiment forecasting models, and personalized recommendation systems. A total of 25 deliverables were produced, with the platform validated through pilot testing with ethical banking organizations.

Audience

Who needs this

Ethical and cooperative banks looking to improve customer financial literacyFinTech companies building personal finance or robo-advisory productsGovernment consumer protection agencies running financial education programsInsurance companies wanting to help customers understand policy optionsPension fund administrators needing tools to explain retirement planning

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Retail Banking & Ethical Finance

any

Target: Ethical or cooperative banks seeking to improve client financial literacy

If you are a retail or ethical bank dealing with customers who struggle to understand financial products and make poor decisions — this project developed an open-source platform with personalized recommendation tools and financial education modules that were pilot-tested with members of the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks (FEBEA). The platform's third version integrates feedback from pilot organizations across 9 countries.

Financial Technology (FinTech)

SME

Target: FinTech startups building personal finance or robo-advisory products

If you are a FinTech company looking for ready-made open-source components for financial decision support — this project built crowd-sourcing tools for processing financial data, forecasting models that exploit market sentiment to identify trends and threats, and personalized recommendation engines. All 25 deliverables are built on open-source components, meaning you can integrate them into your product stack without licensing fees.

Financial Education & Consumer Protection

any

Target: Government agencies or NGOs running financial literacy programs

If you are an organization responsible for improving public financial literacy — this project created specialized financial education toolkits designed for the wider public, addressing the documented problem of widespread financial illiteracy even in developed EU economies. The platform was validated through pilot testing with banking organizations from 9 European countries and designed to present complex financial data in ways that match each user's literacy level.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What does the platform cost to use or license?

The PROFIT platform is built entirely on open-source components, which means the software itself is free to use and modify. Integration, customization, and deployment costs would depend on your IT infrastructure, but there are no licensing fees for the core platform.

Can this scale to serve thousands of bank customers at once?

The platform was designed to process large volumes of financial data using crowd-sourcing tools and big data techniques. It was pilot-tested with members of FEBEA across multiple countries, though specific user-load numbers are not available in the project data. A conversation with the development team would clarify capacity limits.

What is the IP situation — can we use this commercially?

The platform is built on open-source components, which strongly suggests permissive licensing. However, specific license terms for each component and the overall platform should be confirmed with the coordinator (EEA SRO, Slovakia). Open-source typically allows commercial use with attribution.

How mature is this technology — is it ready for production use?

The platform reached its third version with integrated assessment from pilot organizations, indicating it has been through multiple development and testing cycles. Based on available project data, it is a proven proof of concept validated in real banking environments, but may need further engineering for full production deployment.

What kind of data does the platform work with?

The platform uses open data and linked data sources relevant to financial decision-making. It includes crowd-sourcing tools to extract collective knowledge from financial data, and forecasting models that analyze market sentiment to spot trends and threats.

Does it comply with EU financial regulations?

The project was pilot-tested with FEBEA members — banks committed to responsible banking and finance — which suggests alignment with ethical banking standards. However, specific regulatory compliance (MiFID II, GDPR for financial data) should be verified directly with the consortium. The project ended in 2018, before some current regulations took effect.

What technical support is available?

The project closed in December 2018. Ongoing support depends on whether the consortium or individual partners continued development. The coordinator EEA SRO (Slovakia) and the 7 industry partners in the consortium are the best contacts for current status and support availability.

Consortium

Who built it

The PROFIT consortium is strongly industry-oriented with 7 out of 12 partners (58%) coming from industry, including 4 SMEs — a good sign that the platform was built with commercial viability in mind, not just academic interest. The consortium spans 9 countries (AT, BE, EL, HR, IT, MT, SI, SK, UK), giving it broad European market exposure and multilingual testing ground. The coordinator EEA SRO is a Slovak SME, which means a lean, commercially-motivated lead rather than a slow-moving university. With only 2 universities and 1 research organization, this project was clearly tilted toward building something usable rather than publishing papers.

ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXISparticipant · EL
DIMOKRITIO PANEPISTIMIO THRAKISparticipant · EL
FEDERATION EUROPEENNE DE FINANCES ET BANQUES ETHIQUES ET ALTERNATIVESparticipant · BE
SEMANTIC WEB COMPANY GMBHparticipant · AT
UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOWparticipant · UK

How to reach the team

EEA SRO (Slovakia) — Slovak SME that coordinated the 12-partner consortium. Use SciTransfer's coordinator lookup service for direct contact details.

Order a report on this consortium

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore whether PROFIT's open-source financial decision tools fit your product or service? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the development team and provide a tailored technology brief.

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