The Lydia mobile payment application is full of new features! The goal: to simplify the reimbursement process, by facilitating the adoption of the service, by introducing a QR code system and by supporting Apple Pay and Google Pay.
When it was launched, Lydia was a simple payment application. The French fintech allowed people to send money to their loved ones quickly, to bypass long bank transfers. However, it gradually gained momentum and became more complex, to the point of becoming a real bank. But the early fans ended up being disconcerted and complaining that its interface had become too cumbersome, when they simply wanted to split the bill at a restaurant, organize a kitty or reimburse a loved one.
Also, last April, the French start-up decided to do a bit of cleaning up and split its application in two. The original, historic app was renamed Sumeria and now offers access to all Lydia banking services (account management, payments, savings, etc.). At the same time, the company released a new app, simply called Lydia, exclusively dedicated to transfers. With its very simple interface, its real goal is to return to what made it successful in its early days, namely reimbursements and kitty savings. And the least we can say is that this decision was a wise one! In just a few months, the new version of Lydia has attracted a million users, making it one of the most downloaded financial applications in France. And the start-up does not intend to stop there and announced three new upcoming features in its latest newsletter.
What’s new in Lydia: simplifying the reimbursement process
First, the company plans to remove several steps that could hinder the adoption of its service. No need to create an account or download the application to receive money, or to add a beneficiary. Until now, the money was received on the Lydia account, then the user had to make a transfer to the external account. It will instead be possible to automatically transfer the money received via Lydia to a bank account of the user’s choice.
Similarly, it will no longer be necessary to use a phone number to send money. Lydia will introduce a QR code system, which will simply need to be scanned to send money, even if the person does not have the application or a customer account. A practical solution for one-off situations, such as splitting the bill at a restaurant with strangers.
Finally, it will no longer be necessary to add a bank card to debit your original account when making a payment, as the application plans to integrate Apple Pay and Google Pay. A simplification that should reduce abandonments related to recurring verification processes. The deployment of these new features, currently in development, is announced for “the next months”.