Mobile operator Orange has appointed an experienced banking executive to deputy CEO, with a brief to head up the telco's customer experience and m-banking activities.
Laurent Paillassot (41), CEO of LCL-Credit Agricole, will take up his new post on 1 September.
Paillassot began his career in 1989 at Compagnie Bancaire before moving to the Mitchell Madison Group, an American consulting firm specialising in financial strategy, in 1997. In 2000, he took a position with the Caisse d'Epargne Group as director of distribution and then served as managing director of Caisse d'Epargne Financement.
From 2005 to 2007, he was also chairman of GE Money Bank in France, a subsidiary of General Electric Consumer Finance.
Orange has been aggressively pushing into the financial services sector, launching its Orange Cash mobile money service in various European markets over the last few months.
Orange chairman and CEO Stephane Richard says of Paillassot's appointment: "Laurent's extensive experience in retail banking and customer satisfaction will be a real asset for the group."