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Carrefour and French bank BNP Paribas have developed a free payment app together, called Wa!. Customers can use the app to do mobile payments, keep track of their loyalty cards and take advantage of coupons.
Available in France in 2017
“In a single motion, with only a PIN number, customers will be able to pay, both in physical stores (including hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores) and online. They will even be able to maintain their usual loyalty advantages”, both French groups boasted when they officially announced Wa!, their mobile payment app. The goal is to automatically add loyalty points and take discounts into account without any fuss.
Carrefour CEO Plassat called it the “intelligent wallet” during last week’s shareholders’ meeting. The app has been tested in several Parisian convenience stores and the Montesson (Yvelines) hypermarket. “The trials have generated a lot of buzz with consumers and we will do several large-scale tests in Ile-de-France (Paris’ larger agglomeration), in about a dozen Carrefour stores”.
If these are considered a success, Carrefour wants to roll out the app all across France as early as next year. Considering how both Carrefour and BNP Paribas (through its subsidiary BNP Paribas Fortis) are present in Belgium, it will probably expand its reach soon, although no official decision has been made.
Several other distributors will also get access to the service along the road. Any consumer can use the app anyway, regardless of bank or mobile operator. Bother partners want to quickly open their platform to start-ups to help create possible additional services.
