The mobile app developed by the startup enables users to pay back friends without any fee. While Lydia has only been available in France, with the new funding round, the company plans to launch in other European markets. In France there are 500,000 Lydia users.
Lydia plans to launch in the UK, Germany and Spain during the first half of 2017. Lydia also has some ambitious goals as the startup wants to have 3 million users in two years, according to TechCrunch. Competitors include Revolut in the UK and Cookies in Germany that also provide peer-to-peer payment services. Therefore, Lydia will have to expand quickly before these local competitors become too ubiquitous.
Besides geographical expansions, the company has introduced a plastic card to pay in retail stores. It’s a regular MasterCard, but you can customize it to your needs in the Lydia app. Transactions appear instantly, users can block and unblock online payments, foreign payments, ATM withdrawals and more. Similarly, different payment limits can be set and all changes are reflected instantly.
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