the essential
La Française des Jeux has launched its own banking offer, entitled “Premio”, which will be part of its “Nirio” payment service which has made it possible since 2023 to pay bills in tobacco shops. Operation, cost, advantages… The Dispatch answers your questions about this new offer.
Since January 2023, Française de Jeux (FDJ) has offered a payment service called Nirio allowing individuals to pay certain bills in more than 15,000 partner bars and tobacco shops. The company is now going further, since it is launching its own bank card called “Premio”.
What is the “Premio” account and how does it work?
Presented on April 29, “Nirio Premio” is a banking offer with Visa card which should allow its customers to deposit and withdraw cash in approved businesses in the FDJ network.
Thanks to the Nirio mobile application, available on Android and iPhone, you will be able to open your “Premio” bank account “in less than ten minutes” promises the FDJ, and obtain a payment card at a supposedly attractive rate.
A “valid” identity document is required to open the account. “The payment card is then delivered by post within five working days,” assures the FDJ on its site.
What cost?
The no-obligation offer is available at a price of 2.99 euros per month or 29.90 euros per year. However, the “Nirio Premio” account does not allow overdrafts.
For which clientele?
The company says it is targeting customers “who are looking for a simple product, with budget management tools to help them better manage when they are overdrawn”, explained Raphaël Botbol, president of FDJ Services during a press briefing in April. However, the FDJ does not become a bank. The national lottery operator relies on a subsidiary of the BPCE banking group, Xpollens, for banking approval and management of accounts, transfers and payment cards.
What are the differences with a Nickel account?
The FDJ is not the first to offer such a service: opening a bank account with the tobacconist was offered 10 years ago by the Nickel account. Since purchased by BNP Paribas, this service now has 3.5 million customers.
Unlike its new competitor, no need for a mobile application to open a Nickel account: you can do it directly in a tobacconist and therefore immediately obtain your payment card. The service is also available in more points of sale at the moment since 7,000 partners offer cash deposit, compared to only 5,000 for “Nirio Premio”. The withdrawal of cash must be proposed by the end of the year on the FDJ side.
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This new offer should allow tobacconists to further expand the range of services they offer. More than 10,000 of them are now approved, in particular by following training to make them aware of money laundering, according to Alain Clouet, the secretary general of the Confederation of tobacconists.
