ADN’co Payments Insight – November 2017

Credit transfer – Instant Payment has become effective

• EUROPE – Instant Payment officially started being enforced. Much work remains for all to be ready especially in France, where no operational offer has been unveiled yet. For this regulatory evolution to take shape, adjustments by banks are still required.

Rollouts are underway in several countries and many PSPs are being provided with an opportunity to grow EU-wide. However, not all players are ready, including in France. This implementation should help harmonise cross-border launches, and eventually discourage local services, i.e.: one of the objectives made clear by the EPC. These efforts can also be accounted for by international card schemes’ focus on designing real-time payment offers, too.

Banking Services – Orange Bank now operational

• FRANCE – Orange announced the official launch of their mobile bank, Orange Bank.

Orange is the first French telco to display a banking status, but should inspire other announcements, including by SFR (whose Altice Bank project is underway). The banking market has been evolving with new entrants placing their bet. Low-cost payment accounts from the retail industry, and mobile versions of traditional banking offers now have to face competition from telcos as well, as is already the case in the payments market.

Just a few days after this launch, Orange Bank announced 30,000 customers, or roughly 3,000 account opening procedures each day. This encouraging start, however, has to last as their user experience needs to be up to the task. Orange opted for remote account management, mostly through their virtual assistant.

Players’ strategy – WeChat Pay in France with help from BNP Paribas

• FRANCE – WeChat Pay is among proposed payment options in two Galeries Lafayette locations, as a partnership with BNP Paribas has been announced.

This rollout is limited but will have an impact on the market due to the volumes it will drive in (i.e.: a considerable proportion of these stores’ sales). Also it stresses the European expansion of these Chinese solutions. Alipay (through Banque Edel) and WeChat Pay (via BNP and Wirecard) are now available in France and spreading throughout the rest of Europe quite fast. This evolution could have an impact on the m-payment market, from a competitive and technological point of view (QR codes).