France country guide

France is home to Europe's third-largest software market after the UK and Germany. The total number of active SaaS platforms is nearing 1000.

There’s a growing concentration in hospitality, beauty and fitness, healthcare, and retail. France is also home to industry heavyweights in F&B globally, like Zenchef.

Before you decide to invest in expanding to France, it’s important to note the need for localized language and content.

“Zenchef has reimagined the payment process and fully adapted it to the food service industry, which means it also addresses the challenges unique to the industry.”

Ghislain Rouëssé · VP of Partnerships at Zenchef

The competitive landscape in France

The French market is technology-focused. Platforms are moving to offer deeply embedded payments, where software and payments are bundled together. This requires tightly integrated software and close collaboration with payment partners.

There’s an exciting opportunity in legacy industries that typically require heavy administration, such as healthcare. Doctolib has become a market leader as an online and mobile booking and medical management software provider in Europe, with 25,000 affiliated doctors and 8.5M monthly visitors on its platforms.

Buyer preference in the French software market skews to well-known brands and providers. New players should invest in establishing a brand presence by showcasing the technical capabilities and cost-effectiveness of their offerings through marketing and sales efforts.

SMB appetite in France

While 76% of SMBs use a platform, only 20% use embedded payments, and 30% use embedded financial products. Interestingly, 77% of French SMBs are interested in embedded payments but have yet to take the leap.

SMBs are very comfortable working with their dedicated bank manager at traditional banks. To gain traction, platforms should focus on localizing their content and platform to the needs of French SMBs.

Since many SMBs don't know what they're missing, platforms should showcase their credentials as payments and financial service providers to build trust.

Local payment methods landscape in France

Cards are the preferred payment method in France, with 57% of French consumers reporting they prefer to pay with a debit or credit card. The most popular card in France is the national card system Carte Bancaire (CB), the market leader with 73.9 million issued cards in 2021 and over 14 billion transactions. CB's debit and credit cards are accepted throughout France. Visa and Mastercard are included in the CB system.

As is common in more European countries, debit cards are more widely used than credit cards. Digital wallets have gained a strong foothold. Offering international solutions like Google Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal, and Amazon Pay are crucial to capturing the market. Nationally, PayLib is an important option. It’s among France's most common digital wallets and connects with Cartes Bancaires.

Tourism equates to nearly 10% of the GDP. France is a cultural and commercial powerhouse and is the world's most visited country. The allure of France’s luxury brands and world-famous attractions boosts these numbers considerably, so offering in-person and online experiences that include local payment methods mixed with international ones is vital to platform success in the region.

Another popular payment method in France are meal vouchers. These vouchers are prepaid cards that are provided by employers to let employees buy food and beverages. Since meal vouchers are highly regulated in France, merchants need to have an official authorization from la Commission Nationale des Titres-Restaurant (CNTR).

The security and regulatory context in France

As is the case for SaaS platforms worldwide, FR SaaS platforms need to adhere to stringent regulations. Due to their nature of handling vast amounts of sensitive data from multiple users, they need to design embedded payments with the latest security and regulatory context in mind.

The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) regulates the French financial market, its participants, and the investment products distributed via the markets. The most commonly encountered financial regulators for platforms that offer embedded financial products in France are the ACPR and REGAFI. The ACPR details all active insurance organizations. REGAFI details all French or foreign companies that have obtained authorization from the French Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACP).

Key considerations include:

Adhering to Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations to build trust with users and regulatory authorities
Meeting PCI DSS standards to prevent payment-card data breaches and ensure user-data security
Navigating GDPR data protection laws to safeguard user data and avoid non-compliance penalties
Implementing fraud prevention measures like multi-factor authentication and transaction monitoring to protect your platform and SMBs

Failure to meet requirements can result in legal consequences, financial losses, and reputational damage for platforms. Our banking infrastructure and compliance teams provide vital support to our platform customers. We handle much of the regulatory burden to ensure continuous compliance, mitigate transaction risks and liabilities, and ultimately let platforms focus primarily on core objectives and support their users.

Key Considerations for expansion to France

To thrive in France, SaaS platforms must establish their brand presence before rolling out embedded payments due to buyer preference for well-known brands. SaaS platforms can effectively navigate the competitive landscape and seize growth opportunities in France.

To summarize: