European mobile payment solution Bluecode receives “Golden Transaction” award at Payment Exchange in Berlin
At the Payment Exchange (PEX) on 24 and 25 January 2019 in Berlin, the pan-European mobile payment solution Bluecode received the highest award “Golden Transaction” in the “customer value” category from a jury of experts. The industry meeting took place for the fourth time and has developed into an annual obligatory event for retailers and payment service providers. Initiators of the conference are the founders of paymentandbanking.com, one of the most important web portals for banking, payment and fintech.
The top-class jury consisted of Katharina Schneider (Handelsblatt), Nils Wischmeyer (Süddeutsche Zeitung), Karsten Traum (Deutsche Kreditbank DKB), Juliane Schmitz-Engels (Mastercard), Hanno Bender (Lebensmittel Zeitung), Sven Korschinowski (KPMG) and Christina Cassala (finletter). Above all, the jury was impressed by Bluecode’s vision of working together with banks and retailers to set up its own pan-European mobile payment scheme in order to make Europe independent from non-European payment services, while at the same time creating digital value-added services for end consumers in their everyday lives.
“In recent months, we have legally and technically established the first independent and Europewide mobile payment system that enables cashless payments via Android smartphone, iPhone and Apple Watch together with value-added services according to European rules. In accordance with European data protection law, no personal data is stored or transmitted on the mobile phone during the payment process. Bluecode adds extra value to the actual payment, as, for instance, the loyalty card is automatically accepted during the payment process without having to present it, or a digital receipt is created. This type of added value is particularly attractive for retailers and crucial for the adoption by end users,” explains Christian Pirkner, CEO of Blue Code International AG. “The award shows that we are on the right track. The Bluecode payment network is constantly growing, as banks and retailers are able to participate quickly, easily and risk-free.”
Bluecode payment network grows – joint expansion with partners Alipay and Temenos
More than 100 European banks, renowned acquirers and leading retail chains such as Rewe, Galeria Kaufhof and Spar Austria are already supporting the rollout of Bluecode throughout Europe and its integration into cash registers, vending machines as well as mobile apps of banks and retailers. Following Bluecode’s win in the 2017 Innovation Jam contest of Temenos Group AG, the market-leading banking software provider has already pre-integrated Bluecode in its international core banking system. Temenos now offers all banks to easily deploy the PSD2-compliant and instant payment-ready system of Bluecode. In 2018, Bluecode also integrated the technology of Alipay, the world’s largest payment platform from China, which has over 700 million active users and with which Bluecode is now jointly expanding in Europe. Only recently, the Galeria Kaufhof group started offering Alipay and Bluecode nationwide in Germany. As Alipay uses the European infrastructure of Bluecode, retailers can benefit from European as well as Chinese spending power.
Integration in banking apps keeps data and value creation in Europe
Bluecode still has a long way to go to ensure that the new payment network scales up throughout Europe. Currently, Bluecode is focusing on two areas in order to make mobile payment even more attractive for the masses. On the one hand, value-added services for end users will be further expanded and combined with mobile payment. For instance, partner retailers can process digital bonus cards, lotteries or loyalty cards directly via Bluecode and reward loyal customers with vouchers and discounts on their smartphones. On the other hand, Bluecode strives for integration into mobile apps of banks, as Christian Pirkner explains: “The PSD2 regulation will open up mobile payment transactions, so banks are on the verge of losing the customer journey to non-European third-party providers. With a European solution like Bluecode, banks can offer mobile payment to their customers and keep the customer journey in their own mobile banking app, so that they can continue to participate in the creation of value and keep the customers’ financial data safe in Europe.”
Mobile payment by Bluecode is fast, easy and secure
The payment process using Bluecode works directly via existing cash registers of retailers, without additional payment terminals. Users connect their bank current account with Bluecode and receive a blue barcode in the respective app, which is only valid for a single transaction. After the barcode scan at the retailer’s cash register, the purchase is debited from the user’s bank current account and any added value is immediately credited to the user. The mobile payment solution works with all bank current accounts and is free of charge for the end user via the Bluecode app and numerous other mobile apps.
More information on Bluecode: www.bluecode.com
Free download of the mobile payment app Bluecode:
• For iOS devices (iPhone and Apple Watch): http://apple.co/2z33mN5
• For Android devices: http://bit.ly/2AHFrPF