Tagged: france

January 9, 2020 @ 6:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Qonto, a neo-bank for business account holders that was established in France in 2017, has expanded its operations into Germany, Italy, and Spain. Notably, Qonto was the recipient of the first investment by billionaire Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures in France during its Series A funding… Read More

December 23, 2019 @ 8:21 am By Therese Torris  |  

The French community of Fintech startups gathered at the annual dinner of the France Fintech Association to review the achievements of the past year and celebrate the holiday season. Crowdfund Insider took the opportunity to ask leading executives in Fintech and alternative finance to take… Read More

December 22, 2019 @ 5:01 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fintech startups Spendesk, Wynd, and Lunchr conducted some of the largest fundraising rounds in France in 2019. A study by “Observatoire de la Fintech” reveals that these financial technology companies secured a total of $700 million (appr. €625 million) in capital. Mikaël Ptachek, head of… Read More

December 19, 2019 @ 8:43 am By JD Alois  |  

The French Autorité des Marché Financiers (AMF) has qualified its first “Visa” for an issuer seeking to promote and pursue and an initial coin offering (ICO). Updated rules regarding utility type tokens were recently approved under the Loi Pacte (Pacte Law) – an act of… Read More

December 13, 2019 @ 7:50 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Germany-headquartered Wirecard, a payments platform, and France’s Orange Bank, a challenger bank, announced on December 11 that they’re extending their existing business relationship to allow Android users in France to make payments through Google Pay. Orange Bank claims that 17% of all mobile payments in… Read More

December 7, 2019 @ 11:44 am By JD Alois  |  

The “Loi Pacte” was approved by the French government earlier this year. the new law included multiple policy moves designed to improve the overall competitiveness of the French economy. As part of the legislation, France created bespoke rules for initial coin offerings. Under French law,… Read More

December 7, 2019 @ 9:38 am By JD Alois  |  

October, a European marketplace lending platform for SMEs has signed the United Nation’s “Principles for Responsible Investing.” October claims to be one of the first online lenders to agree to the “UN PRI.” The UN PRI defines responsible investment as a “strategy and practice to… Read More

December 5, 2019 @ 6:52 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Banque of France will begin testing a Central Bank Digital Currency (or CBDC) in 2020, according to a report in Les Echos – the leading business publication of France. Quoting François Villeroy de Galhau, the Governor of the Banque of France, who was speaking… Read More

December 2, 2019 @ 3:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Paris-based Pixpay, a company (launched in January 2019) that aims to replace cash when parents give pocket money to their children, allows anyone at least 10 years old to open a Pixpay account, acquire a debit card, and start managing their allowance money. Although challenger… Read More

December 2, 2019 @ 12:58 pm By Therese Torris  |  

Younited Credit, the consumer lending platform with a presence in six European countries, announced the launch of a new business unit dedicated to its BtoB offering, Younited Business Solutions. Younited Business Solutions is targeting banks, insurers, mobile operators, merchant sites, and payment service providers. It… Read More

November 29, 2019 @ 12:55 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

France-based Virgil, a Fintech firm that supports millennial home-ownership, recently raised €2.1 million ($2.3 million) from Alven Capital, Kima Ventures, LocalGlobe, and several angel investors. The capital raised will help Virgil achieve its short-term goals, which include finalizing at least 100 transactions each month by… Read More

November 27, 2019 @ 7:26 am By Omar Faridi  |  

France-based Fintech firm Particeep, an established editor of whitelabel internet-based distribution solutions and editor for financial products and services, has finalized a €1.2 million ($1.3 million) venture loan funding deal with La Banque Wormser Frères. Particeep’s latest funding brings the total capital raised by the… Read More

November 21, 2019 @ 8:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international organization that monitors and makes recommendations regarding the world’s financial system, recently met in Paris in order to discuss key issues facing the global financial industry, including potential vulnerabilities, various Fintech developments, and the agency’s 2020 work program…. Read More

November 19, 2019 @ 1:24 am By Therese Torris  |  

Smart Lenders AM announces the upcoming launch of a new fund dedicated to financing loans to European SMEs issued through marketplace lending platforms (crowdlending). Smart Lenders AM is an asset management firm that specializes exclusively in financing loans issued by online marketplace lenders. Established in… Read More

November 12, 2019 @ 2:32 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the leading financial regulator and central bank of Singapore, has announced renewed cooperation on Fintech with Canadian Securities Regulators while simultaneously announcing a tighter relationship with the Banque de France. The announcements were released during Singapore’s annual Fintech Week… Read More

November 6, 2019 @ 12:56 pm By JD Alois  |  

Tokenization platform Equisafe and Masteos will soon launch a marketplace for pooling rental investments between individuals via the blockchain, according to a note from Equisafe. The platform named RENT was created by Equisafe and by Masteos, a consulting and rental property management company.  Equisafe explained… Read More

November 6, 2019 @ 12:17 pm By JD Alois  |  

Good news for investment crowdfunding platforms in France. Last week, it became official that the effective crowdfunding cap was increased from €2.5 million to €8 million (~$8.9  million). The change came with the finalization of Decree No. 2019-1097.     The Decree was part of the Loi… Read More

October 30, 2019 @ 2:00 am By JD Alois  |  

This past June, France saw its first security token offering based on a real estate transaction. The process was managed by Equisafe, a platform that describes itself as a “neo investment bank.” The digital securities raised €6.5 million. In a blog post from August, the… Read More

October 29, 2019 @ 12:14 pm By JD Alois  |  

Smart Lenders, an asset management company specialized in managing portfolios of loans issued through online lending platforms (marketplace/crowdlending), is celebrating its fifth birthday. Founded in 2014 in London by Erich Bonnet (now based in Paris), Smart Lenders is now providing some data points regarding its… Read More

October 29, 2019 @ 10:33 am By Omar Faridi  |  

570easi, a French home finance and savings solutions company, has introduced its own challenger bank, called SOeasi, in order to establish the world’s first Islamic ethics-focused neobank. The challenger bank aims to leverage 570easi’s existing customer base as a foundation to help grow its business…. Read More