From PayQwiq to Pay+ at Tesco

PayQwiq, Tesco’s ludicrously-named and surprisingly difficult to type correctly the first time mobile payment product, recently got a fresh coat of paint as the company swapped out the name from that alphabet soup horrorshow to one that requires special characters instead. Now, the mobile payment system Tesco only recently rolled out will be known as Pay+, which is actually something of a relief.

Most of the functions are quite intact, working as a virtual clubcard to keep track of receipts, making it handy to trace just how much you’ve spent at the Tesco near you. Reports suggest it will also work with keeping rewards points in play as well, though there’s apparently a separate card that needs to be scanned as well. The mobile payments component is perhaps its most important, however, as users can use Pay+ to spend 250 pounds sterling—around $334.95 as of this writing—with just a tap of a device.

As for why the change was made, the explanation is somewhat weak, and provided as part of Tesco Pay+’s FAQ page: “The new name, look and feel help the app feel part of the Tesco team. ‘Tesco Pay+’ is also easier to say, spell and remember. It’s the same great app with all the features you love but now it’s more Tesco.”

Reports from Tesco proper note that there’s a special on as part of the name change: from now until January 14, 2018, there’s one extra Clubcard point for every four pounds sterling spent in Tesco locations. This is a great point given that the Christmas shopping season will be starting up fairly soon, and for some, it already has.

In the end, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of difference between PayQwiq and Pay+, aside from the fact that the branding is a lot less cumbersome when you’re trying frantically to overcome the automatic impulse to follow a “Q” with a “U” as is commonly the case in the English language.

It’s debatable whether or not Pay+ is “more Tesco” than PayQwik, as well as easier to say and remember—they got spell right, that’s for sure—but sometimes a brand just makes changes like this to draw attention to itself. Given the holiday shopping season’s rapid approach, that may not be a bad plan.