Paylib, the mobile wallet developed by a consortium of French banks, is set to introduce person-to-person payments utilising customer phone numbers.
BNP Paribas is the first bank to roll out the P2P option, enabling users to send cash to friends by simply keying in a phone number.
Other members of the Paylib consortium, which includes Societe Generale, La Banque Postal, and Credit Agricole will progressively introduce the service over the summer months.
Initially conceived for making payments on the Internet, Paylib has gradaually evolved to become a contactless payment option on the high street. The app currently has 1.2 million users.
Credit Mutuel-CIC is currently in talks to join the group, a move which will extend the network to 90% of the French consumer market.
Operating with a daily limit of EUR500 per transaction, payments are transferred to recipient accounts within one-to-days. Instant payments will come onstream when France switches over to a real-time payment network at the end of the year.