Telcos, Orange bank, Orange's activities in payment services, Orange mobile-finance and online banking
It is increasingly exciting to observe that, telcos are diversifying into other lines of business, as growth in telecoms revenues slump.
When it comes to Orange,
DigitalEcono recalls that Orange has been among the pioneers in bringing
m-finance to mature economies. In 2010 the company launched CityZi, a system
for using smartphones to buy and use public transport tickets. Orange Cash launched
in 2014, the service is now rolled out nationwide. Orange Cash is an app for
NFC-capable smartphones which enables users to make contactless payments from a
prepaid cash account.
Henceforth, through ‘the
acquisition by Orange of a 65% stake in Groupama Banque," Groupama aims to
strengthen its online banking business and Orange aims to diversify into
banking services.
In our connected world where
smartphones are now starting to replace some of the things we carry around in
our wallets, Orange is deeply bringing its m-finance services to market in
co-operation with the leading French banks, and is positioning itself to
compete with the established banks through new approaches and models.
According to IDC, by combining
its experience in m-finance services and its trusted brand with a radically
different operational model, ‘Orange might soon start to look like "the
Uber of banking" – first in France, and then elsewhere too’.