RCI Banque

RCI Banque S.A.

Trade name	Mobilize Financial Services
Company type	Société Anonyme
Industry	Automotive financing, insurance and related services
Founded	21 August 1974 (1974-08-21)[1]
Headquarters	Paris , France[2]
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	João Miguel Leandro (CEO)[3] Clotilde Delbos (President of the Board)
Operating income	€1.327 billion (2019) [4]
Net income	€903 million (2019)[4]
Total assets	€58.080 billion (end 2019)[4]
Total equity	€5.7 billion (end 2019)[4]
Number of employees	3,700 (2020)
Parent	Renault
Website	mobilize-fs.com/en

RCI Banque SA (French pronunciation: [ɛʁ se i bɑ̃k]), trading as Mobilize Financial Services, is a France-based international company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Renault and part of Renault's Mobilize unit. RCI Banque specialises in automotive financing, insurance, and related activities for the Renault group brands (Renault, Renault Samsung Motors, Dacia, Lada and Alpine^[5]) globally for the Nissan group brands (Nissan, Infiniti, Datsun) in Europe, Russia, Asia and South America;^[2][6][7] and for Mitsubishi Motors in the Netherlands.

RCI Banque has been designated in 2015 as a Significant Institution under the criteria of European Banking Supervision, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank.^[8]

History

The company was founded by Renault in 1974^[2] as the Société Financière de Renault or Sofiren,^[9] being intended as a way of financing sales for its dealerships and to manage the automaker's cash flow in Europe. On 27 June 1980 it was renamed Renault Crédit International (RCI).^[9] In 1990, it merged with Diac^[10] (Diffusion Industrielle et Automobile par le Crédit) SA, a company formed in 1924 by Louis Renault^[11] as a result of the lack of liquid funds after the 1921 crisis^[12] and with similar objectives, but focused exclusively on loans for the purchase of vehicles^[13] (today Diac operates as a RCI Banque's wholly owned subsidiary).^[14] By 1990, it contributed with more than one-third of Renault group's net income.^[15] By the end of 1999, after the establishment of the Renault–Nissan Alliance, the firm acquired the five Nissan's financial affiliates in Europe (located in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Spain) for €294 million and expanded its presence in South and Central America to finance Renault and Nissan sales.^[16][17] In November 2001, the company was named RCI Banque.^[2] In February 2016, as part of a corporate image revamp, RCI Banque adopted the trade name RCI Bank and Services.^[18]

In January 2017 the company became the majority shareholder of fr:Karhoo, a taxi platform.^[19][20] In September 2017, it acquired Class and Co, the parent company of Yuso (an automated fleet management system for taxi, ride-hailing and delivery services) and Marcel (a platform for reserving ride-hailing services in the Paris metropolitan area).^[21][22] On 8 June 2018, it acquired a 75% majority interest in iCabbi, a dispatch management company for automotive fleets of taxis and PHVs.^[23][24]

In January 2018, the firm moved its headquarters from Noisy-le-Roi to the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. The Noisy-le-Roi headquarters were kept by the subsidiary Diac.^[25] In February 2018, the firm's affiliate in the Netherlands announced it would finance Mitsubishi Motors sales in the country through a partnership with the local Mitsubishi financial affiliate.^[26] In May 2022, RCI Bank and Services changed its trade name to Mobilize Financial Services, as it was made part of Renault's Mobilize unit.^[27][28] Mobilize Financial Services launched Mobilize Insurance, a subsidiary offering "usage-based" insurance plans, and a payment card to finance new mobility offers.^[29][30] At the end of 2022, the group launched the long-term rental company Mobilize Lease&Co,^[31][32][33] which made its first two acquisitions in Germany in July 2023.^[34]

Activities

Mobilize Financial Services offers automobile financing lines (17.8 billion euros of new financing at the end of 2020, 4.6 million service contracts sold at the end of 2020 including insurance products). New financing contracts rose to €17.8 billion in 2020. The volume of services sold came to 4.6 million contracts.^[35]

In 2020, the firm recorded 1,520,330 contracts financed, generating new financings of €17.8 billion.^[36] It offers related services, including car loans (used and brand-new), electric vehicle battery leasing contract (100,000 contract in March 2017),^[37] rentals with purchasing options, leases, long-term rentals for retail customers and services, such as maintenance, extended warranties, roadside assistance, fleet management, and credit cards.^[38]

It also finances new vehicles, used vehicles, and spare parts, as well as short-term cash requirements for the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance dealerships. It has subsidiaries in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Algeria, Morocco, Ukraine, South Korea, and the European Union and joint-ventures in Russia, Turkey and India.^[2]

The firm has developed online vehicle sales. In Brazil, 20% of the Renault KWID models sold in 2018 were booked online using RCI e-payment. Dacia customers in the United Kingdom have been able to finance and pay off the model of their choice entirely online since November 2018 via the Dacia Buy Online website. It is the first time that a fully digitalized customer experience has been proposed in the British market.^[5]    

In 2020, it sold 1.8 services per vehicle registered by the Alliance brands in its operating scope.^[35] The firm is one of the largest issuers of auto loan asset-backed securities in Europe. In 2004, it had, together with the PSA Banque, a 10 percent participation, only behind Volkswagen and Fiat banks.^[39]

Savings

In February 2012, RCI Banque launched the ZESTO savings accounts, which were opened to a general clientele. This internet-based operation was the first of its type by an automaker's subsidiary in France.^[40] The launch was accompanied by a TV commercial from Romain Kunstlinger.^[41] The success of this initiative^[42] led to other automotive groups operating in the French market, as PSA Peugeot Citroën, to consider launching similar projects.^[43] At the end of 2012, RCI Banque announced plans to extend ZESTO to Germany.^[42] The German version of ZESTO was launched in 2013, called RCI Bank Direkt. In January 2014, ZESTO-Bank Direkt had over 136,000 customers.^[44]

RCI Bank and Services launched its deposit collection business in Spain in November 2020. At end-December 2020, net collected deposits totaled €20.5 billion, or 43% of the company's assets. Deposits from retail customers in France, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Spain (savings books and term deposits) reached 20.5 billion euros at the end of December 2020 compared with 17.7 billion € at the end of December 2019 and representing nearly 43% of net assets at the end of December 2020.^[36]

UK subsidiary

In June 2015, RCI Banque's British subsidiary, RCI Bank UK, based in Rickmansworth,^[45] launched a savings account system in the United Kingdom, becoming the first car manufacturer-related financial company to do so.^[46]

In March 2019 it obtained a UK banking licence;^[47] in February 2017 it announced it had received more than £2.1billion of deposits from more than 60,000 savers in the UK since launching in June 2015.^[48] In 2017, RCI Bank was awarded as the "Best No Notice Account Provider" by the Moneyfacts Group.^[49]

Management

As of September 2019^[update], the company is managed through an Executive Committee and a Board of Directors. Positions are as follows:^[50][51] João Miguel Leandro is Chief Executive Office, and Clotilde Delbos, Chairman of the Board).

Sponsorship

RCI Banque's Diac sponsored the Renault Sport-assisted R5s and Clios of the Société Diac team, which competed in some events of the World Rally Championship and the French Rally Championship during the late 1980s and early 1990s.^[52]

On 24 March 2010, Diac and Renault F1 signed a sponsorship agreement which lasted from the Australian to the Monaco Grand Prix of that year.^[53] In 2017, the firm announced a new deal with the Renault F1 team from the Malaysian Grand Prix onwards.^[54]

References

1. "RCI Banque". societes.com. Groupe Adverline. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
2. "Company Description: RCI Banque SA". businessweek.com. BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
3. Gibbs, Nick (26 March 2018). "Groupe Renault appoints Joao Miguel Leandro as CEO of RCI Bank". eauto.economictimes.indiatimes.com/. Crain. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
4. "RCI Bank and Services - Business Report 2019" (PDF). www.rcibs.com.
5. "RCI BANK AND SERVICES POSTS ITS BEST PERFORMANCE EVER". www.sectorpublishingintelligence.co.uk/.
6. Bournois, Frank (2007). RH: Les meilleures pratiques du CAC 40/SBF 120 [HR: The best practices from CAC 40/SBF 120] (in French). Editions Eyrolles. p. 689. ISBN 978-2-7081-3630-4.
7. "2011 Annual Report" (PDF). RCI Banque. Retrieved 1 October 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
8. "List of supervised entities" (PDF). European Central Bank. 1 January 2023.
9. "Renault veut implanter sa filiale bancaire en Russie" [Renault will go to establish a financial subsidiary in Russia] (in French). Finance-banque.com. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
10. "Profile: RCI Banque SA". Moody's Investors Service. Alacrastore.com. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
11. Pécourt, Nicolas (2010). "Le crédit un moteur de la croissance économique". Un monde sans crédit ?: Réflaxion autour du crédit à la consommation [A world without credit?: Reflections on the consumer credit] (in French). Editions Eyrolles. p. 72. ISBN 978-2-212-54553-1.
12. Lescure, M. (1995). "Banking in France in the Inter-War Period". In Feinstein, Charles H. (ed.). Banking, Currency, and Finance in Europe Between the Wars. Oxford University Press. p. 325. ISBN 0-19-828803-4.
13. Loubet, Jean-Louis, ed. (1999). L'Industrie automobile: 1905-1971 [The car industry: 1905-1971]. Archives économiques du Crédit Lyonnais (in French). Vol. 4. Librairie Droz. p. 173. ISBN 978-2600003179.
14. "Directory: DIAC SA". Insideview.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
15. Guermonprez, Damien (2005). "Quel territoire pour les acteurs non bancaires ?" [So what territory for non-bank actors?]. Revue d'économie financière (in French). 78 (78). AEF: 245. doi:10.3406/ecofi.2005.3949. ISSN 1969-6582. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
16. "Avec Nissan, Renault Crédit International vise une croissance de 7 % par an" [With Nissan, Renault Crédit International aims to growth 7% annually]. Les Echos (in French). 2 November 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
17. "Renault Crédit International finance aussi Nissan" [Renault Crédit International also finances Nissan]. Les Echos (in French). 17 January 2001. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
18. "New logo, new visual identity, new website". RCI Banque. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
19. "Renault-Nissan Captive Relaunches Mobility Platform Karhoo". www.autofinancenews.net.
20. Digitale, Usine (13 January 2017). "Renault s'empare du comparateur de taxis Karhoo". www.usine-digitale.fr.
21. "RCI BANK AND SERVICES ACQUIRES CLASS & CO, THE PARENT COMPANY OF YUSO ET MARCEL". www.rcibs.com.
22. "Les constructeurs automobiles reprennent l'initiative". www.latribune.fr. 16 November 2017.
23. "Renault firm makes strategic investment in Irish start-up iCabbi". www.siliconrepublic.com. 19 June 2018.
24. "RCI BANK AND SERVICES ACQUIRES AN 75% MAJORITY INTEREST IN ICABBI". www.rcibs.com/.
25. "RCI Bank and Services moves Corporate operations to Paris". RCI Banque. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
26. Genet, Jean Pierre (5 February 2018). "Mitsubishi et RCI (Renault) s'associent aux Pays-Bas" [Mitsubishi and RCI (Renault) partner in the Netherlands]. L'argus.fr (in French). Retrieved 26 March 2018.
27. "Renault's Mobilize targets fleets, mobility companies and last mile operators". Fleet Europe. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
28. "Mobilize: how Renault's new brand is out to disrupt the mobility market". www.moveelectric.com. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
29. Leroy, Catherine (2022-11-08). "Mobilize Financial Services crée une filiale dédiée à l'assurance automobile". Journal Auto (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-26.
30. "Mobilize lance une carte de crédit dédiée aux services électriques" (in French). 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
31. Blin, Frédéric (2022-12-13). "Mobilize Financial Services crée Mobilize Lease&Co". Flottes Automobiles (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-26.
32. "Prepaid Gift Balance". Retrieved 2024-11-26.
33. "Mobilize Financial Services crée Mobilize Lease&Co pour accélérer son offre de location longue durée et répondre aux nouveaux besoins de mobilité". www.mobilize-fs.com (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-26.
34. Chalon, Damien (2023-07-13). "Mobilize Lease&Co à la conquête de l'Allemagne". Journal Auto (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-26.
35. "Investegate |RCI Banque Announcements | RCI Banque: RCI Banque : 2020 ANNUAL RESULTS: RCI BANK AND SERVICES MAINTAINS A ROBUST COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN A CAR MARKET IN STEEP DECLINE". www.investegate.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
36. "RCI Banque : 2020 ANNUAL RESULTS: RCI BANK AND SERVICES MAINTAINS A ROBUST COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN A CAR MARKET IN STEEP DECLINE". finance.yahoo.com. 22 February 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
37. "Another Milestone For Renault: 100,000th Leased Electric Vehicle Battery". cleantechnica.com. 28 March 2017.
38. "RCI Bank and Services - Business Report 2019" (PDF). www.rcibs.com.^{[dead link‍]}
39. Watson, Rick; Carter, Jeremy (2006). Asset Securitisation and Synthetic Structures: Innovations in the European Credit Markets. Euromoney Books. p. 168. ISBN 1843742004.
40. Fardeu, Aurélie (20 February 2012). "Le constructeur Renault lance un livret d'épargne qui tient la route" [The automaker Renault launched a savings account that holds up]. votreargent.lexpress.fr (in French). L' Express. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
41. Making of the Livret Zesto TV Commercial
42. "Renault Says RCI Banque Lifts 2012 Targets For New ZESTO Deposit Accounts". RTTNews.com. NASDAQ. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
43. Gillaume, Gilles (7 March 2012). "PSA pourrait lancer à son tour un livret d'épargne" [PSA could launch a savings account]. fr.reuters.com (in French). Reuters. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
44. "RCI Banque's retail savings accounts exceed €4.3 billion in deposits at end December 2013". Renault. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
45. RCI Bank, accessed 13 October 2018
46. Dunkley, Emma (7 June 2015). "Renault savings bank rolls into UK". ft.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
47. Reynard, Cherry (14 March 2019). "Fresh competition for high street banks as RCI secures licence". yourmoney.com. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
48. "Savers told to vote with their feet for best deals, says finance expert". www.express.co.uk/. 22 February 2017.
49. "And the Moneyfacts Awards 2017 winners are..." Moneyfacts Group. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
50. "Board of Directors". RCI Banque. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
51. "Governance". RCI Banque. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
52. Hope-Frost, Henry; Davenport, John, eds. (2004). "The Drivers". The Complete Book of the World Rally Championship. Motorbooks. p. 140. ISBN 0-7603-1954-5.
53. "Renault signs deal with DIAC". GPupdate.net. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
54. "Marketplace Roundup: Renault Formula 1 Partners With RCI Bank & Services". sportsbusinessdaily.com. American City Business Journals. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.

External links

• mobilize-fs.com/en Official RCI Banque Web Site