On March 1, the French banking group announced that it was discontinuing its YUP mobile money solution.
A long-standing player on the continent, Société Générale has been very active since 2015. With its long-standing presence and strong geographical network across the region, the group had chosen to make Africa its priority, establishing itself in 18 countries and building a network of 1,000 branches, driven by its ambition to contribute ever more to the financing of the African economy.
To further its development, Société Générale also seized digital opportunities by launching its YUP mobile money service. Following in the footsteps of telecom operators, banks and Fintech companies have gradually changed their strategy in favor of creating mobile banking services to take advantage of new opportunities on the continent.
Ecobank, Barclays Bank, Equity Bank, and others… Many banks, like Société Générale, have embarked on the creation of mobile banking platforms to cover areas that cannot be covered by "traditional" banks.
But today, Société Générale is forced to end the adventure and announce the disappearance of the YUP service, five years after its launch. Despite reaching 2.1 million subscribers by the end of 2020, the service failed to create a viable business model and offer sufficient market prospects for the French banking group.
Users in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, and Madagascar will therefore have to log out and uninstall their YUP app.
Remember, it was the Franco-Senegalese agency Les Barbus that supported Société Générale in the launch of Yup. To represent this new "mobile money" service, the agency devised a 360° pan-African advertising campaign in the colors of Société Générale.