French fintechs, particularly hard hit by the crisis, are mobilizing. Some have set up special schemes to help their customers.
Lydia: a special device for the medical professions
The French fintech specializing in mobile payment has rallied to the cause of medical staff by proposing a special scheme to enable them to be paid remotely by bank card. The scheme aims to make it easier for medical staff to register their activity with Lydia services, to waive all collection and service fees until June 30, 2020, and to offer doctors dedicated support.
Younited Credit: loans at 0.01% for nursing staff
The consumer credit specialist is offering loans at the symbolic rate of 0.01% to professionals fighting against Covid-19. This announcement concerns loans of less than 3,000 euros taken out for a period of between 12 and 24 months. The operation is financed by the company's own funds, up to a total of 5 million euros.
October: a 3-month freeze on principal repayments
Lending platform October has announced support measures for its borrowers in Europe. Loans granted to businesses in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany will benefit from a 3-month freeze on principal repayments automatically.
Epsor: a special landing to answer investors' questions
Fintech Epsor has developed a 100% online platform to facilitate access to employee savings schemes for companies often discouraged by the numerous administrative formalities involved. The team mobilized to deal with the health crisis, offering 4 webinars in April as well as information and advice on its blog.
Tripartie: a free service during confinement
Tripartie, the trusted third party for transactions on ad sites and freelancers, decided to offer its service free of charge for the duration of the confinement. Using the application, individuals were able to pay for their purchases using a simple, secure payment method, while freelancers were able to avoid any risk of non-payment.
Spendesk: personalized customer care
Spendesk is a customized, real-time expense management platform. In order to understand its customers' needs and offer them appropriate support, the startup has set up a personalized follow-up service. It also offers online training courses to help SMEs manage their business expenses remotely. Last but not least, the fintech is offering all new customers one month's free use of its tools to help them get through the period of confinement more serenely.