Paylib, a PayPal-style online payment system set up last year by French banks, is extending its reach thanks to the addition of Crédit Agricole as a member and a deal with MasterCard that will let people use the service abroad.
Established by BNP Paribas, Société Générale and La Banque Postale, Paylib lets users link a card and then make payments at participating retailers' websites by entering their email, password and a code generated by a mobile app.
In just over a year, the service has been adopted by more than 300,000 of the banks' customers and 700 e-merchants. The addition of Crédit Agricole next year, on the heels of Crédit Mutuel Arkéa, means that Paylib will be available to 40 million French cardholders and more than 30,000 retailers.
Meanwhile, the banks are tapping MasterCard's MasterPass digital wallet acceptance network to enable users to shop at another 60,000 merchants in 13 countries around the world. The deal will also see Paylib and MasterPass jointly promoted to French e-merchants, who will then be able to accept payments from abroad.