Qonto: business account score and facts

Qonto is a French payment institution, not a bank, that sells euro business accounts to freelancers and small companies in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal. It is licensed by the ACPR under number 16958 and keeps client money at partner banks Credit Mutuel Arkea, Societe Generale, Natixis and Rothschild Martin Maurel rather than as deposits of its own. Plans run from EUR 9 a month for sole traders to EUR 199 a month for large teams, and the account bundles invoicing, bookkeeping, expense management and card payment acceptance. Qonto reported 600,000 customers and passed EUR 10 billion of balance sheet total in 2025, with nearly EUR 9.7 billion on client accounts and net profit of EUR 92.8 million, down 36 percent from EUR 144.4 million in 2024. It filed for a credit institution licence with the ACPR in 2025, which would let it lend and offer savings without partner banks.

Legal name: Qonto SA (formerly Olinda SAS)
Regulated by: ACPR (France), EU passporting under PSD2, with registered branches in Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands and services in Austria and Belgium
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 2016
Website: qonto.com

Scores, 0 to 10

9.0Customer satisfaction

Trustpilot shows a 4.7 score from 58,971 reviews on a profile Qonto claimed in August 2020 and holds a paid subscription on. · source

8.0Europe (EU, EEA, Switzerland)

Live in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal with local IBANs, instant SEPA transfers on every plan and 600,000 customers, but under a payment institution licence rather than a banking licence. · source

8.0Fast digital onboarding

Qonto states an account is opened online in 10 minutes with no branch visit, but only companies with an accepted legal form in one of the eight markets can apply. · source

7.0Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

Mastercard business debit cards with 1 to 30 physical cards per plan, 50 to unlimited virtual cards a month, Instant cards, limits adjustable up to EUR 200,000 and free ATM withdrawals that are unlimited on the X card, with EUR 1 per withdrawal beyond the plan allowance. · source

6.0Lowest fees

Plans start at EUR 9 a month for sole traders with 30 SEPA transfers included and run to EUR 199 a month for Enterprise, with extra transfers at EUR 0.10 to EUR 0.20 and no free tier. · source

6.0Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

In-person and online card acceptance costs 0.7% per transaction on EU consumer cards and 2.6% on non-EU and business cards with next business day payout, but marketplaces are a prohibited activity and there are no foreign-currency collection accounts. 2,000+ integrations including Stripe, Zapier, Make, Slack and Google Sheets, a public API on all plans and EBICS for ERPs, but the account is held in euro only and international transfers run through Wise. · source

5.5Best interest on business balances

Account Remuneration pays 1.25% to 2.25% AER depending on plan after a 5% introductory rate for two months, but the remunerated balance is capped at EUR 50,000 to EUR 200,000 and requires five transactions a month. · source

5.5Startups & VC-backed companies

More than 250,000 companies have been created through Qonto and the share capital deposit certificate is issued within 12 business hours, but there is no venture debt, no cap table tooling and no investor programme. · source

5.0Financial strength & stability

Qonto is a payment institution supervised by the ACPR under CIB number 16958 and holds no banking licence. Client funds are segregated at partner banks with FGDR cover of EUR 100,000 per institution per client, and the funds beyond that cover carry two stand-alone guarantees, one from Credit Agricole CIB and one from BNP Paribas. · source

5.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

A company may invest part of its cash in crypto from a Qonto account if volumes stay limited and consistent with its business and it can justify origin and purpose, per Qonto's policy as summarised in May 2026; Qonto may block high-risk providers. · source

4.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

Payments reach 150 countries in 30 or more currencies through Wise at 0.56% to 0.8% for USD, GBP and CHF and 1.56% to 1.8% for the rest, but the account itself holds no currency other than euro. The account holds euro only, with no cash pooling and no hedging, so a group with foreign-currency balances needs a second provider. Enterprise customers do get up to 99 sub-accounts with dedicated IBANs, bulk supplier payments, ERP imports and EBICS for payment initiation and transaction retrieval. · source

4.0Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

Crypto proceeds are accepted case by case with proof of origin, and Qonto keeps a right to end the relationship on 30 days notice if flows look too large or unclear, per its policy as summarised in May 2026. · source

3.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

The accepted legal forms document of 2 April 2026 covers companies in Qonto's eight markets and, for France, a foreign legal entity registered in the RCS as a subsidiary of a German, Spanish or Italian company, with no path for companies incorporated outside those markets. · source

2.0Fintech companies that need a partner bank

Unlicensed payment services including crowdfunding, crowdlending and marketplaces appear on the prohibited activities list, and Qonto sells no safeguarding accounts, BaaS or BIN sponsorship. · source

1.5Trade, manufacturing & import-export

Qonto offers no letters of credit, guarantees or documentary collections. Its financing is Pay Later for supplier invoices, capped at EUR 100,000 and repaid in 3, 9 or 12 instalments, plus a credit card with a limit up to EUR 15,000 and an overdraft. · source

1.0Crypto-friendly bank

The prohibited activities document states that persons active in cryptocurrency, covering mining, staking, NFTs, wallet development, monetary blockchain creation and STOs, are not authorised to open a payment account. · source

1.0High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

Qonto's prohibited activities list, the version in force as of September 2026, excludes casino and gambling, sex industry businesses, cryptocurrency, trading platforms for currencies and commodities, and tobacco including THC products from opening a payment account. · source

1.0Crypto wallet and custody for a business

Qonto is a French payment institution with euro business accounts and holds no crypto for clients; its help centre says wallet development, mining, staking and NFT businesses are not accepted. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

Qonto offers card terminals and online payment collection in euros but no crypto acceptance, and registered crypto firms may not use Qonto to collect client funds for crypto trades. · source

1.0Bitcoin

Qonto has no bitcoin product of its own; a company can only send euros to an outside exchange under the limited-volume rules, so BTC is not bought or held in the Qonto account. · source

1.0Ethereum

No ether buying, holding or staking exists inside Qonto, and staking businesses are on its list of activities that cannot open an account. · source

1.0Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

Qonto accounts hold euros only and offer no stablecoin balance or payout; a crypto-focused company may open an account only for corporate expenses such as salaries and bills. · source

Qonto

Scores, 0 to 10

Sources