LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The bank-led mobile payment scheme Digicash has launched a pilot-project using the Beacon model in Luxembourg. Digicash Beacon devices at the point of sale combine Bluetooth, NFC and QR Code technologies. For payers, this new feature is integrated with Digicash Apps that are issued by retail banks. Payments are made using SEPA Credit Transfers straight from the payer’s current account.
Just a year after the launch of its mobile payment solution based on QR Codes, Digicash is innovating again by testing its new Digicash Beacon solution under field conditions together with three retail banks: BCEE, POST and BIL. The first SEPA payments with Digicash using the Beacon concept have been successfully performed in the last weeks.
The Beacon wireless data transmission model was announced recently by several global players as the customer experience revolution at the point of sale. When using Digicash Beacon, required payment-related data is transmitted automatically to the payer’s smartphone when the phone is held close to the device. Terminals at the POS use the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, as well as NFC and QR Codes, automatically providing the customer with the best user experience based on the features of his smartphone.
Users who want to pay by Digicash do not need to link a credit card or to top-up a wallet. Payments made using Digicash are performed directly from the customer’s existing bank account using SEPA credit transfers. With the Digicash Beacon, the underlying concept is still the same: the only change is the technology that triggers the payment. As a pioneer in mobile bank payments, the Luxembourg-based firm Digicash Payments once again finds itself at the cutting edge of technological development and as a result, is helping to define future payment trends at both a national and European level.
The new system is the outcome of R&D efforts over the last few months and is currently being tested under field conditions with several retailers (CORA supermarkets, Apple Premium reseller Lineheart and some convenience stores). A large-scale roll-out is planned for the second half of 2014. For payers, installation will be seamless: to use the new system, Digicash users will simply have to update their Digicash App the usual way.
A custom demo video is available here: http://youtu.be/s9vqlLbjxcs.
