ADN’co Payments Insight – October 2015

Biometrics – more tests, and in France, too

• FRANCE – Crédit Mutuel Arkéa announces new in-store mobile payment tests, based on a biometric authentication process for transactions’ validation. A significant step on the French market.
• INTERNATIONAL – MasterCard unveils a series of measures to help secure online payments via biometric authentication. Face and fingerprints recognition could then be added to SMS-sent one-time passcodes. These measures would be gathered under a new trademark: “Identity Check”.
• FRANCE – La Banque Postale prepares the launch of LBP Pay: an enhanced authentication service presented as an addition to their “Mes Paiements” wallet. To begin with, LBP Pay will rely on dynamic CVXs. Later on, voice biometrics could be integrated through Talk To Pay.

These moves highlight banking players’ focus on applying biometrics to payments contexts. Crédit Mutuel Arkéa and MasterCard, for instance, bet on streamlined checkout processes and ease of use, to add further value to their biometric rollouts.

Also at stakes with this technology: covering as many channels as possible without making customer processes more complex.

Competition – Orange takes another step in direction of financial services

• FRANCE – Orange announces the nationwide launch of Orange Cash. This prepaid mobile purse has been designed in partnership with Visa and Wirecard; it can be used at contactless-enabled stores as well as online on Visa accepting websites.

FinTech – More buyouts

• FRANCE – S-money (BPCE group) buys out LePotCommun.fr. BPCE’s share in this start-up’s capital could be increased to 100% within three years.
• FRANCE – LePotCommun.fr and Voyage-sncf.com partnered to make travels bookings easier for groups. Yet another application for this start-up’s online money pots system.

This transaction confirms banking players’ interest in finance-oriented start-ups and, in money pots services in general. BPCE stresses its intent to lean on a niche market as they did on several occasions through S-money. Also, this announcement follows Leetchi’s buyout by Crédit Mutuel Arkéa.