Mobile operators are stepping up pressure on the traditional
banks that dominate the market place, as the numbers of people
walking into high street bank branches declines, with more and
more customers now using smartphones to make purchases.
France's biggest telecoms group Orange is also looking to launch
its online banking service nationwide, aiming to take on
traditional banks with a low-cost offering that will eventually
expand into loans and insurance.
Altice is aiming to go beyond just France and has requested a
banking license from the European Central Bank (ECB), said the
source, confirming an earlier report by newspaper Le Parisien.
The ECB was not immediately available for a comment.
The bank would be named Alticebank and would operate across its
European networks. In Europe, Altice owns French telecoms group
SFR and is also present in Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg and
Switzerland.
Altice listed shares in its U.S. business on the New York stock
exchange last month, giving the company public stock it can use
as currency for new acquisitions.
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by
Sudip Kar-Gupta and Richard Lough)
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