“Is Qonto a real bank?” is one of the best proposed questions in Google search assignments about the French Fintech startup. The answer is no, but it could change: Qonto has applied for a banking license in France, unveiled CEO Alexandre Prot.
Qonto, which focuses on European freelancers and SMEs, is currently active with a license for payment institution that it obtained in 2018, and who already enabled it to introduce A form of buy now, wages later (BNPL). But a license for credit institution could offer broader lending, savings and investment options to its intended customers.
Since the current license is valid in the EU, Qonto has already been able to expand to various European markets and has recently reached the milestone of 600,000 customers. But the lack of a credit permit is an obstacle to his goal of reaching 2 million customers by 2030.
Although offering a more extensive solution seems like a natural step to compete with sitting benches, it is not easy to obtain a license and roll out credit. That explains why Qonto’s SMB Fintech competitors approached this problem in different ways and why Qonto does not play exactly catching up.
Memo Bank was founded as a bank From the beginning, and offers loans to SMEs, but that makes it a bit of a bit. Finom works with a license for electronic money institution (EMI), but it only started to test the type of loans that this middle way allows this. Revolut has a full Lithuanian license, but apart from BNPL, it should not roll out credit options for companies – although it Plans to do this this year.
Yet the marketing force of well -funded competitors who work in both B2C and B2B has been a sign that Qonto had to accelerate, especially since Revolut recently announced loudly to find a French license and Change Paris to West -Europe headquarters.
Prot said no competitors and said that Qonto’s timing was powered by “after he had reached before the schedule in 2023.”
Former BNP Paribas -President Baudouin ProtQonto’s CEO had clearly already thought to pursue a credit permit – and that is not just a gamble. During a press conference, Prot confirmed that he and co-founder Steve Anavi seriously considered the idea at some point, but ultimately rejected because it would need too much time and extra fundraising.
Because he has been profitable since 2023, this means that this obstacle now does not require Qonto to collect more financing than the $ 552 million that it secured in 2022 with a rating of $ 5 billion. Pound Recently said That “the most important, or the only reason, why we can attract extra capital is if we make large or very large mergers and takeovers, usually paid in cash.”
In his eight years of existence, Qonto made two takeovers: it took over his German competitor Penta in 2022 and bought the accounting and financial automation platform Regattas in 2024.
The latter is a reflection of the positioning of Qonto further than banking and as an integrated solution for financial management, with an offer that also includes tools for invoicing and accounting.
This approach helped to grow in the B2B segment throughout Europe. Prot refused to give a complete breakdown of its 600,000 customers, but he said that Germany is now the largest market in Qonto after France. In non -specific order, Spain and Italy come afterwards, followed by The markets that entered the end of 2024: Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Nevertheless, Prot is under the assumption that some customers will not choose Qonto, unless it is a credit institution. That’s because this would give them extra guarantees to their deposits, and because they want credit to be an option if they ever need it, what some people already do.
Qonto validated that question of credit with his wages later service; Launch in 2024, according to the company it has already facilitated € 50 million in financing (around $ 59 million). But the offer is limited by the current license – both for Qonto, which can only borrow from its own equity, and for its customers, who cannot borrow for more than 12 months.
To help its customers gain access to other types of loans, Qonto also has one “Financing Hub” With external fintech partners including Defacto, Karmen, Riversideand Silvr. Prot said that Qonto is planning to keep it for a few more years. And some of these offers are more specific than what the company may want to take effect.
Nevertheless, it would be a credit institution in itself unlocking new income for Qonto, both from the margin for credits and more upside down of deposits that could use it for loans. Prot refused to announce income figures, but said that sales increased by 30% in the past year.
Prot said, however, that this extra income was not the most important factor in the game. Qonto acquires new customers aside and also sees this as an opportunity to be less dependent on others and to launch new products faster. In the same spirit, it recently built an internal card processor to increase acceptance rates and at the same time reduce its dependence on third parties.
With a team of 1,600 people, Qonto now hopes that it will have the bandwidth to work on new product developments, such as the “Qonto Intelligence” layer, while it also improves its bank infrastructure and risk management teams.
The latter is also intended to demonstrate the willingness to the Banking Supervisor of France, with which it intends to work closely together to obtain its license. The process can last for years, but it is also part of a broader “growing” effort for Qonto, who recently added various senior profiles to the Board of Directors. These steps can also help lay the foundation for a future IPO, although that remains a long -term prospect.
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