Orange has announced plans to launch a mobile banking service in France next year, as part of a partnership with insurance company Groupama.
The two companies have entered into exclusive negotiations that could see Orange take a 65 percent stake in Groupama’s existing banking service, which was founded in 2009 and had 533,000 customers at the end of 2014.
Groupama Banque would then serve as the infrastructure platform for Orange Bank, which is intended to be “100 percent mobile”.
Orange said the services it plans to offer include all standard banking services as well as savings, loans and insurance services.
It hopes to launch the new service this time next year in France, followed by other European markets such as Spain or Belgium.
Orange and Groupama would use each others retail stores to promote the new bank.
The operator will lean on its experience in Poland, where it launched an app-based bank service in partnership with mbank in 2014.
Orange plans to generate €400 million of revenues in financial services in 2018 as part of its latest strategic plan.
Orange CEO Stéphane Richard said: “Orange benefits from a unique combination of essential assets that will enable it to successfully launch a highly innovative, 100 pecent mobile bank.
“These include a strong brand embodying key values such as security and reliability, a solid distribution network and above all the confidence of 28 million customers in France.
“This legitimacy in the world of financial services has already materialized with the success of ‘Orange Money’ in the Middle East and Africa region, and more recently with the successful launch of ‘Orange Finanse’ in Poland.”