“Can a tobacconist-distributed inclusive bank scale profitably across Europe under a megabank parent?”
Founded 2014 as Compte Nickel — a no-conditions, tobacconist-distributed current account for France's underbanked. Reached ~500K customers within 3 years before being acquired by BNP Paribas in 2017 for €260M. Since acquisition, has expanded across Europe (Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Germany) as BNP Paribas's inclusive-banking brand, reaching 4.5M+ accounts opened. Operates as its own regulated French payment institution under BNP Paribas Group.
Nickel (Compte Nickel) discloses La Financière des Paiements Électroniques (in-house) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Nickel (Compte Nickel) does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through La Financière des Paiements Électroniques (in-house).
Nickel (Compte Nickel) processes payments through Nickel (self-operated).
Nickel (Compte Nickel)'s cards are issued through La Financière des Paiements Électroniques (in-house) on the Mastercard network.
Nickel (Compte Nickel) connects to bank accounts through Bridge, Powens and Tink.
Nickel (Compte Nickel) uses RIA for FX and cross-border payouts.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 6 layers in Nickel (Compte Nickel)'s stack: Payments / PSP (Nickel (self-operated)); Banking / BaaS (La Financière des Paiements Électroniques (in-house)); Card issuing (La Financière des Paiements Électroniques (in-house)); Card network (Mastercard); Open banking (Bridge, Powens and Tink); FX & payouts (RIA).
Nickel (Compte Nickel) was founded by Hugues Le Bret and is founded in 2014, headquartered in Charenton-le-Pont, France.
Nickel (Compte Nickel) has raised $10.2M (pre-acquisition) in total (latest round: Acquired by BNP Paribas (2017); valuation: €260M (2017 acquisition price)).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Nickel (Compte Nickel) and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.