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German fintech startup Stocard, one of the world’s leading mobile wallets and one of the largest B2C startups in Europe in terms of number of users, officially launches in the UK and unveils a mobile payment feature as it reaches 50 million users globally.
Stocard, founded in 2011, is an easy-to-use app which allows millions of users to turn their smartphone into a mobile wallet. Headquartered in Germany, the startup now operates in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, the Benelux countries and Australia.
The signup only takes a minute and is completely digital, with no paperwork required. Users can add all their loyalty cards within the app (over 500 million plastic cards have been digitized), discover good deals at their favorite retailers, search for and activate coupons, which are applied automatically at the checkout with just one click, and see their transactions and points balance in real time. Additionally, users are not charged a foreign exchange fee, significantly saving when making payments abroad.
From today, UK-based Stocard users can pay via a virtual Mastercard issued in the app, an option which will be rolled out across Europe later this year. In addition, with its new smooth mobile payment feature, Stocard keeps on transforming in-store shopping into a beautiful digital experience thanks to loyalty programmes from over 5000 retailers, couponing and payment all in one place. Partners offer discounts of 10% or higher, so users can save more on their day-to-day shopping. Assuming a saving of 5% per purchase between the weekly offers, coupons, and loyalty cards, Stocard customers spared €2 billion globally in 2019.
Beyond payments, the app also wants to help shape the future of how consumers shop and access financial services. Stocard firmly believes that digitization doesn’t stop at banks, and that the shift in consumer behaviors and expectations will lead the way for simpler, on-the-go financial services.
Marco Grossi, Stocard VP of Sales, who joined Stocard from Facebook earlier this year said: “We are delighted to officially launch in the UK, where several million users are already on the Stocard app for their daily shopping. The UK is the third largest M-Commerce market in the world behind China and the USA, with almost €56 billion transacted in annually. Stocard wants to cater to the entire shopping process, from discovery, to purchase decision, to transaction. We’re delighted to facilitate this experience to more individuals in the UK.”
In the long run, Stocard wants to offer more financial products such as Point of Sale lending (buy now, pay later), cashback, savings, allowing consumers to access them where it’s easiest and most convenient – all within their digital wallet. The company will offer these services at much better terms than banks by leveraging their existing relationship with the biggest and leading retailers across Europe.
Björn Goß, founder and CEO, commented: “The launch of our mobile payment feature is a major step for Stocard globally. As our wallets are moving to our mobile phones, the digital wallet is becoming the central hub in our lives for anything around money, shopping, and banking. The future of retail and of banking will look way more similar to what we are already seeing in Asia with the likes of Alipay rather than what European banks are currently doing. This consolidation of shopping, payments and financial services in the digital wallet will happen in Europe as well. We are working closely with our retail partners to shape this future.”
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