Nearly 600 businesses in the Principality and approximately 50,000 registered users. The Carlo application continues to see its use climb. To the delight of its founder, Antoine Bahri. “We have made enormous progress with the acquisition of businesses. We cover a large majority of Monegasque traders. And users are more and more active. He makes an average of six transactions per month. It is at this level that we are progressing the most.” Mission accomplished, therefore, for the one who wanted to give local businesses a boost by creating a community.
But the entrepreneur does not stop there. A new feature that he has been working on for two years has recently been launched on the app. “We launched it this week [lire la semaine dernière]. Carlo users can now send money to each other, continues Antoine Bahri. It is a Carlo sale which will be intended for Monegasque businesses.” However, the creator of the application wants to remain measured: “We are still not an online bank, we are a payment application. This will help consolidate this community around the local economy.”
A creation that did not come regarding entirely by chance…”It is important for Monaco because we do not have access to “neobank” applications that are very popular in France and Europe such as Revolut, N26, Lydia… They are not available here.”
End of the offer in Spain, Aix is developing
Launched in Valladolid in 2021 then in Aix-en-Provence last year, the application is no longer valid in Spain. After reaching 70 businesses and 4,000 users. “We had launched it with a partner and we realized that to manage a program like this, it had to be us live, not from a distance. We decided to focus on France and Aix-en-Provence.”
And it works pretty well so far. The Aix branch already has 85 partner businesses and 2,000 users. “çhas started to develop well and we have a lot of independent businesses and artisans who have joined us. It is a very favorable city for a solution like Carlo. Major groups like Sephora and APM Monaco have also placed their trust in us.”
Gift vouchers in the private sector
The app recently launched an offer of gift vouchers for employees in the private sector. More than forty Monegasque companies took part by offering Carlo vouchers to their employees, who can then spend them in local businesses. Participating companies include SBM, KPMG Monaco, SMEG, Société de Banque de Monaco, AS Monaco, Crédit Agricole and the Ballets de Monte-Carlo.
Payment in installments for 2024?
On the other hand, it will be necessary to wait a little longer to see the payment in several installments land on Carlo. “It takes a little longer than expectedconcedes Antoine Bahri. We have very few suppliers available in Monaco. It is a specific territory, some are available in France but not here as we are not part of the EU. It’s still in development but it won’t be for this year, we hope for 2024.”
The declaration
“All the cashback financed by the state has been redeployed at 98%. We know that the government’s desire is to continue this support for merchants and to see it more as a collaboration.”, Antoine Bahri, on the possible financial assistance provided to Carlo by the Prince’s government beyond March 31, 2024. Date until which the government announced that it would bear 9.6% of the platform costs. note that since April 2023, merchants participate in charges that fund cashback and platform fees.
The number
100
This is, in millions of euros, the amount spent in shops in Monaco via the Carlo application since its creation. This would have generated around 5 million euros in cashback.
