A French cooperative launches the first Bitcoin cashback program in the country’s mainstream grocery retail. From Monday, September 21, the 5,900 members of the COOP Normandie-Picardie Group can receive 2% in bitcoin on monthly purchases at nine partner U stores, through a partnership with platform Paymium.
🔑 Key takeaways
- 2% Bitcoin cashback on monthly grocery purchases over €100
- Nine U stores involved: 7 in Seine-Maritime, 1 in Eure, 1 in Somme
- 5,900 members eligible via the coopetvous.fr app
- Partnership with Paymium, a French MiCA-registered platform
- Limited pilot phase — no nationwide rollout planned yet
An unprecedented initiative in French retail
France had never before seen a Bitcoin cashback program in its supermarket aisles. The partnership between the COOP Normandie-Picardie Group and Paymium lays the groundwork for an experiment that is remarkable on several counts: the first integration of bitcoin as a loyalty reward, the first deployment under Système U banners, and the first formal collaboration between a consumer cooperative and a MiCA-registered (the EU’s crypto-assets regulation in force since 2024) platform.
The mechanics are simple: any member spending at least €100 per month at one of the nine participating stores receives 2% of the amount converted into bitcoin, credited automatically through the coopetvous.fr app. The app, available on Android, Apple and the web, doubles as a loyalty card and a cashback wallet. The two schemes — the classic U loyalty card and the BTC cashback — are stackable, preventing any cannibalisation of existing programmes.
Nine pilot stores across north-western France
The rollout is intentionally narrow: nine points of sale operating under the U Express, Super U and Utile banners. Seven are located in Seine-Maritime (76), across the Rouen metropolitan area and its surroundings. The remaining two are in Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent (Eure, 27) and Ailly-sur-Somme (Somme, 80).
| Banner | Location | Department |
|---|---|---|
| U Express / Super U / Utile | Rouen metropolitan area | Seine-Maritime (76) |
| U store | Saint-Sébastien-de-Morsent | Eure (27) |
| U store | Ailly-sur-Somme | Somme (80) |
No specific timeline for expansion has been disclosed. The scheme’s leaders are making any rollout to other stores or regions contingent on the results of this first phase. Key pilot metrics — total amount distributed, number of transactions, member adoption rate — have likewise not been made public, limiting any early impact assessment.
Paymium, technical infrastructure and MiCA compliance
French platform Paymium, founded in 2011 and registered as a digital asset service provider (PSAN) before aligning with MiCA requirements, provides the technical backbone: automatic euro-to-bitcoin conversion, custody of distributed holdings and delivery through the coopetvous.fr app. Laetitia Zito, CEO of Paymium, framed the deal as another step in democratising bitcoin in France.
« This is a new step in our mission to democratise digital currencies in France. This partnership shows that Bitcoin can fit naturally into French people’s daily lives, supporting their purchasing power. »
Laetitia Zito, CEO of Paymium
The initiative comes as Paymium remains in the regulatory spotlight: the Conseil d’État recently rejected the platform’s application for interim measures against the DAC8 decree, which mandates the automatic transmission of tax information to French authorities. For Paymium, the cooperative partnership is therefore a signal of real-economy adoption at a time when its regulatory status is being debated.
A difficult context for the cooperative
The launch comes at a delicate time for the COOP Normandie-Picardie Group. The cooperative, founded in 1919 and counting roughly 700,000 members over its lifetime, was expelled from the U Grouping on May 20. The exit threatens several stores with closure due to the loss of supply and central purchasing.
CEO Ralph Binginot pitched the bitcoin cashback as a differentiation and loyalty tool, stressing the asset’s decentralised, cooperative and inflation-resistant character. The €10 social share required to become a member — and thus access the scheme — is valid for life, allowing the cooperative to keep growing its equity base while attracting a crypto-curious audience.
« Bitcoin is a decentralised, cooperative, inflation-resistant currency. The goal is to support our members’ purchasing power by letting them accumulate 2% of their purchases over their lifetime. »
Ralph Binginot, CEO of COOP Normandie-Picardie Group
Conclusion: Bitcoin adoption, one step at a time
The COOP-Paymium operation is a modest but symbolic signal: bitcoin is moving beyond dedicated platforms to land, in the form of cashback, in the weekly grocery basket of a neighbourhood retailer. The open question is whether the experiment will turn members into long-term BTC holders, or whether the mechanism will remain a marketing gimmick.
The coming months will reveal whether the initiative inspires other French retailers — Carrefour, E.Leclerc, Intermarché — to follow suit, and whether regulators will classify such rewards as crypto-asset distribution under MiCA. For now, the bet looks as much commercial as it does educational.
Sources
- Cryptoast — Bitcoin cashback in U stores with Paymium and COOP Normandie-Picardie
- Boursorama — 2% bitcoin rebate on groceries in some U stores
- Ici Normandie — Earn bitcoins while shopping with the COOPs
- Podcast.fr — Earn bitcoin while grocery shopping in some U stores
- Meria Academy — How to stay profitable with Bitcoin
This article is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice. Do your own research (DYOR) before making any decision.
