Banco Nickel arrives in Portugal and allows opening an account in 5 minutes – Banca & Finanças
After a year and a half of presence in Portugal, Nickel is finally operational. The company, led on national ground by João Guerra and a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, aims to serve as a payment institution. The purpose, says Guerra, is to democratize access to financial services, for now only the essential ones.
Nickel through a list of allowed banking services, where it can then be a debit card, with an opening of a bank delivery point associated payment account. The annual account maintenance fee is €20.80 and there is no minimum opening fee.
The aim of the French company is only possible to open in just five minutes, paying the necessary, a relevant equipment, which is just the presentation of a citizen card or passport. Simplicity and universality are the keywords in the process. Each point of sale has a Nickel “totem” and a payment terminal where this operation can be carried out.
Upon opening an account, the customer receives the debit card, which will be Mastercard and a Portuguese one.
Nickel agents earn a commission based on the operation performed. At these points it is possible to deposit queries in cash, with a 2% commission, as well as carry out withdrawals, these already free of charge, and carry out from the account, which can also be done through the app.
Nickel already has 2.7 million customers and eight thousand points of sale. In Portugal, the company is served by 5,000 agents and 4,000 customers. now they have, in partnership, with the Confederação Comércio e Serviços de Portugal100 partnership points in partnership with the country.
The operation will be separate from the parent company, the bank BNP Paribas, and will have Portuguese employees. As reiterated by Thomas Courtois, CEO, during the presentation, this Tuesday, each country where Nickel is will have a local team that will accompany both customers and points of sale.
One of the long-term goals is to replace a traditional word in institutions where there is no access to these institutions, explaining to João Guerra, highlighting that the long word of the order is “democratization”.
After being launched in France in 2014 and bought 95% by BNP Paribas in 2017, the company entered Spain last year and has now started activity in Portugal and Belgium. The expectation is to expand to Germany in 2023 and to three more Eurozone countries in 2024. In France, most customers, 58%, already use this service as their main bank account.