# Banque de France

> French central bank (a member of the Eurosystem)

The French central bank. Beyond monetary policy, it hosts the ACPR, operates the national payment systems and safeguards financial stability.

_Category: reglementation_

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## Definition

The **Banque de France** is the French central bank, a member of the Eurosystem alongside the ECB.

Beyond monetary policy, three of its roles are of direct interest to fintech: it hosts the ACPR, operates the French payment systems and safeguards financial stability.

## Banque de France, ACPR, ECB: who does what

Three distinct but interlinked entities:

- **Banque de France** — the French central bank: monetary policy (with the ECB), cash management, payment-systems operator.
- **ACPR** — the supervisory authority attached to the Banque de France (same premises), but independent in its authorisation and sanction decisions.
- **ECB** — the European Central Bank, which steers the euro area; the Banque de France is a shareholder of it and takes part in its decisions.

## Its key missions for fintech

- **Hosting the ACPR**: the regulator shares its resources (premises, IT, expertise).
- **Payment systems**: CORE(FR) for mass payments (transfers, direct debits, cards), TARGET2 for large amounts in real time.
- **Centralised files**: FICP (credit incidents), FCC (irregular cheques), FNCI — useful for institutions' checks.
- **Company credit rating**: the Banque de France rating influences SMEs' access to credit.
- **Financial stability**: monitoring of systemic risks, stress tests, publications on fintech, crypto and payments.

## What the Banque de France does not do

- **Does not grant PSP authorisations**: that is the ACPR, even if the review mobilises the attached teams.
- **Does not decide monetary policy alone**: rates are a matter for the ECB's Governing Council, on which the Governor sits.
- **Does not supervise the financial markets**: that is the AMF.
- **Does not write the RTS**: that is the EBA.

## In the PSD2 ecosystem

The Banque de France is not a direct player in PSD2 flows, but the institutional foundation on which the ACPR, the payment systems and financial stability rest in France.

```mermaid
flowchart TB
    BCE["ECB / Eurosystem"]
    BDF["Banque de France\n• Monetary policy (euro area)\n• Payment systems (CORE, TARGET2)\n• Financial stability\n• Files (FICP, FCC, FNCI)"]
    ACPR["ACPR\n(attached but independent)"]
    BANQUES["Banks (ASPSP)\nFintechs / TPP"]
    SP["Payment systems\n(transfers, direct debits, cards)"]

    BCE -->|"Shared decisions"| BDF
    BDF -->|"Attachment"| ACPR
    BDF -->|"Operates"| SP
    BANQUES -->|"Connected to"| SP
    ACPR -->|"Supervises"| BANQUES
```

## Concrete examples

- **On authorisation**: an ACPR file is reviewed by mixed Banque de France / ACPR teams — knowing this ecosystem helps to position your pitch well.
- **Payment systems**: a standard SEPA transfer transits through CORE(FR); a large amount or an interbank settlement goes through TARGET2, at the Eurosystem level.
- **BdF rating**: for an SME that is a client of a B2B fintech, it often conditions access to credit — a useful data point in a scoring or cash-management product.
- **Useful publications**: the Financial Stability Review and the payment focuses are reference sources for anticipating the market (instant payments, crypto-assets, the digital euro).

## Sources

- [Missions of the Banque de France](https://www.banque-france.fr/fr/missions) — Banque de France
- [TARGET Services](https://www.ecb.europa.eu/paym/target/html/index.en.html) — Banque centrale européenne

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Source: https://openfinanceguide.com/en/glossary/banque-de-france