Major French banking group BPCE will begin offering cryptocurrency trading services to retail clients through its Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne apps starting 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 bitcoins. ether solarium and USDC directly through their banking apps, The Big Whale reports.
The launch will reach around 2 million customers in the pilot phase, and BPCE plans to expand access to its entire retail base of 12 million through 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 1.5% transaction fee, with a minimum charge of one euro per transaction.
A BPCE representative said the gradual rollout is designed to monitor system adoption and performance before scaling.
Other European banks have already taken similar measures. BBVA allows cryptocurrency trading directly in its Spanish banking application, while Santander’s Openbank offers access to five crypto assets with integrated custody. On top of that, a unit of Vienna-based Raiffeisen Bank partnered with Bitpanda to offer cryptocurrencies to its customers.
