Caisse d'Épargne and Banque Populaire have announced that they are no longer marketing the Paylib contactless payment service, without further explanation. Why such a decision at a time when, in the current health crisis, mobile payment is booming?
Service scheduled to cease at the end of September
On the websites of the Caisse d'Epargne and the various Banques Populaires, a brief message some time ago announced the end of the contactless Paylib service in mid-June. To be more precise, it has no longer been possible to register a payment card with Paylib since June 16. Customers already using the service can still access it until the end of September. Only contactless mobile payment is affected. The instant account-to-account payment service, Paylib entre amis, seems to have escaped this marketing halt.
Users of Samsung Android smartphones will be able to replace Paylib with Samsung Pay, also offered by BPCE. However, the Caisse d'Épargne and Banque Populaire offer no alternative solution for customers with smartphones other than Samsung or Apple.
Admittedly, the BPCE group only adopted this service in 2017, even though it had already been launched in 2013 by BNP Paribas, Banque Postale and Société Générale. Paylib enables contactless online or in-store payment from your smartphone, as well as instant transfers between individuals.
At a time when contactless payments are booming during the Covid-19 crisis, and limits have been raised to 50 euros, how do you explain BPCE's decision?
A change of strategy
It is conceivable that the service was not as successful as expected with Caisse d'Épargne and Banque Populaire customers. But a change of strategy could also be behind the discontinuation of the Paylib contactless mobile payment service.
Indeed, while BPCE had been the last banking group to offer this service, it had on the other hand distinguished itself by being the first to establish a partnership with Apple Pay and offer mobile payment on iPhone in 2016.
Mobile payment remains fairly marginal in French stores, accounting for just 1-2% of payments. It would therefore not be out of the question for BPCE to move closer to Apple, which offers far greater development potential than Paylib.