Wyse Wallet: a young shoot to revive the local purchase

Genevieve and Michael Simard are at the head of Wyse Wallet, a payment application digital non-contact with which they want to guide people to the local trade.

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June 19, 2020

Updated on June 20, 2020 to 6h19

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Wyse Wallet: a young shoot to revive the local purchase

Myriam Boulianne

The Sun

They have 25 and 28 years old. Genevieve and Michael Simard are brother and sister, but also partners in business. The idea of the application Wyse Wallet is coming in 2017, while Genevieve finished her bachelor’s degree in business administration at the University Laval. Every Sunday, they gathered in the family home to further their project. Stroke of luck, Wyse Wallet is also the technology partner in the project of economic revival of the City of Quebec, in Solidarity for our arteries.

“A mobile wallet with a local flavour”, is the slogan advanced by the young shoot. “We are talking about buying local for a long time, but no movement has been able to break. In practical terms, there was nothing that motivated consumers to change their habits. With our application, we want to encourage and guide people towards the local trade,” says Geneviève.

Basically, Wyse Wallet is a digital payment without contact. It is enough to integrate its debit card or credit within the application to then be able to pay with their mobile phone in shops partners. Once the purchase is completed via the application, the user gets a discount instantly in its portfolio Wyse Wallet. This may then be spent among all of the affiliated merchants. “We wanted to overcome the constraints of loyalty programs. With Wyse Wallet, users receive their rebate immediately after purchase, ” she explains. It is going to do to change habits. It will encourage users to return to continuously buy in the local shops.”

Fifty of merchants of Quebec have shown an interest and an official list will be launched in coming weeks. The mobile app will be available in the week of 6 July.

Partnership unhoped-for

Looking for retail partners for the application, Michael made the acquaintance of Jean-Pierre Bédard. The latter is the director of the SDC Montcalm and the spokesperson for the group who started the campaign sociofinancement, in Solidarity for our arteries, aiming to revive the local economy. Mr. Bedard was looking for a technological support for the project, so that the good solidarity are not only paper, but also digital. “It was good timing, we talked to the right person,” says Geneviève. Wyse Wallet has become the technology partner of this project of economic recovery. The application will allow contributors to the campaign sociofinancement to use their dollars by supporting digitally and without contact among the participating businesses.

“We are talking about buying local for a long time, but no movement was able to break […] With our application, we want to encourage and guide people to local trade. ”

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Geneviève Simard

But Genevieve and Michael remind us that Wyse Wallet will last beyond the partnership. They now work full-time in the development of this application. Since earning his bachelor’s degree, Genevieve has left her job in the student and has not sought position in its field. Even the sound of a bell at the side of his brother, who has left his or her employment in the retail sector to focus body and soul in Wyse Wallet. They do not have grants, they are self-financing. But they made the call to experts in design and Web development. The team of Wyse Wallet account now 11 people, all shareholders and founders. They plan to first launch their application to Quebec, but do not preclude the possibility to go in other regions. “It is a start-up in quebec, and we want to encourage the economy”, concludes Geneviève.

Le Soleil