Major French banking group BPCE is set to start offering crypto trading services to retail clients through its Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne apps from Monday.
Customers of four regional banks, including Banque Populaire Île-de-France and Caisse d’Épargne Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, will be able to buy and sell bitcoin ether solana and USDC directly through their banking apps, The Big Whale reports.
The rollout will reach around 2 million customers in the pilot phase, with BPCE planning to expand access to its full 12 million retail base by 2026.
The service operates through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq, BPCE’s crypto-focused subsidiary. Each account comes with a monthly fee of 2.99 euros ($3.48) and a transaction fee of 1.5% with a minimum fee of one euro per transaction. trade.
A BPCE representative said the gradual rollout is designed to monitor adoption and system performance before scaling.
Other European banks have already taken similar steps. BBVA allows crypto trading directly in its Spanish banking app, while Santander’s Openbank offers access to five crypto assets with integrated custody. On top of this, a Vienna-based unit of Raiffeisen Bank partnered with Bitpanda to offer crypto to its customers.
