Salut! Selma speaks French

The language of investing

People are intimidated by financial jargon. That’s a fact. Now add in the language barrier – understanding investment terminology in another language becomes even more difficult.

In the modern world, English versions of apps are often used as the “one size fits everyone” solution. But finances are clearly complicated enough in everyone’s mother tongue. 😊

At Selma, we want our investors to really understand what happens with their money. Many financial institutions try to hide fees and use fancy terms in order to make investing seem more elite than it is. We constantly strive to make finances easy to understand – and now we make it even easier for French speakers in Switzerland.

“Many people don't fully trust a service that is not in their mother tongue due to the fear they might not understand everything once it comes to the details”, says Patrik Schär, Selma's CEO & Co-Founder. "We truly want to take out any entry barrier to investing – and language is an important factor."

French services for the Swiss in Romandy

22.8% of all Swiss residents live in the French-speaking Romandy. This sums up to around 2 million people! Selma’s current clients in the Romandy have usually come from Lausanne or Geneva, metropolitan areas. And even though we know that, for example, Geneva is a very international hub due to the United Nations Office, a study done in 2022 showed that 28% of people in Switzerland speak French at their workplace.

Selma wants to make sure that everyone who uses French on a daily basis can feel as comfortable using Selma as picking up their phone and calling a friend.

Furthermore, it’s never wrong to expand to a region with great wine and “Apéros” wherever you go 😉

French in addition to German and English

We screened and localised all information that a Selma investor needs to get started and manage their money with Selma. However, we are still finding bits and pieces of the apps and throughout the website that still need “a French touch”. 👩‍🍳

Most important FAQ articles and materials have been translated, we also hosted a first event in Lausanne. Educational material in French will be added step-by-step and Selma’s social media channels will stay in German and English for now. Make sure to let us know if there are crucial pieces of information you are missing (in French).

You can easily join the Selma contributor community on Facebook and report your wishes and discuss important features with the Selma crew.

How to change your language in Selma

• Log in to the Selma web app
• Find Settings in the menu
• Choose your preferred language from the options

We will continue to invest in creating a wonderful experience for French speakers at Selma throughout the next months.