Opportunity: Independent workers in France were meaningfully underserved by existing software solutions in the market, which were focused on enterprise customers and caused small business owners to spend unnecessarily on costly accountants. After delivering a tailored accounting solution to non-salaried French workers, Indy had a great chance to build an all-in-one financial services app for their users by harnessing the power of embedded finance.
Solution: Indy understood that integrating banking solutions into familiar platforms could meaningfully improve user experience. Freelancers and other independent professionals are rarely software enthusiasts eager to test out all the latest tooling. They want to bank on their own terms, with 24/7 access to the features they need.
Impact: By embedding accounts and cards designed with the independent worker in mind, Indy is building an all-in-one financial services app tailored to all independent workers. A fully digital banking solution, utilizing Swan’s embedded finance technology and expertise, is delivering a product that fits into the lifestyle and workflows of Indy’s customer base.
Indy always wanted to be the go-to all-in-one app for the self-employed in France
Indy’s founders started the company because they had empathy with the struggle of self-employed people who wanted to better manage their finances. They saw that existing accounting solutions were either tailored to larger companies or to individuals for their personal needs. But no one was building for folks who work for themselves.
The company started by focusing on accounting, invoicing, and general financial administration for its customers. The ambition was to be the all-in-one financial app for self-employed folks in France.
With Indy, you can create a company, match transactions with invoices, and now, open an account to pay and get paid. And it’s free to access for any new or existing customer.
For Indy CEO Côme Fouques, paying dozens of euros monthly for only a payment account ought to be a thing of the past:
"The launch of the Indy pro account reinforces our mission: to provide all self-employed people with the tools they need to manage their business independently. Integrating it into our all-in-one application allows them to gain in simplicity by centralizing even more services in one place. We believe that a freelancer's pro account shouldn't cost tens of euros a month, and we're proud to be able to offer it free of charge."
Partnering with a BaaS was a great way to deliver a satisfying banking experience for Indy users
The idea to offer banking features alongside the company’s core accounting solution is over two years old.
Indy started this journey by leveraging open banking to connect the bank accounts of their customers to their own accounting solution. Indy uses open banking to give users visibility into bank account balances. When they process invoices, they can simply note the change of bank balance without having to go to another app. But to deliver a game-changing user experience, Indy’s leaders knew they needed to go even further into the world of banking.
Partnering with a leading European BaaS quickly became the clear next step to develop a leading business pro account.
Adrien Rivoallan, Product Manager at Indy, spoke about the selection process:
“We were impressed by the Swan team’s attentiveness: they really listened to our concerns and were proactive about proposing solutions. And most crucially, we needed to work with a team that we could co-create with. Swan definitely ticked that box!”
To drive improved user experiences, delivering banking features as part of a freemium pricing model is a great way to win the trust of customers for the long-term.
A complete business banking solution for liberal professionals in France
Indy is doing a big thing. They believe business banking for independent workers should be accessible and bundled together with other useful features as an all-in-one solution.
In most cases, self-employed people in France are required to have a business bank account that is dedicated solely to their entrepreneurial activity. Incumbent financial institutions take advantage of this requirement, charging folks up to €40 a month for an account with basic features and no integration with other tooling.
With Indy, customers get access to a payment account with a French IBAN, Mastercard cards, SEPA transfers and direct debits, and more, like a fully streamlined capital deposit process.
Capital deposit by Indy is fast, secure, and fully integrated with the rest of the product suite. Everything is online, with the heavy lifting done by Swan’s APIs. By the end of the company creation process, the user has a fully verified payment account and automatically becomes a client of Indy’s other services. A fantastic way to both upsell and retain users simultaneously!
PM Adrien Rivoallan and his team of seven developers were able to leverage their partnership with Swan to go live with a full-fledged banking product in less than six months. Rivoallan pointed to strong relationships with points-of-contact at Swan as a key reason for a faster-than-expected launch:
“It was great to have Lennig (Sales Strategy & Account Manager) and Pierre (Technical Account Manager) supporting us as we developed the compte pro banking product for our Indy users. The Swan team was open to feedback, always had clear documentation on hand, and the APIs are very reliable. It is important that things just work. With Swan, there were no surprises.”
The partnership between Swan and Indy has only just begun. With anticipated product releases like card payment acceptance, international transfers and more, the depth of Indy’s offering will grow as Swan grows.
If you’re looking to expand your product portfolio by adding accounts and debit cards, let’s have a chat and see if we can help you bring your vision to life.
