Isabel Group acquires 100% of CodaBox shares

This acquisition brings together two key players in financial services for accountants. Isabel Group is an established name in the Belgian financial marketplace, with strong expertise in facilitating and automating electronic payments. Its acquisition of CodaBox brings valuable knowhow in the area of electronic account information.

CodaBox was created especially for accountancy professionals and experts. The company provides services that facilitate electronic replacements for bank statements, social documents and invoices. It is essential that clients have electronic access to these documents, both for banks – via Isabel Group – and for CodaBox.

Better service, broader service

“These two companies are absolutely complementary,” says Johan De Meyer, CEO of Isabel Group. This fact will ease Isabel Group’s entry into the market, thus enabling it to expand its complementary services. “For users, this means an increase in quality and professionalism, but also an expansion of our product range thanks to the development of new services.”

In light of the spectacular growth of the digital economy and the European Union’s ambitions to harmonize payments via the Payment Services Directive (PSD 2), businesses in the financial sector are increasingly obliged to magnify their scale of operations. Working together, CodaBox and Isabel Group will be better able to serve a larger number of clients than ever before.

The fruits of efforts & trust

For CodaBox, the collaboration with Isabel Group will make it easier to gain access to Belgian banks. CodaBox will continue to exist as a separate entity, and its objectives remain unchanged: to provide accountancy offices with digital documents. “On a day-to-day basis, nothing will change. Our clients are accountants – they will continue to be accountants,” states CodaBox CEO Martin Servais.

To enhance further growth in a rapidly evolving landscape, CodaBox needed a solid partner. “With Isabel Group as a shareholder, we are able to go even further, and faster,” says Martin Servais. “This is an excellent recognition of the work that our staff has done, and illustrates that the trust that our partners place in our work is now bearing fruit.”

Good news for banks and accountants

The fact that banks are taking an indirect route into the accountancy world is a good development for professional accountants, believes Martin Servais. “It highlights the need to delineate the extent of each profession, and to ensure the presence of an entity that can guarantee healthy interaction between a traditional bank, the accountancy firm, and accountancy software.”

Banks also benefit from the collaboration thanks to enhanced, more streamlined processes for processing coded account information (CODA). Moreover, the CODA service is now available to a wider audience. Johan De Meyer concludes, “This collaboration means a significant increase in efficiency for banks and professional accountants. It is a major step towards a fully digitalized, professional accountancy environment.”