Hello Memo Bank

We are very pleased, truly delighted, to announce to you that :

• we have obtained approval from the ACPR and the ECB to become a bank ;
• we are changing our name to become Memo Bank (RIP Margo) ;
• we have just raised 20 million euros ;
• registrations on our waiting list are open.

A few weeks ago, we received two pieces of good news. The Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR), the body that regulates banks in France, has given us approval to obtain a credit institution license, thus making us a bank. In parallel, the European Central Bank (ECB), which supervises banks at the European level, has also given us the green light, thus recognizing our status as a bank. The discussions we had with the regulators went very smoothly, and we thank them for their trust. We are the first independent bank to emerge in France in 50 years, and we understand the responsibilities that this entails.

As the name suggests, the credit institution license will allow us to offer loans to our customers. In addition to offering financing, we will also provide deposit facilities, such as current accounts, and payment methods, such as IBANs. We want to help business owners manage their payments, receipts, and cash flow, but we also want to support them in financing their projects by offering the expertise of our frontline bankers. We want to be the bank for SMEs, the one for the CAC 140,000 — France had 138,700 SMEs in 2017 according to INSEE.

To finance our development, we have just completed a new fundraising round of 20 million euros, from institutional investors and experienced entrepreneurs. We are fortunate to have the support of Bpifrance Investissement, the investment fund BlackFin Capital Partners (created by the founders of Fortuneo), and Daphni, who was already present during the previous fundraising round. Many entrepreneurs also participated in this new round of funding. Memo Bank is a bank for entrepreneurs, but it is also a bank built and financed by entrepreneurs.

From the start of the school year, we will offer business owners :

• a modern and collaborative current account, to manage cash flow with multiple contributors without stepping on each other’s toes ;
• competitive rate loans to finance tangible or intangible projects;
• the support of experienced bankers for all the times when a website is not enough.

We are currently testing our services internally, and some features already seem indispensable to us, such as the ability to open an account without sending any mail, an unlimited transaction history, and collaborative account management that allows each person to have their own access and responsibilities. As our website is built with modern technologies, it works equally well on computers, mobile phones, and tablets. Since business owners work everywhere, it makes sense to offer them a website that works everywhere.

At this stage, we have a credit institution license, enough capital to lend to our clients, online services that seem stable, and bankers ready to meet our future clients — while maintaining reasonable distances. We still need to connect with several partners and put the finishing touches on our online services.

We hope to be able to welcome a limited number of clients in a preview phase by September, before opening our services more widely by the end of the year. Registrations for our limited access program are open, and we will soon provide more information to interested executives.

To create Memo Bank, we had to build a technical infrastructure from scratch. At the same time, we had to prepare an accreditation application and recruit a team to become a bank capable of granting loans to its clients. We have learned a lot since our early days on the project, back in late 2016, and we hope to be able to tell you more about it in the coming months. For now, we are focusing on welcoming our first customers.

Thank you all for your patience. We have worked hard to create a new independent bank for businesses. We are very pleased to have received the green light from regulators, and we look forward to putting our services in your hands to hear your initial feedback.