Orange Spain targeting end-year launch of bank service - report

Orange Spain intends to follow the lead of its French parent and roll out a mobile banking service by December 2018, according to unnamed sources cited by El Economista. The Orange Bank platform has been available in France since 02 November, combining the attributes of a traditional bank with a mobile offering delivered via a dedicated app for compatible Android and Apple smartphones. The service allows customers to pay either with a Visa bank card or via mobile payment (in partnership with Wirecard Bank), send money by SMS using SEPA transfer and check their bank balance in real time. Orange last year announced that the new bank aims to attract more than 2 million customers in France in the long term and that it was considering similar services in other European countries including Spain and Belgium.

In France new bank account holders have been offered EUR 80 as a 'welcome' bonus, with an additional EUR 40 bonus for customers who also subscribe to a mobile postpaid/fixed broadband plan sold by Orange or Sosh. Orange Spain is expected to announce a similar promotion to attract clients to its own financial service and has already partnered with mobile payment specialist Wirecard in the ‘Orange Cash Joven’ service launched at the end of last year.