Orange presented a mobile finance services update for analysts in London on 30 November. The group confirmed that Spain would be the next country after France to see the arrival of Orange Bank in 2019, and said that Slovakia, Poland and Belgium would follow suit between 2020 and 2023.
A differentiated go-to-market approach will be implemented in other countries, based on the maturity and penetration of banking services. In Romania, Orange Money has recently entered into a strategic partnership with Visa. In this market, the group will focus on payment and consumer credit services in 2019. A similar strategy is planned for Moldova and Morocco during 2020 and 2023.
Orange Bank CEO Paul de Leusse recently revealed plans for new credit products in France, including short-term loans to fund the purchase of smartphones. Commenting on the financial losses posted by the company, he said that break-even is not expected until 2023, because of the high costs of customer acquisitions and heavy investment behind new services. On this point, the November strategy update shows that the company expects adjusted EBITDA to break even in 2023 for France and Spain, based on a cumulative adjusted EBITDA loss of EUR 500-600 million at group level in the six years to 2023. By the same year, Orange Bank has a goal of 4 million customers across five countries.
In the largest European markets, the ambition is to reach 2 million customers in France and 1 million customers in Spain by 2026. Looking at the African operations, Orange Money is targeting EUR 800 million in revenues by 2023, with 30 million monthly active customers using full-fledged banking services.
