Australian supermarket chain Coles is planning to launch a mobile-wallet service in the country to strengthen its presence in the financial services sector.
Coles has teamed up with GE Capital Australia to establish a financial services joint venture (JV) to provide personal loans and credit cards. The 50-50 JV is expected to start operations in 2015.
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Coles Finance director Rob Scott was quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying that, "Technology has moved quickly."
"If we were starting up a financial services operation 15 years ago, we’d be focusing much more on how we can use our physical stores," Scott told the publication.
At the outset, the new JV will provide loans, Coles-branded credit cards and a mobile wallet a credit card and store loyalty card in one that can be attached to cellphones and tablets, according to the publication.
In order to pay for goods and collect reward points, the cardholders will have to wave the cards in front of sales terminals.
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By GlobalData"When customers take out a financial services product with Coles they end up spending more in Coles," he told the news agency; however refused to reveal what other financial products the company plans to offer in the future.
