The Lydia app has rapidly become France’s leading banking challenger. As France’s 2nd most downloaded fintech app, it has onboarded nearly 6 million users and became a unicorn in late 2021. The company has reached these heights with its savvy strategy: building out gradually from a modest P2P payments app into a multi-service “super app.”
It’s a remarkable player in the broader, global banking revolution that’s seeing neobanks and fintech startups outmanoeuvre incumbent institutions to net the Millennial and Gen X markets. Whilst this frenzy of competition makes the fierce market difficult to access for smaller, newer competitors, Lydia’s deeply embedded French user base has earned it a powerful reputation.
With “super-apps” such as Lydia consolidating in its own regions, many have their eyes on a more global reach. This is where the pressure may be applied to Lydia, which only operates in a handful of EU territories, whereas close competitor Revolut operates in dozens, with plans to expand intercontinentally. Lydia has added competitive novel features like crypto-investing capabilities to its platform but its need for innovation to fend off international competitors led to the development of banking app Sumeria.
Sumeria's mobile-first banking solution stands separately from the Lydia peer-to-peer payments app and was the company's solution to better monetise and simplify its products. Effectively rebranding its app for what is now an 8 million-strong user base, Sumeria is part of Lydia's shifting identity and it will be interesting to see how the Unicorn evolves.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
