Shares has completed its acquisition of Treezor from Société Générale on 6 October, after receiving regulatory approval for the deal. The two companies had announced exclusive talks in January, which I covered at the time. Treezor is the Paris-based banking-as-a-service provider with an e-money licence passported across 25 countries. It powered the early days of Qonto and Shine, both of which have since moved on, and today counts Swile and Bling among its clients. Treezor reports more than €145bn in processed flows and 8.5m cards issued. Benjamin Chemla leads the Shares group, and Cédric Cassini becomes Treezor's General Manager. The price was not disclosed.
Treezor stays a BaaS provider, now with investing on top
Treezor will keep selling banking-as-a-service, and Shares plans to add its savings and investment products to the same offering. For a client, that means a platform that gives users an account and a card through Treezor could later let them save or invest, with both coming from one provider as white-label modules. In January I wondered whether Shares mainly wanted Treezor for its own products. It now looks like an open-platform play, which fits Shares' move from a retail investing app to white-label infrastructure for wealth managers, insurers, and banks.
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What changes for non-financial brands
For existing clients like Swile and Bling, I expect little to change in the short term. The bigger question is who Treezor builds for next. In January I guessed that non-financial brands might slip down the priority list once investing became the focus. The group names businesses and financial institutions as its target market, which leaves room for both. For a brand that only needs accounts and cards, the investment layer adds little. I expect the pitch to lean towards fintech companies and institutions that want both.
