Download to read offline
More Related Content
![A.ID: [Digital] Identity is the new money](https://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/prjune05-180605160529-thumbnail.jpg?width=640&height=640&fit=bounds)
mentors2
- 2. American Banker The BondBuyer National Mortgage News PaymentsSource Credit Union Journal Leveraged Finance News more banking American Banker Bank Technology News American Banker Magazine Credit Union Journal MUNICIPAL FINANCE The Bond Buyer MORTGAGES National Mortgage News PAYMENTS PaymentsSource Collections&Credit Risk ISO&Agent capital markets Mergers & Acquisitions Asset Securitization Report Leveraged Finance News Private Placement Letter Traders Magazine Securities Technology Monitor investment advisory Financial Planning On Wall Street Bank Investment Consultant Money Management Executive Investment Mgt. Mandate Pipeline accounting Accounting Today Tax Pro Today HEALTHCARE & BENEFITS Employee Benefit News Employee Benefit Adviser Health Data Management Insurance Networking News Information Management
- 3. Tuesday, April 14,2015 Search Today's Paper | Magazine | Video | Web Seminars | White Papers Women in Banking | FinTech Forward Log In | My Account | Customer Service dealmaking & strategy community banking national/ regional law & regulation consumer finance bank technology bankthink conferences & events data & research resource center = Subscriber content; log in or subscribe now to access all American Banker content. "The best way to help them grow is to help them prove to the market that they are doing something good. So we give them our point of view for free to create a relationship," says Sergi Herrero, CEO of L'Atelier U.S. Related Banks Court Fintech Disruptors With Venture Units Get Inside the Heads of Bank Technology Execs Top 10 FinTech Vendors Share 2015 Plans Top 10 Tech Companies to Watch Partner Insights What's this? White Paper: Combatting Identity Theft in a Mobile, Social World Impact of Identity Theft in an Always- Connected World White Paper: Creating Depositor Value
- 4. How BNP ParibasGets Cozy with Technology Startups Shane Kite JAN 2, 2014 1:00am ET Print Email Reprints Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Google+ L'Atelier, a unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas that tracks disruptive technology, is providing office space at its San Francisco headquarters to Clearbon, a Silicon Valley startup targeting the local food sector. Why? Because according to Sergi Herrero, CEO of L'Atelier U.S., a firm like Clearbon just might change how small-business lending and payments are done. And Herrero says L'Atelier can best help the startup do that—and help BNP take advantage of any success Clearbon might find—by giving advice and support rather than direct investment. "I believe personally that it's the best investment you can do: If you provide good counseling and mentoring for these companies, they remember you well," he says. Other banks—even small ones—potentially could foster relationships with tech startups like BNP is. The approach is low risk and not capital intensive, so it could be a way for those without the deep pockets of a megabank to get in on innovative ideas as they are being hatched. But Anand Sanwal, CEO and co-founder of CB Insights, a venture capital data research firm, says those offering investments are more likely to snag the best prospects. "There are some unique and very well-constructed programs that do a great job of marrying bank mentorship with access to capital from VCs," he says. "The two combined are powerful." Herrero argues that a cash infusion from a bank can be a disadvantage for a startup, though. Other prospective investors might presume the relationship is exclusive or fail to see how the technology could be more broadly applied. He describes L'Atelier as more of a collaborative partnership-seeker and innovation lab than a venture capital arm. It aims to foster a hive of creative thinking that benefits its banking parent. Equity investment, while available, arrives in later stages of a partnership if it comes at all. "If you start raising money with a bank, you limit your options, especially in the payments industry," he says. "Startups know very well what they want to do; they don't know how to scale the company to reach millions of customers. We know how to do that. And the best way to help them grow is to help them prove to the market that they are doing something good. So we give them our point of view for free to create a relationship." The concept behind Clearbon is to enable merchants to raise money from individuals or businesses through a combination of mobile credit and crowdfunding services. So a local bakery could pay for a new oven, for instance, by having customers prepay for their baked goods. Customers would register online and buy digital credits. When visiting the store in person, they could use the digital credits to pay for purchases via their smartphones. "Like Square, plus Kickstarter," Herrero is fond of saying to describe the venture, a reference to both the mobile payments system adopted by Starbucks and the popular crowdfunding site. Though neither party would discuss the specifics of their arrangement, Clearbon co-founder Arno Hesse says the office space, while not free, nonetheless provides the perfect lab in which the company and its six full-time employees can test and improve the startup's "Credibles" prepaid credit and "Slow Money" merchant funding products. "Since our current target market is the local food sector, it doesn't hurt that L'Atelier is in a large, revamped industrial building that is also home to two bakeries, a winery, a brewery, two restaurants and two chocolate companies," Hesse says. In addition to offering Clearbon valuable input, Herrero has given L'Atelier employees digital credits to local lunch spots, and some of the employees have become repeat users. The office space is large enough that Clearbon has hosted community events with up to 80 people attending. "While our stay is not a free ride, everybody in the office shares all infrastructure, including Internet, printers, projectors, conference rooms, the kitchen," says Hesse. (Clearbon's other co-founder is Guillaume Lebleu.) BNP is hopeful that Clearbon could provide it with a path to boost lending to small and midsize businesses without shouldering all the risk. "The idea is to provide merchants another way to finance their businesses," Herrero says. "So instead of issuing a line of credit, maybe we can raise $20 million; the customers raise half and we compliment the other half." Lending to very small businesses often bedevils large banks; the potential profit is too thin to make the effort (and the risk) worthwhile. "It's something we don't provide much, or we provide half way," Herrero says. "So it's something we want to do better." If Clearbon's proof of concept running in San Francisco goes well, BNP intends to launch a pilot in France and the United States, he says. For now, "we are studying the company, doing our due diligence," Herrero says. But after testing and regulatory vetting, "we'll probably think about money to expand it." Herrero, a 32-year-old telecom engineer, has been BNP's top stateside trend spotter in Silicon Valley—particularly in mobile payments—since being appointed CEO of L'Atelier's U.S. unit a year ago. « 1 | 2 » view entire article
- 5. SEE MORE IN INPICTURES Top 10 Tech Companies to Watch « 1 of 12 » TweetTweet ShareShare
- 6. MOST READ MOST EMAILED SmallBanks Get Surprising Head Start on Apple Watch Hold the Champagne on GE Capital's Breakup Nine Countries Where U.S. Banks Have to Be Extra Cautious Small Banks Finally Get Real Shot at Municipal Finance LikeLike To identify the fintech startups deserving of special recognition this year, a team of American Banker editors, BAI staff and consultant Jeanne Capachin debated the merits of self-nominees and companies we know. These are the ten that matter for 2015. Image: Fotolia
- 7. HOME About Us Contact Us ContentLicensing & Reprints Advertise with Us Subscribe Customer Service Feedback My Account Site Map Privacy Policy Subscription Agreement RSS Feeds sourcemedia corporate site banking American Banker Bank Technology News American Banker Magazine Credit Union Journal MORTGAGES National Mortgage News PAYMENTS PaymentsSource Collections & Credit Risk ISO & Agent capital markets Mergers & Acquisitions Asset Securitization Report Leveraged Finance News
- 8. Private Placement Letter TradersMagazine MUNICIPAL FINANCE The Bond Buyer accounting Accounting Today Tax Pro Today HEALTHCARE & BENEFITS Employee Benefit News Employee Benefit Adviser Health Data Management Insurance Networking News Information Management INVESTMENT ADVISORY Financial Planning On Wall Street Bank Investment Consultant Money Management Executive © 2015 SourceMedia. All rights reserved.