Dive Brief:
- Ahold Delhaize USA and payments processor Fiserv plan to expand a pay-by-bank pilot so that it’s available to more of the company’s U.S. customers, they said in a press release Tuesday.
- The companies introduced the pay-by-bank option last year on the grocer’s websites and mobile apps for three brands, namely The Giant Company, Giant Food and Stop & Shop, but it will now be offered more broadly to customers, they said.
- Tens of thousands of the grocer’s customers have registered through the pilot of the Pay by Bank program, enabling them to pay for purchases directly from their bank accounts, and giving them an alternative to debit or credit cards, the release said.
Dive Insight:
Ahold Delhaize USA, which also operates Food Lion and Hannaford, said it introduced the payment option last year for its customers to enroll in a program that allows them to provide a link to their bank accounts for future purchases. Aside from simplicity, the grocer said it improves reliability and security.
This expansion will make the pay-by-bank capability “fully available on Ahold Delhaize USA’s proprietary omnichannel platform across the e‑commerce websites and mobile apps” for those three brands, a spokesperson for the company said. Digital shoppers of those brands can now use the pay-by-bank option at checkout for online grocery orders.
“Pay by Bank provides a simple way for customers to pay directly from their bank accounts, creating a seamless checkout experience and increased choice for the customer in terms of how they prefer to pay,” Ahold Delhaize USA’s chief commercial and digital officer, Keith Nicks, said in the release.
Retailers across the country, including Walmart and Kroger, have become increasingly eager in recent years to let their customers pay for purchases without swiping a card. It’s part of a quest by merchants to decrease the interchange and network fees they must pay every time a consumer uses a payment card.
