Buying bitcoin when you get out of bed, changing the composition of your life insurance contract at midday, lending money to an SME at coffee time and topping up your savings account before going to sleep: everything This is possible without leaving home thanks to the offers from new savings players, designed to be controlled online or with a mobile application. They are referred to by the term “fintech”, a neologism resulting from the contraction of “finance” and “technology”.
Of course, network banks and insurance companies also have websites allowing their customers to manage their savings remotely. But their offers have not been designed specifically for digital, unlike the 201 savings fintechs listed by the France FinTech association. “Savers criticize traditional offers for lacking transparency, being too expensive and not providing enough advice, estimates Alain Clot, the president of the association. Fintechs can provide interesting solutions on these points. »
The phenomenon is not entirely new: the first brokers specializing in online life insurance emerged around twenty years ago by slashing prices. But the trend has been strengthening for five years, with confinements linked to Covid-19 even acting as an accelerator. Not only did the French become aware of the advantages of being able to manage their assets at any time and from anywhere thanks to digital technology, but they built up reserves which then had to be invested.
Today, savings fintechs cover all types of investments. There are always specialists in life insurance and retirement savings (Linxea, Mon Petit Placement, Nalo, Yomoni, etc.), players also offering risk-free products such as savings accounts or term accounts (Cashbee , Placement-Direct, Meilleurtaux Placement, etc.), or even more specialized fintechs on a type of asset such as the stock market and cryptoassets (eToro, Plum, Shares, Trade Republic, etc.), SCPIs (Iroko, MeilleureSCPI, Moniwan, etc.) .
A green wave
Crowdfunding (October, Tudigo, etc.) is also very present. “Forty percent of savings fintechs operate in this area: they offer to invest in shares of unlisted SMEs, to grant loans to businesses or local authorities, or even to invest in real estate” , specifies Alain Clot. Please note that many players are riding the green wave, in life insurance (Goodvest), forestry (EcoTree), carbon markets (Homaio) and crowdfunding (Lita.co, Lendosphere, Lumo, Miimosa, etc.). ).
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