BNP Paribas, in partnership with Startup Studio 321, has introduced a standalone fintech designed to manage marketplace payments. This new venture, named Panto, utilizes a comprehensive plug-in API and aims to serve European B2C e-commerce companies, particularly those marketplaces that are already BNP Paribas clients. In the future, Panto plans to expand into European B2B and C2C markets, catering to international sellers.
Neil Pein, head of payments transformation and new digital businesses at BNP Paribas, stated: “With Panto, we aim to contribute to the creation of a leading player for marketplaces and, moreover, in the platformisation of commerce. For its launch, Panto can count on the strength of BNP Paribas, present across the entire payment value chain.”
Guillaume Massis, formerly with Intuit and co-founder of the mobile payments fintech Airtag, has been appointed CEO of Panto. He remarked, “From the outset, we’ve set ourselves the highest industry standards in terms of integration, functionality, and technology, at a competitive price. Although there is a lot of competition in this market, it remains vast and continues to grow. We developed a first complete beta version in 6 months. With the support of BNP Paribas at our side since Panto’s creation, we look forward to a similar dynamic commercial launch phase.”
Panto is set to launch in the first half of 2024. Until payment institution approval is secured, the fintech will operate as an agent of BNP Paribas.
Earlier this year, competitor Société Générale formed a partnership with Lemonway to provide payment services to large corporations launching B2B marketplaces in Western Europe.