The Fintech is generally a startup that uses technology to make financial services more efficient.
They might be perceived as a threat for the traditional banking and financial players.
The Fintech industry has been known by the French public since 2014. Indeed, the French Fintech has followed the trends initiated by the USA. Besides, even if the French industry lags behind the other countries, this sector is in booming. The reason is that the French have less confidence in their banks. Indeed, an article released by Le Monde in 2012, showed that only 33% of the French had confidence in banks. That can be also due to the Financial Crisis in 2008.
The Fintech which is independent of the big financial institutions, is revolutionizing the way that we manipulate money. Moreover, in France, an association regroups the main Fintech – it’s the France Fintech association.
Here are some famous French Fintech:
Leetchi:
Leetchi is a website created in 2009 by Céline Lazorthes. This is the lending service only for group payments. It allows people to collect money for different purposes: anniversary, flight, wedding, funeral, humanitarian, and associative, etc. Available in more than 150 countries and in 4 languages, in April 2014, this platform claimed almost 1.5 million users. Leetchi has been described as the best French startup by Wired Europe.
Bankin’:
Bankin’ is an app created by two entrepreneurs Joan Burkovic and Robin Dauzon in 2011. This app allows to manage your money easily from a mobile apps. Moreover, with Bankin’ you can have all your bank accounts in 4 countries (France, Germany, England and Spain), at the same place and time you can control all you’re spending thanks to the graphic analysis. Also, this app has more than 1.3 million users.
Prêt d’Union:
Prêt d’Union is a crowdfunding platform created in 2009 by Charles Egly, Geoffroy Guigou and Thomas Beyloand, specialized in lending between individuals.
Indeed, this platform connects individuals who would like to borrow with other individuals having money to invest. This platform is the leader in lending between individuals in France. Moreover, Prêt d’Union achieved a record in 2015 with 130 million euros loan lent to 17,000 French households after only four years of activity.
Payname (Morning):
Eric Charpentier created Payname in 2013, before launching his co-banking website in 2014. Morning is a platform allowing the users to do payments peer to peer, to collect money as a funding pot for different purposes (anniversary, wedding etc.) and create an account with an IBAN account number and a card giving access to the bank services via this platform.
Lydia:
This Fintech has been created in 2011 by Cyril Chiche and Antoine Porte. Lydia is an application via free mobile for instantaneous payment. It allows payments between individuals for small transactions of daily life where it is often impossible to pay by credit card (bakery, tobacco, newspapers, and taxis).
In conclusion, even if France has a significant Fintech, it still lags behind the United States and Germany and the United-Kingdom, the Fintech European leaders.
Leslie Charabie
Currently, student in Digital Economy Law, I’ve developed a great interest in ICT and e-marketing.
I am also interested and intrigued by the issues of intellectual property, personal data protection and cyberthreats.
