Supermarket giant Carrefour and French bank BNP Paribas have unveiled a new QR code-based mobile payment platform that will let customers make in-store, online and peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments as well as store loyalty cards, coupons and special offers on their mobile device. The service will be rolled out across France this month with support from Crédit Mutuel, Auchan, Mastercard, Oney and Total.

Lyf Pay is the result of the merger between BNP Paribas’ Wa! and Carrefour’s Fivory electronic wallets in October 2016, which promised to create a “unified, universal mobile payment solution” designed to “meet the customer’s desire for simplicity, convenience and personalisation”.

“Lyf Pay application — available for all smartphones as of 18 May — is set to bring greater convenience and simplicity in consumers’ day-to-day life,” Carrefour says.

“Developed in conjunction with retailers and with the customer firmly in mind, Lyf Pay covers an extremely broad set of needs — in-store payments ranging from small local shops to large retail chains; online shopping; friends and family payments and even charitable donations.

“By integrating payment cards, loyalty cards and coupons and displaying news flashes from users’ favourite shops alerting them to available special offers and providing information on their expenditure, this new app goes a long way to creating a highly intimate relationship with the consumers it serves.”

A French language video gives an overview of Lyf Pay:

“The app is non-proprietary and can be installed on any type of smartphone,” Carrefour adds. “It is underpinned by the knowhow of Lyf Pay’s banking partners in terms of transaction security and it is also the result of intensive work to ensure a streamlined, user-friendly experience for the customer.

“Having won the approval and the backing of leading retail groups such as Auchan Retail France and Total plus a number of independent traders and partners such as events specialists, entertainment and sport but also charity and student organisations, Lyf Pay is already a proven solution.

“Lyf Pay will rapidly expand the number of points of sale — and also services — that accept the new app. Lyf Pay will also gradually add new functionality designed to meet the ever-increasing range of ways in which the app will be used.”

Carrefour customers in France began piloting a mobile payments and loyalty service powered by Gemalto’s Mobile Protector platform in January 2017, following on from the merger of the Wa! and Fivory wallets.

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