Coles takes ‘pay-wave’ to new level, with mobile sticker technology

SOPHIE ELSWORTH
JULY 15, 2014
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA NETWORK

SHOPPERS can now buy their groceries and collect rewards points at the supermarket without carrying any cards.
Coles is today launching its new “mobile wallet” allowing customers to pay without plastic.
The supermarket giant is the first retailer in the world to integrate contactless mobile technology and a loyalty card all in one.
The new mobile wallet, the Coles Pay Tag, will be available to all Coles credit card customers and allows them to pay without a card and collect FlyBuys points by tapping their phone at the check-out.
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Users can view their account balance, available credit, transaction history, see the due date of their credit card bill and see and activate current FlyBuys offers.
The pay tag is a sticker that is attached to the back of a customer’s mobile phone and contains the payment details of their Coles credit card and FlyBuys information.
Old school … new technology could make swiping for your groceries obsolete, or at least old fashioned.
Customers can “tap and pay” by swiping their phone using contactless technology at the check-out for transactions under $100, but are required to enter a four-digit PIN for transactions greater than $100.
If the tag is proven to be used fraudulently customers will be reimbursed.
Coles general manager of financial services Richard Wormald said the mobile wallet makes paying for goods even more convenient.
“It allows customers to take their credit card and their FlyBuys card and put them both on their phone,’’ he said.
“They can leave their wallet at home and go shopping.”
The wallet was trialled last year and effectively replaces the need for consumers to carry cards and cash.
The move comes as Coles continues to pave its way deeper into the personal finance sector — they already have more than 400,000 credit card customers since they began offering them in 2012.
MasterCard Australia’s country manager Andrew Cartwright said Australians’ appetite to use contactless payment technology has continued to expand and they are now the most prolific users of “tap and go” in the world.
“More than 320,000 contactless terminals are now available nationally giving mobile wallet customers the opportunity to use the convenient payment method at a wide range of retailers,’’ he said.
Coles entered the personal finances sector in 2010 when they first offered car insurance and they now have more than 360,000 policies and are now one of the fastest-growing insurers nationwide.
They expanded their insurance offering to life insurance in May.
There are about 7 million FlyBuys customers in Australia representing 4.6 million households.
Coles credit card customers automatically become linked to the FlyBuys program.