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USE CASE

Streamline your European entities’ banking operations

Companies with entities established across different countries often face a sub-optimal banking experience: as many banks and relationship managers as there are subsidiaries, an onboarding process that starts from scratch for each entity, a fragmented view of the group’s and entities’ accounts, with no single account manager who understands the full picture. Memo Bank eliminates this friction: one banking partner, one interface, for all your European entities.

A European banking licence

Headquartered in France, Memo Bank is a transactional bank serving the needs of SMEs and mid-caps, all over Europe.

Holding a European passport under the Freedom to Provide Services, it operates in France and seven other countries: Germany, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

Any company registered in these countries enjoys the same banking experience as a French legal entity: the same level of services, the same dedicated relationship manager, and the same real-time banking platform.

Why open a bank account for your European entities with Memo Bank?

Your transaction volumes are growing

The nature of your business (insurance, real estate, asset management, financial services, etc.) means you handle a large volume of incoming and outgoing transactions. Yet, you face a contradiction: your volumes are increasing, a sign of strong growth, but your operations are slowed down by inadequate and costly banking tools.

Memo Bank, an API-first transactional bank, enables your business to scale without investing in lengthy or expensive IT projects.

You need to safeguard your funds

Managing funds held on behalf of third parties together with handling large volumes of transactions is a challenge few financial players can solve.

Memo Bank is one of them. Its complete range of client accounts lets you segregate and manage client funds with full autonomy and in line with European regulatory requirements (PSD2, EMD2, MiFID II, AIFMD2, etc.).

You are looking for a custodian bank

As an asset management company, are you looking to split the management of the custody and depositary functions between two distinct parties? As a transactional bank, Memo Bank acts as your custodian partner across Europe, in full interaction with the depositary bank and in line with Articles 85 to 87 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 231/2013.

Asset management companies such as Iroko, Smart Lenders, and IQ-EQ have chosen Memo Bank as their custodian partner for the operational management of their transactions.

You are looking to centralise your entities' bank accounts

With Memo Bank, your subsidiaries access the same banking platform, the same dedicated relationship manager, and the same tools as your French entities. The onboarding process for each entity is streamlined; you never need to start from scratch to open an account for a new entity.

Group and entity-level reconciliation and cash pooling operations are streamlined and can be fully automated via API.

Memo Bank's distribution model in Europe

A fully digital onboarding process

Your dedicated relationship manager, common across all your subsidiaries, will coordinate the account opening process. Once your entities’ bank accounts are open, you access them from a single workspace, with the same login credentials, according to the permissions granted to administrators. For your different queries, you also have access to our French- and English-speaking support team.

A French IBAN valid across the SEPA zone

Each subsidiary receives a French IBAN, valid throughout the SEPA zone, to send and receive payments as quickly as your French entity. This IBAN carries the exact same legal and commercial standing as a local IBAN, in line with Article 9 of the SEPA Regulation.

Memo Bank processes more than €4 billion of transactions per month including SEPA instant credit transfers or SEPA direct debit, enabling you to collect payments within 24 hours.

A real-time API-first bank

Becoming a Memo Bank client means accessing a banking infrastructure connected in real time to European and international payment systems (TARGET2, STEP2, SWIFT, etc.). This infrastructure gives you direct access to our range of products, for both your group and entities: EUR and USD current accounts, savings accounts, corporate cards, SEPA payment collection services, international transfers via Swift in 104 currencies.

Your banking stack is optimised across all your entities: streamlined, more modular, and integrated into your financial ecosystem.

The value Memo Bank brings to your European subsidiaries

European and international payments via API

Built around a Premium API for payments, collections, treasury, and fraud control, our infrastructure automates all your inbound and outbound transactions, your European and global transfers, with full STP (straight through processing).

Our API is integrated into your tools in under 15 days, with a contractual SLA of 99.9%, and enables our clients to automate 65% of their payments end-to-end, in real time.

Optimise your surplus cash

Grow your surplus cash directly from your banking platform via our Booster account, an instant access savings account indexed to 80% of the €STR.

In addition, deposits that you have in our client accounts earn 25% of the €STR.

Pan-European cash pooling

Managing multiple entities? Our API lets you set up and automate your cash pooling operations across all companies that hold an account with Memo Bank. Virtual IBANs further allow you to segment all your transactions across subsidiaries, teams, and suppliers, simplifying bank reconciliation.

Développeur recevant un webhook de virement entrant via l'API Memo Bank

Reducing fraud risk

In 2024, 85% of companies were targeted by fraud, and 57% of attacks involved wire transfers.

Memo Bank Protect and our IBAN verification service via API automatically check that the beneficiary's identity matches the IBAN provided, before any payment or direct debit is processed. The result: a level of accuracy 20% higher than the VoP standard, across all 36 countries in the SEPA zone.

Security of your deposits

Regulated by the Banque de France, Memo Bank is subject to the same regulatory requirements as major French banking groups. Across its annual reports and accounts, Memo Bank has consistently demonstrated strong prudential ratios and sound corporate governance.

All deposits held in our balance sheet are covered by the deposit guarantee scheme (referred to as the French Deposit Insurance and Resolution Fund), in line with the DGS directive transposed across all EU member states.

Learn more

Your country is not on the list?

Memo Bank can operate under the Freedom to Provide Services within the European Economic Area, which includes the European Union as well as Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland.

If your company or one of your subsidiaries is registered in a country other than Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, or Italy, or if you have specific requirements, contact us. Our commercial and legal teams will do their best to support you.

Our offering at a glance

Onboarding and client support

100% digital account opening

Dedicated relationship manager

Multilingual client support (French, English)

FR IBAN valid across the SEPA zone

Banking services

EUR and USD current accounts

Premium payment API

Client accounts

Banking reconciliation via virtual IBAN

Instant access savings

Cash pooling

Security of your deposits:

Protection of your funds and those held on behalf of your clients (deposit guarantee scheme and Basel III-compliant prudential ratios)

Frequently asked questions about account opening in Europe

Does my company need to have a physical presence in France to open a Memo Bank account?

No. Memo Bank operates under the Freedom to Provide Services from France, but you do not need an office, address, or representative there. To open an account, your company simply needs to be registered in one of the following countries: Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Spain, or Italy. Account opening is entirely online, from your country of incorporation.

Is the account opening process fully digital?

Yes, account opening is 100% digital. Your dedicated relationship manager supports you at every stage, from initial contact through to account activation.

Are you compliant with local regulations in European countries?

The majority of local regulations are in fact standards that apply at a European level. Where local regulatory exceptions apply, these will be communicated to you by our legal and commercial teams.

What documents are required to open an account?

The documents requested are those typically required for bank onboarding: identity documents for directors and beneficial owners, proof of company registration, and additional documents related to the regulation applicable to your industry. Your relationship manager will give you more details.

Will my French IBAN be accepted by my European partners and suppliers?

Yes. Article 9 of the SEPA Regulation prohibits any discrimination based on the country of IBAN issuance. A French IBAN carries exactly the same legal and commercial standing as a German, Italian, Spanish, Luxembourg, Dutch, Belgian, or Irish IBAN.

Does Memo Bank have branches outside France?

No. Memo Bank operates exclusively from France, under the Freedom to Provide Services. Our European passport allows us to serve clients in seven markets without a local presence.

Why can Memo Bank act as a custodian bank without a local depositary licence?

The depositary function requires authorisation on a country-by-country basis. The custodian function is included within our general credit institution licence, in line with Articles 85 to 87 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 231/2013, which applies directly across the entire EU.

Does the deposit protection scheme apply to my company if it is headquartered outside France?

Yes. As an extension of the French Deposit Insurance and Resolution Fund applicable across Europe, deposits are covered up to €100,000 per depositor, regardless of the account holder's country of registration.

Is cash pooling limited to accounts held at Memo Bank?

Yes. At the moment, the cash pooling services offered by Memo Bank only cover accounts held by your company and its subsidiaries with us.

Your bank accounts for your companies in Europe managed in real time?

Shall we talk about it?

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