ADN’co Payments Insight – February 2018

Players’ strategy – Encouraging first steps for European neo-banks

• UNITED KINGDOM – Based on the banking licence which came with their purchase of Harrods Bank, Tandem Bank launches a payment card and associated cashback offer. This Mastercard-affiliated offer does not apply fees on the transactions they make abroad. Read more
• EUROPE – Revolut reached the 1.5 million users milestone and breaks even. Read more
• EUROPE – N26 reports their 2017 earnings. This neo-bank now has 200,000 customers in France. Read more
• FRANCE – Barely four months after launch, Orange Bank claims they attracted 100,000 customers. Read more

Smartphones have become mainstream and so have many new associated use cases. Mobile banks are starting to gain momentum in Europe, and their respective development choices stand out in France.

Tandem Bank, for instance, intends to roll out a credit card while modernising this historical product. Other FinTechs, such as Revolut and Orange Bank, managed to draw attention as their customer bases have been growing fast: they soon achieved key steps in their development.

Mobile services – Wallets soon to become “everyday” payment tools

• INDIA – WhatsApp would be testing a new P2P payment feature in India. Read more
• FRANCE – Carrefour launches their own mobile payment solution, Carrefour Pay. Read more

Driven by the increasing part played by connected devices and contactless connectivity, the dematerialisation process in the payments industry is advancing by leaps and bounds, and same goes for mobile payment services.

French retail giants and leading providers of instant messaging services, including Carrefour and WhatsApp (featured in this edition), are some of the many players now positioned in this segment. In France, Carrefour Pay is yet another challenger to rival Lyf Pay and Paylib.