Sumeria (ex-Lydia)
Global fintechNo DGS (EMI)Best for: P2P paymentsBest for: Mobile-firstBest for: EUR savings
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Popular French P2P payments
- mobile-first banking app
- interest on balance
Cons
- Not a bank — no €100k deposit guarantee (funds safeguarded)
Rating breakdown
Foreigner onboarding33
USD handling20
Transfers50
Value & fees30
Licence & deposit protection
No DGS (EMI)No DGS — funds safeguarded (EMI)
This is an electronic money institution (EMI), not a bank. Funds are safeguarded, but NOT covered by the €100,000 deposit guarantee. Convenient, but legally it isn't a bank deposit.
- Licence
- EMI · ACPR (Banque de France)
- IBAN
- FR
- SEPA Instant
- Send & receive
- Verification of Payee (VoP)
- Rolling out
Editorial review
Sumeria (ex-Lydia) runs on an EMI licence: convenient, but your money is safeguarded rather than covered by the €100k deposit guarantee.
It is a global fintech licensed in FR supporting EUR. FX model: Card-network rate + markup.
It tends to suit p2p payments, mobile-first, eur savings.
Fees & terms
- Exchange rate
- Card-network rate + markup
- Card cost
- Free / paid tiers
- Currencies
- EUR
- Cards
- Global Physical, Global Virtual
- Transfers
- SEPA in/out, SEPA Instant in/out
- Payments
- Apple Pay, Google Pay
- Licence
- EMI — ACPR (Banque de France)
- IBAN
- FR
- SEPA Instant
- Send & receive
- Verification of Payee (VoP)
- Rolling out
- FX model
- Card-network rate + markup
- Opening requirements
- No local address needed; FR-focused
- English support
- No
- Remote opening
- Yes
- Headquarters
- France
Also consider
FAQ
- Is my money protected?
- No. Sumeria (ex-Lydia) operates under an EMI licence — funds are safeguarded but NOT covered by a €100k Deposit Guarantee Scheme. It is not a bank in the deposit-protection sense.
- What IBAN and transfers?
- Sumeria (ex-Lydia) issues a FR IBAN. SEPA Instant: send + receive.
- Can I open remotely, in English?
- Opening is remote. Support is mainly local-language. Requirements: No local address needed; FR-focused.
Data provenance & verification
Every fact is checked against an official source and stamped with a date. We re-check fees quarterly and document requirements twice a year. Fields not yet independently verified are labelled honestly.
Updated: Dataset compiled: