Crédit Agricole to take majority stake in French fintech firm Linxo Group

Crédit Agricole Group has agreed to acquire a majority stake in French fintech company Linxo Group in a move to strengthen its position in digital payment services.

Established in 2010, Linxo Group has been engaged in bank data aggregation and payment initiation in the French market. The fintech company serves banking and insurance start-ups with Application Program Interface (API), “bricks” and complete white label apps.

The platform of Linxo Group’s subsidiary, Oxlin is an ACPR-authorized payment institution that is said to offer all the technologies required to access bank data and initiate payments, with the agreement of the customer and in a completely secure manner.

Once the acquisition is finalized, Crédit Agricole will own more than 85% stake in the French fintech firm with the remainder stake to be retained by the directors and founders.

The acquisition is led by Crédit Agricole Payment Services and by FIRECA (Fonds d’Investissement et de REcherche du Crédit Agricole), a partner of Linxo Group. The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Bruno Van Haetsdaele – President of Linxo Group said: “This transaction enables us to accelerate and strengthen our services for Crédit Agricole Group, while giving us the opportunity to develop our offering in France and internationally for our clients and prospects with Oxlin, our ACPR-authorised payment institution, and to continue the development of Linxo, one of France’s most popular personal financial management apps.”

Crédit Agricole to take majority stake in French fintech firm Linxo Group. Photo courtesy of Luc Bernard/Wikipedia.org.

Linxo Group as a long time partner of Crédit Agricole has been offering the latter’s banks an account aggregation solution through their banking apps.

The acquisition is said to combine the bank’s expertise with the technological prowess of the fintech company to create opportunities for new digital and innovation services based on financial data to serve Crédit Agricole’s retail, professional and corporate customers.

Bertrand Chevallier – CEO of Crédit Agricole Payment Services said: “The acquisition of this major banking aggregation player in France, a long-time partner of the Crédit Agricole Group, is an important part of our strategic aim of offering customers of the Group’s banks innovative payment services that meet the highest market standards.

“Moreover, it represents a major contribution in terms of technology that will enable the Group to take full advantage of the innovation opportunities offered by changes in regulations.”

The closing of the deal is subject to authorization from the French Prudential Supervisory and Resolution Authority (ACPR).