FDJ targets leading position in French payments as Nirio service launched

The Group FDJ , operator of the Française des Jeux (FDJ) lottery and betting firm, has announced the launch to market of the Nirio payments service.

Managed by FDJ’s payments subsidiary and developed in cooperation with the Confederation of Tobacconists, Nirio allows French consumers to pay their daily bills or their rent using the bar-tobacco-press network.

FDJ states that the new service, development and planned launch of which was announced earlier this year, makes the operator the ‘leading player in local payment services’ in France.

As it stands, 10,000 FDJ partner merchants have agreed to offer the service to their customers, of which 5,000 have been approved by French financial institutions monitor Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR).

Raphaël Botbol, ​​Strategy, Innovation and New Activities Director of the FDJ Group, said: ”What is important for our group is to put people back at the heart of the payment of daily bills, by offering an alternative and a practical and fast for people who are sometimes far from urban areas or resistant to online payment. Nirio will be able to draw on the experience and network of FDJ partner merchants.”

The firm aims to eventually allow customers in different regions the ability to pay water, gas, electricity, telephone bills and rent – the latter via social landlords – across the Nirio sales network. 

Explaining the rationale behind the new service, the FDJ states that six million households across France, around 20% of the country’s population, ‘do not wish to use direct debit to pay their bills’.

#FDJ annonce le lancement de #nirio, nouvelle marque du Groupe qui donnera, dès 2023, la possibilité aux citoyens de régler leurs #factures du quotidien ou leur loyer dans le réseau bar-tabac-presse, en partenariat avec la Confédération @LesBuralistes.

?https://t.co/20dTPD7Wh4 pic.twitter.com/cfGUALY61n

— FDJ (@FDJ) September 28, 2022

As mentioned above, French consumers can use Nirio to pay rent via social landlords, such as Seqens, a subsidiary of Action Logement, which has signed a partnership with the lottery and betting operator.

The Ile-de-France-based group’s customers in the region can now pay rent in cash or card at approved points of sale, having made payment of rent to trusted third pirates ‘a priority’.

Customers use the platform via a payment QR code generated on their smartphone, which can be presented to a partner merchant, and pay their bill in cash or card following a successful identity check, when they will then be given their proof of payment.

“Seqens has always placed the relationship with its tenants at the heart of its action, and is constantly adapting its offer to meet their expectations,” said Stéphane Dauphin, Managing Director of Seqens.

“This partnership offers a local service while facilitating the collection of rents. With this new means of payment, everyone benefits from it, both for the tenants through its flexibility and ease of access and for our company through the improvement in our collection.”

FDJ’s ambitions in the payments space comes as the company continues to consolidate its position in betting, having revealed last week that it has entered negotiations to acquire France-based pan-European horse racing wagering operator ZEturf Group.