The line separating everyday banking from long-term wealth creation is rapidly dissolving as financial technology innovators race to build the next generation of all-in-one financial super-apps. This industry-wide trend is powerfully underscored by the latest development in the European market, as French investech firm Shares has formally entered into exclusive negotiations for the complete acquisition of Treezor, the established Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider currently operating as a subsidiary of banking giant Société Générale. This proposed deal is not merely a transfer of ownership but represents a significant strategic maneuver aimed at deeply integrating advanced investment technology with the foundational pillars of embedded finance. The primary goal is to forge a more comprehensive and seamless digital financial services platform for a new generation of users who expect their banking and investment tools to coexist in a single, intuitive ecosystem, thereby challenging the fragmented nature of traditional financial services.
A Strategic Fusion of Investment and Embedded Finance
The proposed merger highlights a critical evolution of the BaaS model, moving it beyond its traditional confines of payment processing and basic account services. Treezor, acquired by Société Générale in 2018, brings a robust and proven infrastructure to the table, specializing in white-label financial services that form the backbone of many modern fintech applications. Its extensive track record includes the issuance of over 8 million cards and the processing of more than €130 billion in transactions, covering essential functions from card issuing and payments to comprehensive KYC verification. Shares aims to leverage this powerful embedded finance suite not as a standalone service but as the foundation for a much broader vision. By integrating its own investment and savings solutions directly into Treezor’s framework, Shares plans to create a unified platform that seamlessly combines everyday banking functionalities with sophisticated wealth-building capabilities, offering a holistic financial journey within a single user experience.
Charting a New Course in European Fintech
Founded in 2021, Shares quickly established itself as a notable player, securing $90 million in funding from prominent investors and growing its team to 110 employees. The company’s journey began with a focus on retail investing but soon broadened to encompass wealth and savings products, signaling its ambition to cater to a wider spectrum of financial needs. The announcement of this acquisition followed a significant strategic realignment for Shares, which recently exited the UK market to sharpen its focus on its core French and broader EU operations. This acquisition, therefore, was seen as a decisive step in cementing its European strategy, providing the regulatory and technical infrastructure needed for rapid scaling. While the specific financial terms and a definitive timeline for the transaction’s completion were not disclosed, the move unequivocally positioned Shares to compete at a higher level, transforming its value proposition from a specialized investment app into a comprehensive, vertically integrated financial institution poised for significant growth.
