With nearly €2.3 billion raised in 2021, the French fintech sector is booming.
As the world becomes increasingly digitized, it’s no surprise that the financial sector is next in line for a technological overhaul. In France, this revolution is being led by fintech startups, which are harnessing new technologies to create innovative solutions for the banking and payments industries. And as the French fintech ecosystem continues to grow, it’s poised to play a major role in boosting the country’s economy.
1. What is fintech and why is it important?
2. The French fintech scene
3. How fintech is changing the banking and payments industries
4. The future of French fintech
1. What is fintech and why is it important?
Fintech is a term that describes the use of technology in the financial services industry. It covers a wide range of applications, from online banking and payments to wealth management and insurance.
Fintech has become increasingly important in recent years as consumers have shifted away from traditional banking products and services. In response, banks and other financial institutions have been investing heavily in fintech startups and technologies. This has resulted in some impressive innovations, such as mobile payment systems, peer-to-peer lending platforms, and blockchain-based currencies.
France has many groups supporting digital transformation and innovative projects: BPI france, Banque de France, French Fintech Week, France Fintech, Credit Agricole, Arkea.
Fintech benefits from a stable regulatory framework led by the European Union. The European Union created an environment that is attractive for foreign investments. This is certainly a reason why France is home to a thriving fintech ecosystem, with startups like Lydia, Pockit, and Qonto leading the charge. These companies are using cutting-edge technologies to provide consumers with new and improved ways to manage their finances.
2. The French fintech companies and scene
The French fintech sector is home to some of the world’s leading companies. Major players include:
-Aqoba: Aqoba is a digital banking platform that offers online and mobile banking products and services.
-Lendix: Lendix is a peer-to-peer lending platform that allows businesses to borrow money from individual investors.
-Smile: Smile is a mobile payments company that offers a range of payment solutions for businesses and consumers.
-Boursorama: Boursorama is a leading online bank in France, offering a range of banking products and services to consumers and businesses.
These are just a few of the many French fintech companies that are leading the charge in terms of innovation and growth.
France hosts many fintech events organized such as :
- ACPR AMF Fintech Forum
- France Fintech Forum
- InvestGlass Genius Bars
- Paris Fintech Forum
- Patrimonia
- Agefi AM for financial products
- Fintech R events
Banks and insurance companies are organising challenges in their fintech hub to foster start-ups creativity and new partnerships :
- Credit Agricole
- Société Generale
- BNP Paribas
This does not mean that integration with their system is easier but at least it creates opportunities for relationships.
3. How fintech is changing the financial services industry and payments industries
Fintech is offering to asset management, payments and banking new innovation with respect to their supervisory authorities. Banque de France and other institutions are pushing for open finance.
Open finance is a term that describes the use of technology in the financial services industry. It covers a wide range of applications, from online banking and payments to wealth management and insurance.
Open finance has become increasingly important in recent years as consumers have shifted away from traditional banking products and services. In response, banks and other financial institutions have been investing heavily in open finance startups and technologies. This has resulted in some impressive innovations, such as mobile payment systems, peer-to-peer lending platforms, and blockchain-based currencies.
France has many groups supporting digital transformation and innovative projects: BPI france, Banque de France, French Fintech Week, France Fintech, Credit Agricole, Arkea.
Open finance benefits from a stable regulatory framework led by the European Union. The European Union created an environment that is attractive for foreign investments. This is certainly a reason why France is home to a thriving open finance ecosystem, with startups like Lydia, Pockit, and Qonto leading the charge. These companies are using cutting-edge technologies to provide consumers with new and improved ways to manage their finances.
For example, SILVR is supporting B2C internet-based businesses with innovative financing solutions. They crush big data and open banking to offer loans and therefore offer financial stability to growing internet businesses. This is offering a new type of solution for financial groups.
This financial revolution driven by technology is not only restricted to banks but also to payments. fintech is developing new ways of paying such as Lydia, Glance technologies or Paylib.
Lydia is the first free mobile application allowing anyone with a smartphone to send and receive money instantly between friends, whether they have a Lydia account or not. France’s fintech ecosystem is very proud of this solution.
Fintech has proven to be a very resilient sector and is often one of the first to innovate during difficult times. For example, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2008, fintech companies developed new ways to manage and borrow money. This helped to revive the economy and provide much-needed relief to consumers and businesses. If we have another economic crisis, we can bet that startups and the entire ecosystem will come up with innovative solutions to support growth, and payment and reduce global risks of lending to new businesses.
In difficult times, fintech can provide much-needed stability and innovation to the financial services industry. This makes it an important sector to watch and invest in.
4. The future of French fintech in a competitive financial ecosystem
France will have to resist to the pressure of majors : Google Cloud, AWS cloud, Alicloud, Apple solutions. New edition of Apple payment is now offering a purchase now pay later. This is a major threat for french fintechs specialized in this domain.
The European Union is trying to protect start ups by implementing new regulations that favour innovation. These regulations include the PSD2 directive, which requires banks to open their systems to fintech companies and allow them to offer innovative payment solutions. This will help fintech companies to compete with the big players in the financial services industry.
The French government is also doing its part to support the fintech sector. In 2016, the French government launched a national fintech strategy, which aims to promote innovation and growth in the sector. This strategy includes a number of measures to support fintech companies, including tax breaks, simplified regulation, and investment in infrastructure.
The future looks bright for French fintech, as it continues to grow and innovate. The sector is attracting investment from both domestic and international investors and is poised for further growth in the years ahead.
European Union setup a regulation called GDPR which data processing is now more restricted. GDPR aims to give more power to the people when it comes to their data. This will help prevent companies from abusing customer data, and will allow customers to have more control over their data. Access to data will be more difficult for companies, which will make it harder for them to develop new products and services. This could hamper innovation in the fintech sector, as startups will find it harder to get access to data.
The European Union is also working on artificial intelligence regulation which will impact the financial system. The challenge for the European Union is to create a level playing field for all companies, regardless of their size. This will be a difficult task, as large companies have more resources to develop and implement artificial intelligence.
French Fintech is ready to boost the financial ecosystem – yes but…
French fintech is poised for growth in the years ahead. The sector has attracted investment from both domestic and international investors. To conquer the world, innovation and start-ups will have to be more capitalized, to create an undeniable competitive advantage and industrial expertise.