Collection Agencies & Credit Bureaus in France - Market Size, Industry Analysis, Trends and Forecasts (2025-2029)

Collection Agencies & Credit Bureaus in France industry analysis

Despite considerable rebounds in economic conditions following the pandemic and the continued adoption of credit cards across downstream consumers’ financial arsenal, credit bureaus and collection agencies struggled amid high interest rates and rising competition. To combat the inflationary spikes that took place post-pandemic, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised key interest rate levels to as high as 4.75% in September 2023, creating a cascade effect where credit card interest rates also spiked across France. Amid higher credit card interest rates, consumers began to cut back on discretionary spending, dampening demand for frequent credit monitoring services and significantly curtailing growth. The rapid digitalisation of the financial industry, fuelled by advances in artificial intelligence (AI), accelerated automation and enabled sector-oriented companies to adopt their in-house technology for collecting late payments. This forced collection agencies to invest larger amounts of capital into their digital infrastructure, constraining profit and expediting change in how late payments are collected. Revenue is expected to fall at a compound annual rate of 3.6% to an estimated €673.6 million through the end of 2025, including an anticipated 11.35% decline in 2025 alone fuelled by in-house competition.  

Trends and Insights

• Lending activity proves lacklustre. In the face of tough economic conditions and rising borrowing costs, lending activity has slowed from the highs seen during the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Rising debt issuance supports demand. Debt issuance picked up at the tail-end of 2023 as investors bet on the end of rate hikes, lifting demand.
• Economies of scale ratchet up concentration. Bigger companies like Intrum and Experian dominate the market, offering diverse services to meet varying client needs, from debt collection to credit reporting.