TagPay, a core banking provider in which Société Générale holds a minority shareholding, has secured an investment of €25 million from Long Arc Capital to strengthen its sales, product and technical teams and to fund growth.
The investment gives the New York-based private equity firm a majority interest in TagPay, which has previously raised €7 million since launching its first core banking product in 2016. The Paris-based outfit initially started life in 2005 as a provider of mobile contactless technology using soundwave technology to embed smartphones with payment and authentication tools.
TagPay, which claims 20 European financial institutions as customers, aims to double its banking customer base while multiplying by five the number of end-customers provided with secured digital banking services.
“The regulatory evolution, the new expectations of end customers and the disruption in financial services makes the modernisation of core banking systems a necessity,” says Yves Eonnet, CEO of TagPay. “Today, thanks to its open and agile architecture system, TagPay is the premier solution to address these challenges. We are very happy to have the support of Long Arc Capital, whose financial and operational support will allow us to grow rapidly over the next three years.”
Société Générale pumped €1 million in return for an eight percent stake in TagPay in 2016, under an initiative to maintain and grow its retail consumer base in the African sub-continent.