BPCE institutionalizes giving through a FinTech

The Banques Populaires, the Caisses d'Epargne and the Crédit Coopératif are today concretising their partnership with the FinTech Heoh, specialised in collecting donations. The aim? To offer a donation solution to all the retail and professional customers of the BPCE group. A national approach capable of massifying solidarity on a local scale.

FACTS

• Professional and retail customers of Banques Populaire, Caisses d'Epargne and Crédit Coopératif will now be able to opt for a new donation collection solution integrated into their customers' payment path.

• This solution has been developed in partnership with the specialist FinTech Heoh. It is based on an application to be installed on payment acceptance terminals.

• Free of charge for merchants who opt for this option, the solution then allows end customers to make rounding or fixed-amount donations when making payments.

• Merchants and businesses affiliated with this solidarity effort can personalise their action by choosing, for example, to define time slots dedicated to collecting donations or thresholds at which to offer the option to their end customers. They can also choose to which association they will give the donations collected.

• Donations made can be transferred to a number of national associations that carry out projects of general interest. These include Médecins Sans Frontières, Apprentis d'Auteuil, APF France Handicap, Adie, Entreprendre pour Apprendre and the SNSM, for example. Local associations are also involved.

CHALLENGES

• Improving relations with its retail customers: BPCE, which has made a commitment with Oney to allow its retail customers to offer fractional payments, is continuing this approach by offering them a new initiative that targets payment and commitment.

• A value proposition: BPCE emphasises that this new solution should enable affiliated professionals to differentiate themselves from other merchants by enhancing their commitment. The proposal of donations allows them to promote the image of their business to their customers, and ultimately, to build customer loyalty.

• A player committed to local solidarity: In addition to the major national causes, this initiative also involves local associations. This is an opportunity for the BPCE group to reaffirm its values as a mutualist group, which enables its retailers to better integrate into their local context.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• This initiative represents an extension of the partnership between BPCE and Heoh, which had already worked together in the past. In 2016, a tripartite partnership that also included Visa enabled the banking group to collect contactless donations to contribute to heritage preservation.

• Heoh has established itself as a leading partner for optimising banks' collection services. It recently signed an association with BNP Paribas, last November, to facilitate the collection of tips by card.