By Francois Giudice, Correspondent France
Orange Bank expands further with the acquisition of Anytime, a neobank dedicated to independent professionals, small businesses and associations
Following its launch three years ago and the successful development of leading innovations in mobile banking for retail customers, Orange Bank has acquired Anytime, enabling it to address the professionals and small business market. This new market development aims at supporting the Orange client footprint and is fully aligned with the core multiservice strategy of the Group.
As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Orange Bank, Anytime will also benefit from the strength of the Orange brand among SMEs and SOHOs that will enable it to scaleup its commercial reach and enhance its range of solutions for professionals.
Making banking services accessible for independent professionals and small businesses
After its initial success offering pioneering mobile banking services to the general public, Orange Bank is now aiming to make financial management easier for SMEs and SOHOs. Anytime is one of the top three neobanks in this market in France and has been profitable since 20181
. It has grown by offering business accounts, payment solutions and expense management tools that make life easier for small businesses. Solutions that are already available on the Anytime platform include creating quotes and invoices, automatic account updates, enabling customer payments via a mobile or credit card, managing unpaid invoices and optimizing cash flow. With the support of experts from Orange, these solutions will be further developed in the future to build a comprehensive solutions platform that will help business customers manage their finances more efficiently.
Anytime will benefit from Orange’s strong presence in the small business market
Orange already serves several million professional and business customers in France2 who could also potentially be interested in Anytime’s offers: start-up entrepreneurs, freelancers, the self-employed and small businesses. With the future distribution of Anytime’s offers by Orange, professional customers will
benefit from further financial services and digital management tools.
Orange Bank will work with the current management team to accelerate the development of its subsidiary
Under the leadership of its co-founders Damien Dupouy and Thierry Peyre, along with its current management team, Anytime will continue its market growth with increased resources. Anytime offers will initially remain available online via an account set up through the Anytime app or website. These will be gradually extended to other Orange channels including its network of stores and its business salesforce. Starting in France, services will also be rolled out across Orange Bank’s other European countries.
Co-founders of Anytime Damien Dupouy and Thierry Peyre said: “We’re happy and proud to join the Orange group. This latest development recognises the strength of the Anytime business model, the first business-focused neobank to be profitable since 2018. This merger with Orange Bank will enable us to offer a greater range of business services (loans, insurance, payments, expert advice etc) and benefit from the powerful Orange brand.”
CEO of Orange Bank, Paul de Leusse commented: “Anytime’s entry into the Orange Bank family marks a new development opportunity for us in a high-value market segment while establishing strong synergies with Orange Bank and Orange.”
The acquisition terms have not been disclosed.
