The neobank for young people Vybe to be launched in France

The neobank Vybe is disrupting the banking market by exclusively targeting a teenage audience. One way to educate them financially, and also bet on their long-term loyalty. Behind a tailor-made branding and communication, will the bet be successful? 

Vybe, a neobank for young people (12-18 years old) arrives in France in September and its future competitors Kard, Xaalys or PixPay do not scare it. “When you look at how banks or neobanks communicate in this segment, you feel like you’re in front of your parents who say ‘hello youngsters’,” said Vincent Jouanne, one of the company’s founders.

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The company has already raised $2,6 million (€2.2 million)

Three weeks ago, Vybe raised $2,6 million ( €2.2 million) in a pre-seed financing from business angels including Ronan Le Moal, former CEO of the Crédit Mutuel Arkéa group, Jonathan Cherki (Contentsquare) and Thibaud Elzière (eFounders). Ronan Le Moal is also a member of the supervisory board of Vybe, where he will be joined by Thibault Poutrel, former director of the Ingenico Group, Sylvain Pignet, founder of Ditto Bank and Clément Buyse, founder of PeopleDoc.

The startup already boasts more than 900,000 registered users on its site, more than 270,000 downloads of its application, as well as 170,000 pre-orders of Vybe cards. At its launch, the company plans to issue 10,000 cards, with the rest to follow in the coming months. Unlike most of its competitors, the neobank, which offers a payment card and a mobile application, has chosen to make its services free of charge. Parents will keep full control of the application, in order to monitor their children’s spending and make transfers.

Vybe will be remunerated as part of its partnerships

The fintech company intends to be remunerated through commissions as part of its partnerships with more than 4,000 brands, including UGC, Fnac and Deliveroo. “The application includes a whole range of cash back and benefits that young people can enjoy with the Vybe card. Each time a transaction is made, we will receive between 2% and 4% commission depending on each of the expenses made,” explained its co-founder. “The partner brands will not have access to banking data. Thereafter, the offers will be arranged according to the expenses made by the teenagers, even if no data will be transmitted,” he specified.

Founded in September 2019, the neobank, which currently has seven employees, hopes to hire seven more before the end of 2020. Vybe is already thinking about the future, with the next round of fundraising by the end of the year, and expects to reach profitability per user in seven to eight months. Within the next two years, Vybe plans to adapt to the over-18 age group by offering other types of financial products, such as student credits.

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(Featured image by ghcassel via Pixabay)

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First published in L’AGEFI, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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