It is a full page, in the results of the last quarter at BNP Paribas, which is granted to “specialized trades”. On the front line, the Nickel account. The new nugget of the first bank in the euro zone is proudly displayed as a “new generation” payment offer. At his side, the split payment specialist Floa, acquired by the group this year.
Fintech is in good shape at the establishment. The Nickel account is doing well this year with exceptional growth, beyond the group's online bank, Hello bank!. With more than 2.6 million customers as of March 31, Nickel is far ahead of the historic mobile bank (700,000 customers). And the gap continues to widen with respective growth of 26.6% against 13%.
The year of the Nickel account
To the great surprise, according to figures published on Tuesday morning, BNP Paribas came out with results that exceeded expectations. At 1.5 billion euros more than estimates, the group pulled 13.2 billion euros in revenue in the first quarter of 2022. The trend is explained by limited exposure in Ukraine and a surprising hold on all its activities. Among them, retail banking revenues are soaring (58.7% growth over one year).
As a locomotive, the Nickel account has become the nugget of the group to compete with rivals, in particular at Société Générale (which owns Boursorama Banque, the neo-bank Shine or even the fintech Treezor). As a reminder, Nickel is an account, at the crossroads between a mobile bank and a traditional bank, with the particularity of being available to all (banking bans included), for French people as well as for foreigners and with physical support thanks to tobacconists.
As of March 31, 2022, Nickel claims a presence in 7,200 points of sale in all, including also Spain where the small Nickel terminals were installed a year and a half ago. The number of points of sale has continued to increase and its growth over one year is 12.7%, report the financial documents of BNP Paribas.
Nickel has not experienced a crisis, or rather, its model has strongly demonstrated its interest and its capacity for resilience in the face of the health context, in a banking market in full upheaval. In two years, its number of account openings has crossed the bar… one million. At 1.6 million as of March 31, 2020, it increased by 400,000 until 2021, then by 600,000 until today. Almost the equivalent of Hello bank! in just one year.
Discover Nickel
A very complete offer for a mobile bank
Faced with players such as neobanks, the Nickel account does better with the possibility of depositing cash, checks, having physical support and a French RIB. But one of its greatest qualities, above all, concerns its tariff plan. From a free card to the cheapest metal card on the market, the four formulas at Nickel are much more accessible than those of other banks.
If the French will pay more than 219 euros in bank charges on average in 2022, at Nickel, the most expensive card and giving access to all of its services costs only 80 euros per month. And unless you are a frequent traveler, the other cards will be more than enough for you. In particular the Nickel Chrome card, at only 50 euros per year, allows you to obtain Mastercard insurance, a personalized card, free payments in France and abroad.
