Square lands in France

Just a few weeks after announcing its launch in Ireland, the payment acceptance giant Square makes another move into the French market.

FACTS

• Square will officially open its dedicated services to French businesses before the end of 2021.

• In the meantime, local merchants are invited to sign up for Square's early access program to test the use of its hardware services and products for free.

• This beta deployment stage involves several services and products from Square's offering, namely:
  • Square Terminal (for in-store payment collection)
  • the Square POS solution (for the collection and management of stocks and after-sales service),
  • Square's online sales tool creation solution,
  • the analysis reporting service offering a complete sales dashboard.

• Limited registration is open for this preview offer. And Square already believes that its initial feedback is positive.

• After the beta version, Square did not present any specific objective in terms of capturing customers in France.

CHALLENGES

• Personalize its offer: One of Square's great strengths is the comprehensiveness of its ecosystem of services. With the beta launch of its offer with a small number of merchants, Square is playing the affinity card to "best meet the (specific) needs of French merchants", according to Daniel Nicolas, Sales Director for Europe, in order to best adapt to this new market.

• Giving a boost: Square announced its installation in Europe at the end of last May. After Ireland, it took only one month for the FinTech to expand to a new country. A strong acceleration (whereas Square was content locally with the British market only since 2017), and which should occupy Square's strategy over the next 4 years according to Daniel Nicolas.

• A concretization of its global hegemony: Despite the competition, Square remains a historical and indisputable reference of the alternative cashiering market. Founded in 2009, the company has diversified considerably since then and is now estimated to be worth nearly $110 billion.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• The French market was already well covered and above all, dominated by powerful and historical players.

• According to the investment bank Jefferies, the banks still hold the largest share of the market, with 59% of the market.

• Worldline holds 11%, and the rest is competed by a growing number of alternative players, SumUp and iZettle (owned by PayPal).