# Nickel (France)

> Source: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/nickel
> research date 2026-05-30 · extracted at 2026-10-07
> Publisher: Barcoder — encyclopedia of QR, barcode and payment-code standards

Specifications:
- [Nickel — official](https://nickel.eu/)

## Key details

- **Users:** 4M customers

## Overview

**Nickel (France)** is **French neobank distributed via tobacco shops bureaux de tabac + BNP Paribas subsidiary post-Apr 2017 ~€200M acquisition** + **~4M+ customers across France + Spain + Belgium + Germany + Portugal** + **first neobank account opened in <5 min at French bureaux de tabac for €20/year** <sup>[1][1], [France report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/FR)</sup>.

## History

**Feb 2014 — Compte Nickel founded by Hugues Le Bret + Ryad Boulanouar in France** as French neobank distributed via tobacco shops bureaux de tabac (revolutionary French alternative to traditional banking).

**Apr 14 2017 — BNP Paribas acquires Compte Nickel for ~€200M** distinctive French banking-fintech acquisition.

**2014 — Nickel mobile banking app launch + bureaux de tabac account opening in <5 min**.

**2020-2024 — Nickel European expansion to Spain + Belgium + Germany + Portugal**.

## Ownership & operator

**Operating entity**: **Nickel** (Compte Nickel BNP Paribas subsidiary post-2017 acquisition; French neobank).

**Major shareholders**: **BNP Paribas (ENXTPA: BNP; French global banking group) fully owned post-Apr 14 2017 acquisition**.

**Regulators**: **ACPR France + ECB + national regulators across 5 countries**.

## Technical integration

Nickel mobile app (iOS + Android; ~4M+ customers across France + Spain + Belgium + Germany + Portugal) + nickel.eu online + Nickel prepaid Mastercard + French bureaux de tabac agent network (~6,000+ tobacco shops); SEPA + SEPA Instant + EPC-QR + Wero (post-EPI launch).

## Implementations & partners

**BNP Paribas parent**: [BNP Paribas Mes Comptes](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/bnp-paribas) (BNP Paribas S.A.; ENXTPA: BNP; French global banking group; 65+ countries + 198,000+ employees + Nickel parent post-Apr 14 2017 ~€200M acquisition).

**Major French neobank competitors**: [BoursoBank (Boursorama)](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/boursobank) (Boursorama French digital bank subsidiary of Société Générale; 8.4M customers Jul 2025) + [Hello bank! (France)](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/hello-bank-fr) (Hello bank! BNP Paribas digital bank brand) + Ma French Bank (Ma French Bank La Banque Postale digital bank; closed 2024 + customers migrated to La Banque Postale) + [Lydia / Sumeria](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/lydia) (Lydia French P2P mobile wallet + neobank) + [Monabanq](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/monabanq) (Monabanq French neobank by Crédit Mutuel) + [Fortuneo](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/fortuneo) (Fortuneo French online brokerage + bank by Crédit Mutuel) + [Orange Bank](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/orange-bank) (Orange Bank French neobank by Orange + BNP Paribas acquired 2024) + [Revolut](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/wallets/revolut) (Revolut UK global; France operations + ~5M+ French users + Sep 2024 EU bank license via Lithuania).

**Regulators**: ACPR France + ECB + national regulators across 5 countries.

## Status

**Active, French neobank distributed via tobacco shops bureaux de tabac + BNP Paribas subsidiary post-Apr 14 2017 ~€200M acquisition + ~4M+ customers across France + Spain + Belgium + Germany + Portugal + first neobank account opened in <5 min at French bureaux de tabac for €20/year** <sup>[1][1], [2][2]</sup>.

## Sources

[1]: https://nickel.eu/ "Nickel — official"
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compte_Nickel "Compte Nickel — Wikipedia"
[fr-cro]: https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/FR

- [1] [Nickel — official][1]
- [2] [Compte Nickel — Wikipedia][2]
- <sup>[France report](https://docs.barcoder.ai/docs/payments/FR)</sup> In-corpus: `reports/countries/FR-france.md`

## Source

Biography extracted from [nickel.md](https://docs.barcoder.ai/source/wallets/nickel). See `matrix.md` for standards-support matrix if present.