Qonto is a European payment institution for companies and freelancers: business accounts, cards, payments, invoicing, expense management and selected credit products. It serves customers in eight EU markets through licensed group entities and partner-bank infrastructure.
The contracting entity is Qonto SA (named Olinda SAS until 29 January 2026), RCS Paris, SIREN 819 489 626. It is a payment institution supervised by the ACPR under registration number CIB 16958, with ORIAS intermediary registration 18004091 (company announcement of the renaming). In July 2025 Qonto applied in France for credit-institution status; as at August 2026 the application remains under review. Client funds are protected by safeguarding, and the state deposit guarantee does not extend to them. In France the company is entered in the state register of accredited platforms of the electronic-invoicing reform — since 2026 these are officially called plateformes agréées (PA), the earlier label PDP having fallen out of use.
Concept
A payment institution sits between a bank and an accounting-software vendor. A PI licence permits payment accounts, transfers and card issuing, while prohibiting deposit-taking and lending from the institution's own balance sheet. The economics follow from that: revenue comes from subscriptions, card interchange and payment fees, and credit risk stays with partners. The model demands less capital and supervisory resource than a bank, and it allowed Qonto to reach profitability without a lending book of its own. On the differences between licence classes see Lithuania: EMI, PI and specialised bank; on the EU payment-services regime see PSD3 and PSR.
Demand for the model comes from the accounting work of small businesses. A company needs an account that shows immediately who spent what, and from which the data reaches the books without manual re-entry. A traditional bank sells the account and leaves the bookkeeping to the client; Qonto sells a subscription in which the bookkeeping forms part of the product.
What the model produces
Four product characteristics follow directly from the licence and the product assembly:
- Account and books in one interface. The payment, the invoice, the receipt and its accounting record sit in one system; the 2024 purchase of the accounting fintech Regate covered exactly this part.
- Localisation on an 80/20 rule. A common product core serves all eight markets, and the remaining fifth is configured for each country's tax and accounting regime. This is what separates Qonto from multi-currency accounts without local bookkeeping — the comparison with Revolut Business and Finom runs mainly along this line.
- Accredited-platform status in France. The payment account and the electronic-invoicing platform that becomes compulsory in September 2026 are bought from a single supplier.
- Limited protection and limited credit. The reverse side of a PI licence: there is no deposit guarantee, own credit limits are small, and larger financing is written by partners.
Company, licence and the banking application
Alexandre Prot and Steve Anavi founded Qonto in 2016. The platform launched in France in 2017 and later expanded to other European markets. By July 2025 the company reported 600,000 customers, a team of more than 1,600 people and a target of 2m customers by 2030 (Qonto announcement, 3 July 2025). Germany had by then become the second market after France.
On the company's own figures it has been profitable since 2023 with revenue growth of around 30% year on year, and it reported that profit doubled in 2024. There is no separate audited group disclosure as at August 2026.
Expansion ran through acquisitions and country launches. In 2022 Qonto absorbed the German competitor Penta with roughly 50,000 clients; the migration is complete and the Penta domain redirects to qonto.com/de. In 2024 it bought the accounting fintech Regate and opened Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and Portugal alongside France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 2016 | Company founded (Alexandre Prot, Steve Anavi) |
| 2017 | Platform launched in France |
| January 2022 | €486m round from Tiger Global and TCV at a €4.4bn valuation (≈$5bn) |
| 2022 | Acquisition of Germany's Penta (≈50,000 clients) |
| 2023 | Reached profitability |
| September 2024 | Provisional entry in the accredited-platform register (DGFiP) |
| 2024 | Regate acquired; launches in Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal |
| July 2025 | Credit-institution application filed; 600,000 customers |
| October 2025 | Remunerated account launched |
| January 2026 | Olinda SAS renamed Qonto SA |
| April 2026 | AI agents The Operator and The Analyst across all plans |
The banking application would change both the regulatory status and the balance sheet. A credit institution can fund itself with deposits and retain lending margin inside the group, removing dependence on partner banks. The price is capital, liquidity and governance requirements, years of approvals and permanent ACPR and ECB supervision. Alexandre Prot linked the filing to reaching profitability early and to the fact that some customers will not choose a payment institution given the absence of a deposit guarantee and of credit access; at the time of filing the company estimated the process in years.
Products and pricing
The grid as at August 2026 — qonto.com/pricing, per month excluding VAT on annual billing, first month free.
| Plan | €/month | Transfers | Sub-accounts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | 9 | 30 | — |
| Smart | 19 | 100 | 1 |
| Premium | 39 | 200 | 4 |
| Essential | 49 | 250 | 9 |
| Business | 109 | 500 | 29 |
| Enterprise | 199 | 10,000 | 99 |
| Plan | Rate on balance | Balance cap |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | none | — |
| Smart | 5% AER for 2 months, then 1.25% | €50k |
| Premium | 5% AER for 2 months, then 1.25% | €100k |
| Essential | 5% AER for 2 months, then 1.25% | €200k |
| Business | 5% AER for 2 months, then 1.75% | €200k |
| Enterprise | 5% AER for 2 months, then 2.25% | €200k |
The top three rows are the solo segment, the bottom three the team plans with unlimited members. Basic includes one physical and two virtual cards and pays no interest on the balance; Smart adds a cash-flow summary and accountant access; Premium adds priority 7/7 support and a 0.56% FX fee; Business adds automatic synchronisation with accounting systems and EBICS; Enterprise adds 30 physical cards. The interest-bearing balance activates from five operations a month. Add-ons are bought separately: Invoice Automation at €12, Project Tracking at €20, Team Spend Controls at €39 a month.
The cards are Mastercard at three levels. One is included in every plan; Plus and X, with higher limits (up to €200k a month on X) and insurance, are bought separately. Since April 2026 AI agents have run across all plans including Basic: The Operator executes operations on a text command — issuing cards with limits, uploading up to 50 invoices in a batch, scheduling transfers — while The Analyst answers questions about transaction data.
Credit products
Own lending is constrained by the terms of the PI licence and is therefore small; larger amounts go through partners.
- Pay Later: supplier invoices spread over 3, 9 or 12 equal instalments at a nominal rate from 0.62% a month, with a ceiling of €100k that may be set lower on creditworthiness. Access requires at least six months as a Qonto customer and a company registered for at least nine months, and the product is open to companies headquartered in France, Italy, Germany or Spain.
- A credit card with a limit of up to €15k a month (18.88% APR) and an overdraft of up to €5k (17.5% APR).
- A marketplace of partners: Defacto (working capital), Karmen (growth financing), Edebex (receivables purchase), Fleet (equipment). Amounts of up to €1m have historically been issued through the platform.
Electronic invoicing in France
In September 2024 the DGFiP entered Qonto in the register of accredited platforms of the French electronic-invoicing reform. The initial entry was provisional (sous réserve) and required a subsequent technical-conformity audit; Qonto appears in the administration's published list of plateformes agréées. Client invoices synchronise in the Factur-X format.
The reform calendar has two steps (economie.gouv.fr):
- 1 September 2026 — every French company, whatever its size, must be able to receive electronic invoices; large enterprises and ETI must at the same date also issue them and transmit e-reporting data.
- 1 September 2027 — the obligation to issue electronic invoices and transmit transaction data extends to small and micro enterprises.
For a group's French company this means an accredited platform has to be chosen in any event; combining it with the payment account saves one integration.
Competitive landscape
Comparable providers differ by licence, geography and product focus. The pan-European fintechs are Finom and Revolut Business: the first is closer to Qonto by segment, the second relies on group scale and its Lithuanian banking licence, winning on multi-currency operations and losing on local accounting and tax compliance. For an overview of licence models in the segment see Neobanks.
Local players: in France, Shine, sold by Société Générale to Denmark's Ageras; in Italy, Hype and the digital services of traditional banks compete for small business. Pennylane is a separate case: an accounting platform entering the same segment from the bookkeeping side, offering banking services through its partner Swan. The integration between Pennylane and Qonto remains in place while competition grows: both are building an "all-in-one" for small business.
Availability and limitations
Onboarding is entirely online and designed for companies registered in the eight markets of presence. The company must be incorporated in a supported country and pass KYB and KYC; timing depends on the ownership structure, the activity and document completeness.
A structure with no legal entity in a supported country generally does not meet the onboarding criteria. A local operating company is assessed on its own facts, and non-resident owners pass standard KYC at beneficial-owner level. Day-to-day operations cover SEPA and SWIFT payments, local IBANs, team cards with limits, invoicing and bookkeeping in one interface.
Protection of funds
Qonto is a payment institution, so client money is protected by safeguarding: it is segregated from the company's own funds and held separately. Balance-sheet products are supplied by partners.
The state deposit guarantee — in France the FGDR, with a limit of €100k per depositor per bank — does not as a general rule extend to payment-institution accounts. Safeguarding protects against commingling and against the claims of the institution's own creditors, and it provides no compensation from a state fund. Any deposit and credit products following a banking licence would depend on the final authorisation and its published terms; until then balances held with Qonto are not state-protected deposits. For the payment chain and protection of funds generally see Personal account abroad.
Q/A
Is Qonto a bank yet?
No. Qonto SA operates as a payment institution supervised by the French ACPR under registration number CIB 16958. The credit-institution application was filed in July 2025 and remains under review as at August 2026; at the time of filing the company estimated the process in years. Press estimates of timing are not a regulator's decision.
How much does Qonto cost?
As at August 2026 the line-up runs from €9 a month (Basic for solo entrepreneurs) to €199 (Enterprise for teams), excluding VAT on annual billing, with the first month free. The advanced Plus and X cards, Invoice Automation (€12), Project Tracking (€20) and Team Spend Controls (€39) are bought separately.
How does safeguarding differ from a deposit guarantee?
Safeguarding is the regime, compulsory for EU payment institutions, that separates client money from the institution's own funds; it protects against commingling and against the claims of the institution's creditors. A state deposit guarantee (in France the FGDR, up to €100k per depositor) exists only at banks and does not extend to payment-institution accounts.
Does Qonto suit a non-resident structure?
The platform onboards companies registered in its eight markets of presence, from France to Portugal. A holding company outside the EU generally does not meet the onboarding criteria; the account is opened for the group's local operating company, and non-resident beneficial owners pass standard KYC.
What does accredited-platform status mean for a French company?
Qonto is entered by the DGFiP in the register of accredited electronic-invoicing platforms (plateformes agréées, formerly labelled PDP), and invoices are transmitted in the Factur-X format. From 1 September 2026 receiving electronic invoices is compulsory for all French companies, and large enterprises and ETI must issue them from the same date; for small and micro enterprises the issuing obligation starts on 1 September 2027.