Definition
An EC (Établissement de Crédit, credit institution) is, under European law, the only status allowed to take deposits from the public and grant credit on its own account.
This is what is commonly known as a bank — the broadest and most heavily regulated status in the ecosystem. In France, the licence is issued by the ACPR, and by the ECB for significant institutions (SSM).
The "banking monopoly" in plain terms
Codified in Article L.511-5 of the Monetary and Financial Code, it rests on two pillars:
- Receiving repayable funds from the public: a non-EC cannot offer a savings passbook, a remunerated current account, or any product where the customer "deposits" money recoverable on demand.
- Granting credit on a regular basis: lending regularly requires the EC licence (with limited exceptions: inter-company credit, syndicated lending).
Every other status (EP, EME, IOBSP) derives from or works around this monopoly by specialising.
EC vs EP vs EME
| EC | EP | EME | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takes deposits | Yes | No (ring-fences client funds) | No (issues electronic money) |
| Grants credit | Yes | Limited (tied to a payment service) | No |
| Min. capital | €5M | €20K to €125K | €350K |
| Regulator | ACPR + ECB | ACPR | ACPR |
| Examples | BNP, Revolut Bank | Qonto, Bridge, Fintecture | Treezor, Swan, Sumeria |
What an EC can do (and others cannot)
- Collect savings (Livret A, LDDS, term deposits, remunerated current account).
- Grant any type of credit: consumer, mortgage, revolving, business, leasing.
- Issue credit cards in the strict sense (deferred > 30 days, revolving).
- Join payment systems directly: TARGET2, STEP2, CORE(FR), TIPS.
- Benefit from the deposit guarantee (FGDR, up to €100,000 per customer per institution).
What an EC is not
- Not synonymous with a universal bank: an EC can be highly specialised (financing, single-line lending, private banking).
- Not the only one to manage accounts: EPs and EMEs also manage payment accounts, without the deposit/credit layer.
- Not necessarily supervised by the ECB: only significant ECs (~€20bn in assets) are, the others stay with the ACPR.
- Not fixed in stone: an EP that wants to lend at scale ends up applying for the EC licence.
In the PSD2 ecosystem
As soon as it holds payment accounts, an EC is by definition an ASPSP: it therefore bears all the DSP2 obligations (XS2A API, SCA, eIDAS certificates) on top of its banking obligations (CRR/CRD, prudential ratios, enhanced AML-CFT).
Concrete examples
- Traditional banks: BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, BPCE, Crédit Mutuel, La Banque Postale — all ECs, supervised by the ECB for the largest ones.
- Neobanks licensed as ECs: Revolut Bank (Lithuania), N26 (Germany), Bunq (Netherlands), Boursorama (France) — they can remunerate deposits and lend.
- Specialised ECs: My Money Bank, Younited, Cofidis, Floa Bank — financing and consumer credit, without a branch network.
- Non-EC neobanks: Lydia (EP then EME via Sumeria), Qonto (EP), Shine (EP) — they go through partners to remunerate or lend.
- EP → EC transition: the classic trajectory of a fintech that wants to bring credit in-house. Qonto is targeting the EC licence — several million euros and 18 to 24 months of process.
- Cost of the status: minimum capital of €5M, CRR/CRD ratios (CET1 > 4.5%, total ratio > 8%), quarterly COREP/FINREP reporting — far heavier than an EP.