The French neobank Nickel, a subsidiary of the banking group BNP Paribas, announced on Tuesday that it would operate in two new countries, Belgium and Portugal, after a deployment in Spain at the beginning of last year.
In Belgium, the offer is available through the press-booksellers network. In Portugal, the company has the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Nickel offers a checking account that can be opened in five minutes, with no income or equity condition, and no possibility of overdraft or credit. The fintech targets 300,000 account openings in Belgium and 450,000 in Portugal within five years.
2.7 million accounts opened in France and Spain
It currently has 2.7 million open accounts and 8,000 points of sale in France and Spain. By way of comparison, Société Générale’s online banking subsidiary Boursorama announced that it had passed the 4 million customer mark in early July.
For Nickel, four more countries should follow by the end of 2024, including Germany, the only one announced at the moment, in the first half of 2023.
The banking products marketed by Nickel are distributed in France through the network of tobacconists and in Spain, in particular, at lottery windows. Although it is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, Nickel is a payment institution and not a credit institution, so it cannot be considered a “bank” in the strict sense.
Launched in February 2014, notably by former Société Générale communication director Hugues Le Bret, who worked for Boursorama, the former Compte-Nickel was bought by BNP Paribas in April 2017.
Source: BFM TV
