Paris is city of Fintech love for startups seeking hookups

The fintech dating game is on in Paris.

Entrepreneurs in Europe’s financial-technology sector are pushing low-cost payments solutions to steal market share from banks, hoping the challenge they pose will spur the lenders to buy them or seek partnerships with them.

Many startups are eyeing deals or potential backing as they converge on Paris this week to meet with the top executives of French finance, from BNP Paribas SA’s Jean-Laurent Bonnafe to Societe Generale SA’s Frederic Oudea, at the city’s annual Fintech Forum. How fintechs defy incumbents is a prime theme of discussion there, with payments an area of focus, as banking alternatives from Alipay to M-Pesa already dominate in China and Africa.

“Banks will continue to acquire smaller and more nimble companies to add value to their products,” said Jacob de Geer, co-founder of Swedish payments company iZettle. “They need to innovate to keep customers, and they’ll continue going to fintech for that kind of innovation.”

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Source: Paris Is City of Fintech Love for Startups Seeking Hookups – Bloomberg