28-July, Paris – Representatives from France’s second largest group for banking and finance, Groupe BPCE, have announced the signing of and agreement for them to acquire German FinTech pioneer Fidor Bank AG for an undisclosed amount. Fidor was founded in Munich in 2009 and had a priority on developing banking services and solutions for the digital generation. Their subsidiary Fidor TecS AG, lead by Frank Schwab, was labeled as “the pirates of banking” and has been working on innovative solutions, such as FidorOS. With the completed acquisition it is likely that Groupe BPCE will strongly augment their digital strategy with the products and talent from Fidor.
Leadership opinion
François Pérol, Chairman of the Groupe BPCE Management Board said: “This operation constitutes a key step in the acceleration of the digital transformation of our group. It further demonstrates our commitment to innovation, to develop a customer centric approach enabled by a digital banking technology and to be more involved in digital and mobile banking field. We are very proud and happy to welcome Fidor’s teams, community and clients within Groupe BPCE.”
Matthias Kröner, CEO and founder of Fidor, commented: “In a world of increasing volatility it is important to be member of a strong group. We are excited to have such a well-established partner as BPCE in the financial world that recognises the need for a customer-centric and entrepreneurial approach to banking and innovation.”
About Groupe BPCE
About Fidor Bank AG
FIDOR Bank AG is an internet-based direct bank, licensed in Germany, with over 120,000 account holders and some 350,000 registered community members. Many private and corporate clients looking for fast, digital banking processes – from opening an account to everyday transactions – use the Fidor Smart current account with its classical and innovative finance apps as their main bank account. Key banking processes can be carried out in 60 seconds. Fidor Bank AG has received many awards for its innovations, most recently from the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a “Global Growth Company” and Celent Banking Model for 2015.
Photo credit: Groupe BPCE
Source: Berard-Andrieu Marguerite, Marie de Clercq, Christophe Gilbert (Groupe BPCE) / Matthias Kröner (Fidor Bank) / CrunchBase
Editorial notice: The “about text” and the quotes are part of the official press release by representatives of the Groupe BPCE.
