Nickel is a payment institution, opened to any natural person aged twelve or over, with no income requirement and no possibility of overdraft or credit.
The target of this financial service is varied, it can concern people prohibited from banking (2.5 million in this situation in France in 2014), people deprived of means of payment who only pay in cash, those living under the poverty line (8.4 million people in France in 2014), in the process of divorce with a blocked joint account, but also seasonal workers, temporary workers, executives or students.
Thanks to an interactive terminal at a tobacconist, the customer opens a Nickel in less than five minutes by scanning his identity card (national identity card / European Union passport or residence permit issued by a French authority), and entering their address and mobile phone number, the customer leaves with a box including a MasterCard debit card and two RIB.
In order to fight money laundering, cash deposits are limited to 250 euros per transaction and 950 euros per month
The MasterCard card fee is 20 euros (annual fee). In addition, there are fees for cash withdrawals from tobacconists (0.5 euro), from an ATM (1 euro) or even in the event of cash deposit at the tobacconist (2% of the sum).