A pair of mobile payment services backed by two of France's biggest banks - BNP Paribas and Crédit Mutuel - are merging.
From early next year, Wa!, which is backed by BNP and retail giant Carrefour, will join forces with Fivory, a rival offering from Crédit Mutuel, Mastercard and grocer Auchan Retail.
The new, as yet unnamed, unified app will enable customers to make instore and online payments with a single movement, send P2P money transfers, settle invoices and use loyalty points and coupons.
The partners say that the decision to join forces is driven by the desire to offer all players in the ecosystem a single offering that pools their qualities and unites the partners.
Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, group CEO, BNP Paribas, says: "We’re seeing growing interest in the market for such a solution and it’s now vital that the complementary players work together to build and make available a solution able to meet new customer expectations in this changing world."