lemon.markets
lemon.markets is a securities infrastructure provider for companies building investment products. Banks and financial apps can use the service to let customers invest in shares and funds through their own interface. The provider runs the securities operations behind that customer-facing product, so a partner can add investing to an existing service.
lemon.markets connects those products to brokerage operations, including trade execution and securities custody. An API, a software connection between systems, lets a partner send instructions and receive account information. The service covers the operational infrastructure that a company would otherwise need to assemble before launching an investment product.
Brokerage through a single API
lemon.markets is a brokerage-as-a-service platform that gives partners access to capital markets through a single API. The lemon.markets infrastructure lets partners add investment products to their own services. The firm was founded in Berlin in 2020 by Max Linden, its CEO, according to dwpbank.
lemon.markets is a BaFin-licensed investment firm under the German Securities Institutions Act (WpIG). The lemon.markets license covers principal broking, portfolio management, safekeeping and administration, and investment broking. Through brokerage as a service, a partner can therefore offer securities to its customers without its own license for these services.
How the API works for a partner
The partner keeps its own app and its own customer. Behind the API, lemon.markets handles clearing, execution, compliance, operations and custody. lemon.markets offers three operating models, omnibus, BPO and fully disclosed. According to dwpbank, the infrastructure is cloud based and supports fractional trading and real-time processing for ETFs, shares and funds.
At its launch, according to Finance Magnates, BNP Paribas acted as custodian and processed all transactions, Deutsche Bank handled payments between lemon.markets and end users, and Tradegate gave access to the exchange with trading from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. The first partner to go live was the financial education app beatvest. lemon.markets names Tomorrow, Holvi, Optio, Pleo and Vivid among its fintech partners.
Part of the dwpbank group
dwpbank bought all shares of lemon.markets and closed the deal on 30 September 2025, after approval from BaFin, as its press release states (in German). dwpbank wanted a neobrokerage solution next to its full-custody service for banks. lemon.markets adds the lean custody account for neobrokers, and the WP3 platform from dwpbank serves banks with a global custody account across all asset classes. Both firms keep their own brands and their own management.
dwpbank also runs wpNex, its crypto platform for banks and savings banks. The announcement of the deal names lemon.markets, WP3 and wpNex together as the infrastructure for standardized brokerage and custody services.
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What does lemon.markets do?
lemon.markets runs the securities business for other companies through one API, from execution to custody. The partner sells investing under its own brand in its own app.
Who owns lemon.markets?
lemon.markets has been a wholly owned subsidiary of dwpbank, the Deutsche WertpapierService Bank, since 30 September 2025 and operates under its own brand.
Is lemon.markets regulated?
Yes, lemon.markets is an investment firm licensed by BaFin under the German Securities Institutions Act, with permissions for principal broking, portfolio management, safekeeping and administration, and investment broking.
Brokerage and securities infrastructure
lemon.markets and Finance Loop
Finance Loop covers brokerage infrastructure and the APIs behind investment apps in its Investment & Digital Assets track. dwpbank, the owner of lemon.markets, provides the securities and crypto services behind German savings banks and cooperative banks.
Finance Loop is a professional network supporting the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.