Qonto Adds In-House Short-Term Financing Offer for Small Businesses

Qonto has added its first in-house financing offer, “Pay later,” to the business finance solutions it offers small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and freelancers.

The new Pay later is a short-term financing, or buy now, pay later (BNPL), offer giving eligible customers in Qonto’s four markets — France, Germany, Italy and Spain — instant access to funds of up to €10,000, the company said in a Tuesday (March 26) press release.

The financing has an interest rate of 1.17% per month and the repayment period begins 30 days after the invoice purchase, with the financing to be repaid in three installments over 90 days, according to the release.

“The launch of Pay later brings us one significant step closer to our goal of becoming the business finance solution of choice for 1 million European [SMBs] and freelancers by the end of 2025,” Alexandre Prot, CEO and co-founder of Qonto, said in the release.

This short-term financing offer complements the financing platform Qonto launched in 2023, which until now has relied solely on partnerships to provide financing to the company’s customers, according to the release.

With the addition of Pay later, Qonto’s customers have access to a range of financing solutions that can deliver amounts up to €10 million, the release said.

All these solutions can be accessed through Qonto’s mobile and web apps, per the release.

“Our goal is to offer European [SMBs] and freelancers everything they need to seamlessly manage their business finances, from an online business account to invoicing, bookkeeping, spend management and, of course, financing,” Prot said in the release. “There is a real need for financing among European businesses, and we’re proud to offer a comprehensive solution with Pay later and our financing platform.”

Qonto was founded in 2016 to facilitate business banking for entrepreneurs and solopreneurs who are often neglected by traditional lenders in Europe, Prot told PYMNTS in an interview posted in February 2022.

On March 7, the firm said it plans to acquire French FinTech company Regate to add that company’s financial tools and dedicated product for accounting firms to its own existing banking solutions for SMBs. Integrating the two companies’ solutions will streamline the flow of data between SMBs and their accountants, Qonto said at the time.