InComm Is Expanding in Canada With a Payments Deal With the Metro Grocery Chain

Prepaid payments specialist InComm Inc. announced a big step in the Canadian market this week with a deal to expand its services this summer to some 704 grocery stores in Ontario and Quebec using the Metro banner or affiliated brands owned by Metro Inc. InComm says it will offer Metro customers open- and closed-loop payment services as well as what it calls “innovative payment solutions.” Further details about these solutions were not immediately available.

Montreal-based Metro is Canada’s third-largest supermarket chain, operating close to 400 stores under the Metro name. It also runs stores under the Super C, Food Basics, Metro Plus, and Marche Richelieu banners.

The deal follows Metro’s acquisition two years ago of the Jean Coutu Group and its 415 pharmacies in Canada. Jean Coutu has been an InComm client for 14 years, the Atlanta-based processor said. “The growth in sales and the success of the programs developed in Jean Coutu Group pharmacies over the last few years, combined with the efficiency of its systems, now make InComm the ideal partner to ensure the growth and deployment of innovative payment solution programs for our customers in our grocery stores,” said Serge Boulanger, Metro’s senior vice president, national procurement and corporate brands, in a statement.

“We look forward to expanding our partnership to Metro and its many banners, creating a program specific to their consumer needs and preferences,” added Frank Juliano, InComm’s senior vice president of international, in a statement.

Other recent international developments for InComm include its deal in December to launch its Vanilla Visa prepaid and gift cards in Mexico.