McDonald’s rolls out remote mobile order and payment system across France

After conducting a mobile payments trial in France last year, McDonald’s said it will integrate the system into all of its in-store ordering machines by the end of the year. The service lets customers use the McDonald’s mobile app or its website to order and pay through PayPal, then pick up their food in a dedicated line to reduce wait time.

Fast food chain McDonald’s is to extend a mobile ordering and PayPal payment app programme across its French network following a successful trial at 80 establishments. Using the app, consumers can place an order remotely and pick up their purchase at a dedicated counter, skipping the line in the main food hall and reducing waiting time.

The app shows real-time product availability at the chosen store and passes a QR code and PIN which is punched into a specially-fitted terminal at the counter to complete the transaction using PayPal. McDonald’s says the system will be available in 1100 outlets across France by the end of the year, representing 80% of the food chain’s retail footprint in the country.

The announcement comes just after Payleven, a mobile PoS provider announced they would be launching in France, and with competitors like Adyen looking to expand from online payments to Point of Sales. Of course, with PayPal’s vast history of managing payments and existing user-base, it is a natural fit for a company like McDonald’s to choose them over a smaller payments player.

While McDonald’s operates independently in France, there is no doubt that this partnership has been spurred on both sides by the Starbucks investment in US payments player Square last year, which saw Starbucks integrate Square into 7000 of its stores after investing $25 Million (source:WSJ).

McDonald’s in France has always been ahead of the fast-food curve – they rolled out McCafé first, they virtually destroyed the local (Quick) and international (Burger King) competition in France, and they’ve managed to create a brand that is not just cheap, quickly-consumable food, but rather, convenient & (somewhat) quality food, though it comes at a price.

On PayPal’s side, this represents a huge leap in its efforts to be present on the physical side of the payments world – PayPal here has not seen as much growth as they would’ve likely wanted, and this may be the start of a new transition, as more fast-food chains come online like McDonald’s has done.

As McDonald’s most profitable overseas market, France is seen as a useful test bed for the programme ahead of its introduction in other territories.

McDonald’s ordering machines in France

Source: rudebaguette.com, mobilepaymentstoday.com & finextra.com