Woolworths launching stand-alone payments platform, Wpay

Woolworths is launching its own stand-alone payments platform, Wpay, which will power payments inside and outside its group of businesses, and further extends the group into the retail ecosystem in Australia.

Wpay will provide an end-to-end payment solution, and will draw on Woolies’ national scale and capabilities to offer Australian merchants an integrated in-store and digital payment platform utilising digital wallets, as well as traditional card and alternate payment methods.

“As Australia and New Zealand’s largest retailer, we’ve been investing in leading-edge payment capabilities to service our retail businesses for many years,” Woolworths Group chief executive Brad Banducci said.

“We believe there is value in extending the benefits of the investments we’ve made in our payment platform to other merchants who may not have the scale to build it themselves.”

As for why the supermarket giant is getting into the payments space, Banducci notes how important the convenience of a smooth payment experience has become to the overall shopping experience, and its expertise as a user of payments, rather than simply a provider, gives it a unique perspective in the space.

Woolies’ head of fintech and the man behind the supermarket’s successful Scan&Go app, Paul Monnington, has been named managing director of Wpay.

“It’s an exciting time in the world of payments with new technology driving better experiences for consumers,” Monnington said.

“Wpay enters the sector with a strong Australian pedigree serving high volume retail brands across food and grocery, fuel, liquor, hospitality and e-commerce.

“Aside from payments, we know merchants are also looking for simpler ways to integrate gifting, loyalty and direct marketing platforms to engage customers while maintaining direct relationships [and] we look forward to partnering with merchants to help bring this to life.”