Mobile network operator Orange is to launch a mobile-only bank in France in July this year that will offer customers NFC mobile payments, P2P mobile transfers using SMS and an artificial intelligence-based virtual assistant that will eventually be able to complete tasks including making transfers and putting funds in savings.
At launch, Orange Bank will also provide customers with a bank account, a debit card, overdraft protection and an interest-bearing savings account, with additional features including credit and insurance to be “gradually” included in the offering.
“The offer will be available in France for Orange employees from mid-May and for the general public from 6 July 2017,” Orange says. “Customers can subscribe directly from the mobile application, online or in one of Orange’s 140 certified stores. Orange Bank aims to have more than 2m customers in France.
“Right from the outset, the service will integrate a number of cutting-edge, digital and banking innovations including contactless mobile payments, sending money by SMS, instant bank balances, temporary freezing of the debit card and 24/7 access to a bank advisory service.
“Orange Bank is the only bank on the market to offer all customers, for free, two completely independent payment methods. They can use the instant, secure mobile payment service and of course, all Orange Bank customers have a customisable debit card. Paying back a friend is as easy as sending a text message. Orange Bank allows money to be transferred by SMS from its completely secure application.”
A video gives an overview of Orange Bank:
“From now on, Orange is also a bank,” says Stéphane Richard, chairman and CEO of Orange. “A bank that places customer experience at the heart of its business model — we will be able to meet the expectations of our customers in a way that enables us to permanently adapt ourselves as their needs evolve.”
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Contactless readers and phones are necessary conditions for this scheme to work. As usual, Europe leads the US in retail payment systems.
One assumes that the debit card will be a contactless EMV card with no magnetic stripe.
A modern convenient and secure system Americans can only dream of.
“What hath God Wrought?”
As an American, I enjoy many of these services but not all from one provider.or at most places, and not with the security. As a last resort, I still must carry a credit card with a magnetic stripe. This stripe is easily replicated and widely accepted.
In the absence of any announcement from the brands or issuers, one must assume that one must live with this vulnerability in perpetuity.
Note that Orange can make NFC available to all their customers, regardless of their phone, by putting it on the SIM.