Ahead of Brexit, Ipagoo Enters the French Market

The British FinTech Ipagoo, subsidiary of Orwell Group, has been granted approval by the ACPR.

Goal: Implement their second office in Paris to boost their development outside of the UK.
Ipagoo achieved EMI status in just two months and relied on the so-called fast track to meet this goal. This procedure is meant for applicants to be granted a licence much faster (typically within 7 business days).
Offer: Ipagoo features a white label solution enabling banks to open multi-currency accounts for their customers, and in several countries.
Crédit Agricole stands out as their first client in France. They relied on Ipagoo to launch Globan’Go, which was also announced recently. This mobile app for customers ages 18 to 29 lets them open local bank accounts in several countries. It has been added to their range of offers for young travellers, Globe-Trotter.
For now, Ipagoo operates in Spain and in Italy. They also intend to address Poland and Germany by the end of the year. And they would be considering to launch in Portugal, as well. Besides their focus on geographical expansion, this FinTech plans to hire roughly 50 employees.

The Brexit threat. FinTechs are actively seeking to be granted licences outside of the UK to avoid service disruptions. Ipagoo opted for France to manage their business outside of the UK.
Beyond Europe. This FinTech aims to become the European “Amazon of banking” and bets on the existing fragmentation in the banking market, they also intend to enter non-European markets. Ipagoo would have applied for licences in the US.
A competitive market. The travel industry is a gold mine for challenger banks and Ipagoo isn’t the only FinTech aiming for this market. Rival companies include Revolut, TransferWise or even Ditto. Yet, even if addressing similar targets, they opted for different market positioning.

In October 2018, Ipagoo joined the British clearing system CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System), and stood out as the first FinTech to become part of the main payment system for large-amount transactions.
FinTech companies seem to consider France as a land of asylum. Just like Ipagoo, several start-ups opted for this market, especially money transfer specialists. The US player Remitly, for instance, just launched in France and would expect it to become one of their largest markets in Europe.

Category : Alertes quotidiennes