Asda and Sainsburys launch mobile payments

Asda and Sainsburys are just two of 21 leading UK businesses to have partnered with Zapp to allow customers to use mobile payments in store and online.

Zapp has closed a series of deals with retailers ahead of its 2015 launch, including House of Fraser, Thomas Cook and Shop Direct (including the very.co.uk, Littlewoods, Isme, Woolworths.co.uk and K&Co brands). Customers of the affiliated stores will be able to pay for items using just their smartphone and a mobile banking app.

Asda and Sainsbury’s together represent a third of country’s entire supermarket sector, and, along with the rest of the retailers signed up to Zapp, will provide Zapp with 35 million users.

Anglian Water, Bristol and Wessex Water and Sutton and East Surrey Water are also among those supporting the scheme, allowing people to pay household bills via Zapp.

For low value payments with Zapp – perfect for picking up supermarket essentials – it may be possible to pay by waving the phone over a contactless reader. For larger payments, customers can pay at for goods at a checkout by logging into the banking app on their phone and selecting the account they want to pay from.  A six digit code would then appear on the customer’s phone, which could then be tapped at the retailer’s point of sale. The allocated payment would move out of the customer’s account in real time.

Zapp hopes that the multiple deals will mark a significant milestone in the history of mobile money, making the promise of a truly mobile and digital payment method a reality.

“Together with our other partners this means millions of consumers will be able to shop at tens of thousands of merchants up and down the UK at launch,” said Peter Keenan, Chief Executive of Zapp.

“We know that the way that our customers shop is changing and we’re always looking at new and innovative ways to improve the experience,” added Jon Rudoe, Digital and Technology Director at Sainsbury’s.

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