Société Générale to acquire challenger bank Shine

The startup had previously raised EUR 10.8 million in total from Daphni, Kima Ventures, XAnge and various business angels. It has been building a challenger bank for freelancers and small companies in France. It lets customers create a business account, get a debit card, and take care of some administrative tasks.

For instance, Shine helps you incorporate a company and create invoices directly from the app. You can send a link to your client, you get a notification when your client opens the invoice and they can view your Shine IBAN directly on the invoice. Therefore, because the invoicing tool is integrated with the business bank account, the invoices are automatically marked as paid in the app.

Shine will operate independently from Société Générale and will still accept new customers, but according to TechCrunch, the two companies have plans to cross-promote their respective offerings. Shine will also take advantage of Société Générale’s banking license and products.