Orange acquires Anytime to double down on fintech

Orange yesterday announced that it has acquired French digital banking service provider Anytime for an undisclosed sum. The so-call neobank specialises in delivering digital services for small businesses and professionals, and currently has over 100,000 customers.

 

“Anytime’s entry into the Orange Bank family marks a new development opportunity for us in a high-value market segment while establishing strong synergies with Orange Bank and Orange,” said Paul de Leusse, CEO of Orange Bank.

 

Banking is a particularly appealing sphere for telcos to expand into right now, a process that Orange has been deeply involved in for some years now. The company’s first foray into banking came with the launch of Orange Bank in 2017, having acquired Groupama bank in 2016, and since then Orange Bank has come to encompass 1.1 million customers, primarily in France but also in Spain and, more recently, the Ivory Coast.

 

In fact, Orange’s Engage Europe 2025 strategy, announced at the start of last year, features a major focus on fintech and banking, planning to expand these services to all of the operator’s European markets by 2025. By doing so, they aim to expand their customer base to 5 million people.

 

For Anytime, this partnership will mean access to Orange’s enormous telecoms customer base, including several million professional and business customers in France.

 

“This latest development recognises the strength of the Anytime business model, the first business-focused neobank to be profitable since 2018,” said Damien Dupouy and Thierry Peyre, the co-founders of Anytime. “This merger with Orange Bank will enable us to offer a greater range of business services (loans, insurance, payments, expert advice etc) and benefit from the powerful Orange brand.”

 

As traditional revenue streams like voice begin to dry up, telcos are being increasingly forced to look further afield for opportunities to capitalise on their connectivity. Fintech will be a key area for telcos around the world in this regard, already seeing major success in markets beyond Europe, for example in Africa with M-Pesa.