Payments app Lydia gains popularity with millennials in France

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Among various consumer demographics, marketers across industries are finding that understanding the requirements of the millennials is the most difficult as they showcase the most unpredictable behavior. In finanicial services industry also millennials are banking differently than any other consumer group; they are keen to embrace new technologies such as mobile banking, digital wallets, and alternative digital payment options, that offer them convenience and ease of use. This is the area witnessing a series of innovations, which are disrupting the way financial services industry operates. A case in point is Lydia, a leading mobile payment application targeting French millenials.

Lydia allows users to make P2P (peer to peer) payments. Apart from paying family and friends, Lydia can be used to pay doctors, taxi drivers, restaurants, make payments for online shopping, organize money pots for a party and more. Millennials account for 85% of the app’s users.

The app can be used to send money to both Lydia users and non-users. When money is sent to a Lydia user, the amount automatically appears in their Lydia account. If money is sent to a non-Lydia user, the person receives a text message with a link, which he/she can use to enter their IBAN and receive a wire transfer from Lydia. If money has to be requested from a non-Lydia user, a text message with link is sent to the non-user, who follows the link to enter his/her credit or debit card information, from where the amount is deducted and transferred to the Lydia user. In 2015, Lydia also launched an app for Apple Watch, allowing consumers to tap on the watch notification to order something online.

PayNXT360 believes a payments app would require to constantly reinvent itself in order to attract and retain millennial customers. Lydia has done that by refreshing its offerings and moving away from simply being a P2P money transfer app to enter into ecommerce as well as wearables space with Apple Watch.