Jiffy P2P comes to major Italian grocery stores

After advancing into some retail settings in Italy last year, the Jiffy P2P payment service is now an option at the country's Carrefour Italia "super stores," supermarkets and express stores.

Shoppers can pay for groceries using Jiffy on their smartphones through the SIA and Intesa Sanpaola mobile banking apps known as the XME Pay digital wallet, and tapping at a QR code generated at the point of sale.

Marlene Awaad/Bloomberg

The system allows shoppers to make cashless payments at self-service kiosks or manned POS locations using fingerprint or facial recognition biometrics as the transaction authorization tools.

"Embracing the digital transformation and its potential is a necessary path we have been on for some time," Tiziano Depaoli, director of financial services at Carrefour Italia, said in a Monday press release.

The use of Jiffy as payment option allows the grocery chain to "respond in a simple, immediate and secure manner to the needs of our final customers, in offering them high-added value and increasingly personalized services," Depaoli added.

Jiffy is currently active at more than 130 Italian banks, allowing money transfers between individuals through the contacts present in their smartphones in addition to the physical store and online payments.

Jiffy integrated with Bancomat Pay, the country's digital debit network, four months ago. That integration expanded use of Jiffy's payments services to a potential pool of 37 million PagoBancomat cardholders and more than 440 banks.

"With the launch at all Carrefour stores, Jiffy reinforces its position as an innovative payment service able to make the purchase experience via smartphone more convenient, fast and totally secure," Maro Polissi, head of the Jiffy service at SIA, said in the release.

Carrefour operates 51 super stores, 4,079 supermarkets, 598 express stores and 13 cash-and-carry markets.