Cartes Bancaires (CB)Cartes Bancaires (CB), France's domestic card scheme, is the largest domestic scheme by volume in Western Europe, but it has been losing co-badged card routing to Visa and Mastercard. Its arrival in Apple Pay and BPCE's return to co-badging reversed the trend in 2025.Groupement des Cartes Bancaires CB (a GIE, a French economic interest grouping) · since 198477 million cards and 14.5 billion transactions in 2024 (GIE CB). CB's routing share on payment terminals rose back to 63.6% in H2 2025 from 61.4% in H1, after 89.6% in H2 2021, according to fintech Yavin's index based on more than €3 billion in transactions (AFP / Europe 1, 2026)
Global registry · Europe · Western Europe
France Payment systems
14 systems listed.
CurrencyEuro (EUR)
Domestic schemeCB (Cartes Bancaires)
RegulatorBanque de France / ACPR (banking supervisor)
Leading payment methods
Cards (CB)Wallets (PayPal, Apple Pay)SEPA credit transferCashBNPL
E-commerce shares
Cards · 45%Wallets · 32%Account-to-account · 9%Buy now, pay later · 6%Other · 6%Cash · 2%
CB (Cartes Bancaires). The domestic scheme French banks created in 1984: about 15 billion transactions a year, co-badged with Visa or Mastercard on nearly every card. CB interoperability lets any card pay at any merchant in France.
CB transactions≈15B a year, ~€830B (GIE CB)
In-store contactless>60% of CB payments (2025)
CB cards in circulation≈76M
A card country above all: contactless accounts for more than 60% of CB payments in stores. Paylib has been absorbed into Wero (EPI) for P2P, and Wero e-commerce started there in April 2026. Checks, a French specialty, are declining by about 10% a year but have not disappeared.
IBAN · France
27 charactersSEPA area215 bank codes4,924 BIC codes
- Total length
- 27 characters
- Bank code position
- 5–9
- Branch code position
- 10–14
- BBAN structure
5!n5!n11!c2!n
Structurally valid example
FRcountry code76check digits30006bank00001branch1234567890189account
FR76 3000 6000 0112 3456 7890 189
Learn about this market. The guides and courses that cover it.
French fintech: an overviewPayments in FrancePayments in France’s overseas territoriesResponding to authorities: requisitions, garnishments, and foreign requestsPayment cardsPayPal, BNPL, and alternative paymentsA CB card transaction, end to endHandling payment disputes: a guide for customer supportAccepting cards in store: POS terminals from A to ZProtecting your everyday paymentsAccounting for payments: from card receipt to balance sheetB2B payments, level 2: credit transfers, corporate cards, and receivables financing
Card schemes
Instant payments
STET Instant Payment CSMAn instant CSM interconnected with TIPS and RT1. It also carries the authorization network of Cartes Bancaires (CB), France’s domestic card scheme.STET · since 2018
Clearing and settlement
Checks (image-based check clearing)France remains the last major check market in Western Europe; an issuer operating in France still has to handle this payment method.STET via CORE(FR) · since 2002
CORE(FR)France’s bulk CSM, which also clears for part of the Belgian banking community, and one of the few in Europe still processing checks.STET (owned by the major French banks) · since 200838 billion transactions processed in 2025 (STET key figures; exact scope, clearing plus card authorization, not confirmed)
SIT (Système Interbancaire de Télécompensation)DiscontinuedFrance’s retail clearing system, through which banks exchanged credit transfers, direct debits, check images, and card transactions. It carried all of French retail banking for 16 years before CORE(FR) replaced it in June 2008. Practitioners still come across it in pre-SEPA agreements and reference documents.Groupement pour un Système Interbancaire de Télécompensation (economic interest grouping (GIE) set up in 1983 by 13 French banks together with the Banque de France (France’s central bank), known as GSIT) · since 199213 billion transactions in 2006, more than 50 million per business day and up to 80 million at peak; replaced by CORE(FR) in June 2008 (GSIT, figures cited by French Wikipedia)
Wallets
Lydia / SumeriaFrance’s leading non-bank P2P wallet, now repositioned as a neobank under the Sumeria brand; a direct competitor to Wero for person-to-person payments.Lydia Solutions (e-money institution) · since 2013
MoneoDiscontinuedFrench e-purse used at universities and small shops, killed off by contactless; still cited in card payments textbooks.BMS (Billettique Monétique Services) / SFPMEI · since 1999E-purse discontinued in 2015
PaylibDiscontinuedFrench interbank wallet (contactless payments on Android and transfers between friends) wound down in favor of Wero. Its user base gave Wero its initial foothold in France.Paylib Services (consortium (GIE) of French banks) · since 2013About 10 million users claimed in 2022; gradually replaced by Wero from June 2024 to January 2025
Buy now, pay later
AlmaFrench white-label BNPL for in-store and online retail, offering payment in 2 to 12 installments.Alma SAS (payment institution licensed by France’s banking supervisor (ACPR)) · since 2018
FLOA PayFrance’s leader in e-commerce payment in 3 or 4 installments, acquired by BNP Paribas, an example of banks taking back BNPL.FLOA (BNP Paribas Personal Finance since 2022)
Oney 3x/4xThe long-standing installment payment option of French mass retail, backed by a banking license, a very different model from fintech BNPL.Oney Bank (BPCE group) · since 2000
Stablecoins
EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) and USD CoinVertible (USDCV)The first stablecoins issued by a subsidiary of a systemically important European banking group, under credit institution status and the MiCA framework. It is a significant proof of concept: a G-SIB can issue a compliant payment token, which changes the terms of the disintermediation debate.Société Générale-FORGE · since 2023
EURCV (EUR CoinVertible)The first euro stablecoin issued by a subsidiary of a systemically important European bank, under MiCA; a reference for tokenized settlement use cases.SG-FORGE (Société Générale) · since 2023
Other
Digital meal vouchers (cards and apps)A closed, regulated, and very large scheme (France’s meal vouchers), with its own acceptance rules and daily spending limit. It is routinely left out of payment method inventories, even though it requires merchants to do specific development work.Edenred (issuer approved by the meal voucher commission (CNTR)) · since 2014