How Ahold Delhaize is Improving Customer Payment Options

Ahold Delhaize USA has strengthened its collaboration with Fiserv to roll out Pay by Bank, a digital payment solution aimed at online grocery customers.

The move could signal a broader shift in how major retailers approach payment infrastructure as a lever for commercial growth.

The grocery retail group, which operates as the largest on the US East Coast and fourth largest nationally, is positioning the payment innovation as part of a wider strategy to modernise its omnichannel operations and drive customer retention through enhanced flexibility at checkout.

Pay by Bank is now live across The GIANT Company, Giant Food and Stop & Shop e-commerce platforms and mobile applications.

The system enables customers to pay directly from their bank accounts without entering card information, potentially reducing friction in the purchasing process and improving conversion rates at the digital checkout.

Building customer adoption early

Since launching a pilot in October 2025, Ahold Delhaize USA reports that "tens of thousands of customers have enrolled" in the service.

This early uptake could indicate growing consumer appetite for account-based payments in the US market, where adoption has historically lagged behind Europe.

The rapid enrolment figures suggest that US consumers may be more receptive to account-to-account payment methods than previously assumed, particularly when integrated seamlessly into familiar shopping platforms.

This challenges the conventional wisdom that American shoppers remain wedded exclusively to card-based payments.

"Expanding digital payment choice is an example of how we continue to enhance our omnichannel platform, which in turn enables Ahold Delhaize USA brands to better serve their customers," says Keith Nicks, Chief Commercial and Digital Officer of Ahold Delhaize USA.

"Pay by Bank provides a simple way for customers to pay directly from their bank accounts, creating a seamless checkout experience and increased choice for the customer in terms of how they prefer to pay."

The deployment represents a calculated bet that payment optionality can influence customer loyalty and lifetime value, particularly as grocery retailers compete on convenience and digital experience in an increasingly consolidated market.

Leveraging embedded finance capabilities

The partnership integrates Fiserv's embedded finance technology directly into Ahold Delhaize's proprietary digital infrastructure, bypassing third-party wallets or intermediaries.

This approach could offer Ahold Delhaize greater control over transaction data and customer insights, both critical assets for personalisation and targeted marketing strategies.

The direct integration model also allows Ahold Delhaize to maintain ownership of the customer relationship throughout the payment journey, rather than ceding control to external payment providers.

This architectural decision reflects a growing recognition amongst retailers that payment infrastructure represents strategic, not merely operational, value.

For Fiserv, the collaboration offers a high-profile entry point into the US grocery sector and validation of Pay by Bank's scalability across large enterprise environments.

"Adding Pay by Bank is more than introducing a new tender type – it reflects our commitment to strengthening the omnichannel platforms behind everyday commerce," says Lia Cao, Chief Revenue Officer, Enterprise and Platform Clients at Fiserv.

"We are proud to support Ahold Delhaize USA with technology that simplifies payments operations, improves efficiency and helps drive long-term growth across their brands."

The integration also positions Ahold Delhaize to potentially reduce processing costs and fraud exposure while shortening settlement cycles compared with traditional card networks, factors that could impact margins over time.

Strategic differentiation through payments

The introduction of Pay by Bank aligns with Ahold Delhaize USA's broader omnichannel evolution, which treats digital infrastructure as a growth engine rather than a supporting function.

The retailer's brand portfolio, which also includes Food Lion and Hannaford, gives it significant scale to test and refine payment innovations across diverse customer bases.

By embedding payment functionality deeper into its platform, Ahold Delhaize is adopting elements of a platform economy model where checkout becomes a strategic differentiator.

This could provide competitive advantages in customer data ownership, operational efficiency and the ability to launch adjacent financial services in future.

While Pay by Bank has seen faster adoption in the UK and Europe under open banking frameworks, large-scale US deployments like this one could accelerate market readiness and encourage other retailers to explore similar models.

Ahold Delhaize USA has indicated it will continue to build and enhance its omnichannel platform to improve and expand the user experience, suggesting further investment in digital capabilities designed to support sales growth and customer engagement across channels.