Tesco Embraces Mobile Grocery Purchases

Tesco is trialing at a handful of stores—in London and Edinburgh—a mobile payment system, currently only being offered to employees.

“Consumers must sign in to use the PayQwiq service through their Tesco log-in for its online grocery service. Credit card details can then be added, after which guests will receive a confirmation E-mail with a PayQwiq application download,” reported Mobile Commerce Daily. “Shoppers seeking the in-store experience will scan their products at the checkout line and sign in to the PayQwiq app using a PIN before selecting which card they would like to pay with. The app then produces a QR code on guests’ mobile devices, which is scanned to pay for the items, and also adds Clubcard loyalty points onto their accounts.”

The story said that Tesco’s app works with major payment cards and limits purchases to £400 per day.

Because “QR code and bar code technologies are considered card-not-present transactions, there is a balance to be struck in how much risk retailers want to accept, since fraudulent use of this app would be charged back to retailers due to how these transactions are classified,” said Nathalie Reinelt, analyst at Aite Group. “The CNP status also means they will be charged higher transaction fees, so a spending limit makes sense for the initial roll out of this application.”