Walgreens expands financial services strategy
Walgreens announced an agreement with InComm Payments, a global payments technology company, to provide convenient and accessible financial services options for its customers. Together, the companies will launch a new bank account offering for its customers to be established at MetaBank with a Mastercard debit card that will serve Walgreens shoppers both in-store and online and allow them to earn myWalgreens Cash rewards on all purchases as part of the new myWalgreens customer loyalty program launched in November 2020.
This agreement is part of Walgreens’ alternative profit strategy and recently announced broader initiative to launch new financial products and services that reinforce its ongoing commitment to offering differentiated services and benefits to its customers. The new banking solution will complement Walgreens’ plans to continue its health and well-being focus and enhance its loyalty program and customer personalization. The solution leverages InComm Payments’ modern digital banking-as-a-service platform. Walgreens shoppers will be able to find the product in-store or sign up directly online and then easily manage their everyday finances in a new easy-to-use mobile banking app. The bank account is expected to be available at nearly 9,000 Walgreens stores and online in the second half of 2021.
“Walgreens is committed to helping customers with their health and well-being needs, and we’re pleased to expand our financial services offerings to further enrich the experiences and ways we meet customers’ financial needs. We look forward to exploring and introducing even more customer-focused health and well-being payment initiatives in the near future, while creating new revenue streams.” – John Standley, president, Walgreens.
In addition, Walgreens and InComm Payments plan to relaunch the Walgreens-branded gift card program. InComm Payments will oversee management of Walgreens’ existing physical gift card program, launch Walgreens’ digital gift cards, and enable digital purchase and redemption on walgreens.com. InComm Payments will also facilitate broader distribution of the Walgreens gift card across B2B, loyalty, rewards and e-commerce channels. The expansion further strengthens InComm Payments’ and Walgreens’ 12-year partnership while enhancing the Walgreens brand and customer experience in-store, online, and via mobile.
Bank accounts will be demand deposit accounts established at, with debit cards issued by, MetaBank, N.A., Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard International Incorporated.
