B2B Neobank Qonto reaches 600,000 customers, bank licensing files

“Is Chito a real bank?” It is one of the best suggested questions in Google’s search operations about Fintech. The answer is no, but it may change: Qonto The CEO of Alexander Broot has submitted a banking license in France.

Qonto, which targets European independents and SMBS, is currently working with a payment institution that it obtained in 2018, which already enabled it to submit A form of purchase now, pay later (BNPL). However, the Credit Corporation’s license will allow it to provide wider options for lending, savings and investment for its target customers.

Since his current license is valid throughout the European Union, Qonto has already managed to expand in many European markets, and recently reached a teacher of 600,000 agents. But the lack of a credit license represents an obstacle to its goal to reach two million customers by 2030.

Although providing a more comprehensive solution seems to be a natural step to compete with the current banks, obtaining a license and creating credit is not an easy thing. This explains the reason why Qonto’s SMB Fintech’s competitors approach this issue in different ways, and why Qonto does not play the exact knee.

It was the banknote bank Founded as a bank From the beginning, lending to small and medium companies, but this makes them more strange. Finom works With E -Money Electronic Corporation (EMI)But it has just started testing the type of lending that this central land allows. Revolution has a full Lithuanian license, but unlike BNPL, corporate credit options have not yet been offered – although they are Plan to do this this year.

However, the marketing force of well -funded competitors who work in both B2C and B2B may be a sign that Qonto needs to accelerate, especially since Droclut has announced loudly about plans to obtain a French license and About Paris to its western headquarters for Western Europe.

The competitors did not mention, PROT said that the time of Chito was driven by “achieving profitability before the date set in 2023.”

The son of the former BNP president Paribas Badwin BrutIt is clear that the CEO of Qonto had already thought of following up a credit license – this is not just a guess. During a press briefing, Prot confirmed that he and the founder of Steve Anoui considered the idea seriously at some point, but he rejected it in the end because he would have required a lot of time and collect additional donations.

After it has been profitable since 2023, it means that this obstacle now will not require Qonto to collect more than one 552 million dollars secured in 2022 Rating $ 5 billion. Protection Recently said “The main reason, or the only reason, why we can raise an additional capital is if we make a large or very large merger deal, often driven by cash.”

In its eight years of its existence, Qonto took two acquisitions: it is Take over Her German opponent is a girl in 2022, and she bought the accounting and financial automation platform Regate In 2024.

The latter is a reflection of the Qonto position behind banking services and an integrated financing management eyeliner, with an offer that also includes tools for invoices and holding notebooks.

This approach helped grow in the B2B category throughout Europe. Prot refused to give a full collapse to its 600,000 customers, but he said that Germany is now the largest market in Qonto after France. In an unlimited order, Spain and Italy come after that, followed The markets that entered in late 2024Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal.

However, Prot assumes that some customers will not choose Qonto unless it is a credit institution. This is because this would give them additional guarantees to their deposits, and because they want credit to be an option if they need it, which is what some people already do.

Qonto has verified this demand for credit through the payment service later; It was launched in 2024, and it has already facilitated 50 million euros of financing, according to the company (about $ 59 million). But the offer is limited to its current license – both for Qonto, which can only lend to its property rights, and its customers, who cannot borrow for more than 12 months.

To help its customers reach other types of loans, Qonto also placed “Finance Center” With Fintech third -party partners, including Defactoand Karmenand riversideAnd Silvr. Brut said that Chrono is planning to preserve it for at least a few years. Some of these offers are more specific than the company may want to enter.

However, to become a credit institution in itself that will open new revenues for Qonto, whether from margins on credits and more bullish trend of deposits, which will be able to use in lending. Prot refused to reveal revenue numbers, but said the revenue increased by 30 % last year.

However, Prot said that these additional revenues were not the main factor in playing. When new customers get aside, Qonto also sees that this is an opportunity to rely less on others and launch new products faster. In the same manner, she recently built an internal cards processor to increase admission rates while reducing their dependence on third parties.

With a team of 1,600 people, Qonto now hopes to have a frequency range width to work on new products, such as the “Qonto Intelligence” that supports artificial intelligence, while strengthening bank infrastructure and risk management teams.

The latter also aims to show his willingness to the banking supervisor in France, which he is planning to work closely to obtain his license. The process may still take years, but it is also part of a broader “greater” effort, which recently added many higher personal files to its board of directors. These steps can also help the basis for public subscription subscription in the future, although this is still a long -term possibility.