5
In partnership with the economic magazine Challenges, the editorial staff of Les Numériques offers you a selection of the 10 neobanks that are currently making a difference in France, according to banking and technical criteria.
Illustration neobanks
The neobank sector continues to attract the French, more and more of whom are opting for their services. At the end of 2021, they were more than 12 million in France to have succumbed to their offers, according to the estimates of the magazine Challenges, our partner on this file. In total, more than 30 neobanks have been launched in France since 2010, explains Exton Consulting in a study published in 2021. But the border between online banking and mobile banking can always seem a little blurry. When asked what the difference is between the two, Jérémie Rosselli, general manager of N26 France, which has 2.5 million users in France and 7.5 million in Europe, replies: "It's about the same difference as between the landline and the mobile phone." And to add, slightly caricaturing, that "today with a mobile bank, you are able to do everything from your mobile phone. It's going to open your account even on a Sunday, to carry out all your transactions from your mobile phone where with a mobile bank, you have to make an appointment, get up on a Saturday morning, see your banker and travel each time to make a transaction”.
However, the horizon is not necessarily all rosy for neobanks. ING Bank, a historic player, decided last December to withdraw from the French market. The Lille fintech Swoon went out of business last July. In question ? Profitability linked to models focused on free banking services and very aggressive offers to attract as many customers as possible. The players in this market are therefore forced to review their policy. "As with streaming or the media, online banks are moving from a free model to a mix of paid offers with additional services," said Luis Calleja, associate director of Oresys.
Excerpt from the dossier published in Challenges
Everything in the app
Whether they come from the lap of traditional banks or were born on the Web, whether they want to replace their user's main bank or simply serve as a side account, these neobanks must all have an application. on smartphones to replace their customers' bank branch, multi-service counter and financial adviser all at once. The challenge is therefore to have an offer that is as clear and complete as possible. And now, it is also a question of attracting a new clientele, teenagers (12 to 17 years old), by offering them a dedicated offer while leaving enough supervision tools for parents and guardians to help them in their discovery of the bank.
You can read our file today in the paper magazine of Challenges available on newsstands or on its site (paid article). You will be able to discover from Friday, April 15 our tests of the first three banks of the selection: Boursorama, Orange Bank and N26 as well as our comparison. The tests of the seven other banks will follow, with a publication every Thursday on our site.
