Fintech 2026

FRANCE Law and Practice Contributed by: Sylvain Clavé and Germain Chaux, Clavé Avocat

1. Fintech Market 1.1 Evolution of the Fintech Market Market Evolution – The Resilience of the French Ecosystem The French fintech ecosystem has established itself as a leading hub within the European Union (EU), with a network of approximately 1,200 companies (including 12 unicorns) and around 50,000 jobs. In 2025, the French market demonstrated strong resil - ience; by September 2025, French fintech companies had raised approximately EUR825 million in equity, reaching a total of around EUR1.1 billion by year-end, despite the sharp decline in fundraising observed throughout 2023 and 2024. A Dynamic Ecosystem Moving into 2026, the French fintech ecosystem remains highly dynamic but has structurally matured, entering a phase defined by a “flight to quality”. Investors and founders have shifted their focus from rapid cash-burn strategies to profitability, sustainable business models, and robust B2B solutions (such as embedded finance, CFO tools and cybersecurity). Consolidation is also accelerating, with a notable increase in M&A activity. Internationalisation has also become a major growth driver, with many French fin - techs operating (or planning to operate) outside their home market. The ecosystem’s trajectory will be heav - ily influenced by its ability to absorb a new wave of EU regulations, including the Digital Operational Resil - ience Act (DORA) and the AI Act. AI has transitioned from an experimental discipline to the central nervous system of French fintech develop - ment. Over 80% of surveyed fintechs in France now rely on AI as a core technology. The use cases for AI models have become more sophisticated and diverse, notably in relation to fraud detection algorithms and the enhancement of anti-money laundering (AML) sys - tems through real-time behavioural pattern analysis. AI is also being deployed to create highly personalised customer experiences. From a forward-looking perspective, these devel - opments could profoundly reshape the nature of the internet, with traffic increasingly dominated by autonomous agents rather than human users. These

AI agents could become primary economic actors, relying on programmable, digital representations of money as a settlement layer and thereby enabling a “machine-to-machine economy”. 2. Fintech Business Models and Regulation in General 2.1 Predominant Business Models The French fintech ecosystem comprises various business models, including a wide range of: • neobanks, payment apps and e-money institutions; • personal finance/wealth management apps; • crowdfunding and crowdlending platforms; • asset management solutions; and • digital asset players or hardware wallet makers. The ecosystem also features AI-driven solutions and regtech providers, which help financial institutions to manage compliance and risks, and provide AML tools (transaction monitoring, KYC, automated reports, etc). From a business perspective, a clear distinction has emerged between “digital native” players and legacy institutions launching “digital first attacker” products. For example, LCL (a major French bank) has rolled out a 100% digital banking offer dedicated to entrepre - neurs, designed to compete with neobanks. Furthermore, an increasing number of fintechs are integrating environmental and social impact objec - tives directly into their core architecture. This shift is primarily driven by stringent EU regulations (such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regu - lation (SFDR)) and by investor expectations. 2.2 Regulatory Regime In France, there is no fintech-specific regulation. The applicable regime, mostly derived from EU law, depends on the underlying business model and activity. Depending on the vertical, several regulatory regimes may apply.

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