BNP Paribas, in collaboration with Startup Studio 321, has launched a standalon fintech for orchestrating marketplace payments.
Operating through a full service plug-in API, the new venture, dubbed Panto, is targeting European B2C e-commerce players, in particular the marketplaces that are BNP Paribas customers. At a later stage, the fintech could extend to the European B2B and C2C markets, with international sellers.
Neil Pein, head of payments transformation and new digital businesses, BNP Paribas, comments: “With Panto, we aim to contribute to the creation of a leading player for marketplaces and, moreover, in the platformisation of commerce. For its launch, Panto can count on the strength of BNP Paribas, present across the entire payment value chain.”
Guillaume Massis, ex-Intuit and co-founder of mobile payments fintech Airtag, has been appointed CEO of the startup.
“From the outset, we’ve set ourselves the highest industry standards in terms of integration, functionality and technology, at a competitive price,” he says of the new venture. “Although there is a lot of competition in this market, it remains vast and continues to grow. We developed a first complete beta version in 6 months. With the support of BNP Paribas at our side since Panto’s creation, we look forward to a similar dynamic commercial launch phase.”
Panto is scheduled for launch in the first half of 2024. Until payment institution approval is obtained, the fintech will operate as an agent of BNP Paribas.
Earlier this year, rival french bank Societe Generale signed a deal with Lemonway to deliver payment services to large corporates launching B2B marketplaces in Western Europe.
