Qonto is a French payment institution, registered in the Registre des agents financiers under license number 16958 and subject to the supervision of the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR).

What is a payment institution in simple terms?

A Payment Institution is a financial intermediary other than Credit Institutions. The substantial difference is that Payment Institutions cannot provide credit. Payment Institutions can provide payment services associated with a payment account.

Furthermore, Payment Institutions are not allowed to collect deposits from users. The funds received from customers must be deposited with a credit institution, in an account separate from that of the Payment Institution, with the clear indication that they are third party assets. In other words, the sums held in the payment accounts on behalf of each customer cannot be confused with those of the payment institution.

What is the difference between a bank account and a payment account?

As the word itself indicates, only banks can open bank current accounts. The accounts provided by the Payment Institutions are legally referred to as "payment accounts". Unlike bank current accounts, funds set up in a payment account do not accrue interest and are subject to the protection methods described above.

In any case, for the use made of it, any reference to a "bank account" on our site must be understood in the common sense of the term.