The first SEPA payments using Beacon technology with Digicash have been successfully completed. 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. Tests have been carried out with Luxembourg’s State and Savings Bank, the Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat, Luxembourg (BCEE).

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. It is an innovative solution that allows any compatible smartphone to receive required information transmitted by Digicash Beacon devices over the air using Bluetooth wireless technology. Digicash payments at points of sale can be triggered both by this new technology and by QR Code.

The system offers a payment experience at the point of sale that is even more straightforward, faster and easier for the consumer whilst ensuring a level of security that meets banking standards. The only technical constraint for the user is that he needs to have a recent smartphone with Bluetooth technology. Almost all phones currently on the market are already Bluetooth enabled. All Digicash users will soon be able to use the innovation at sales outlets where the Beacon terminals will be installed. All they will need to do is update their Digicash application. The new functionality will be available for both iOS smartphones and Android devices.

The Digicash Beacon payment feature uses the same underlying model as the traditional Digicash payment process based on QR Code scanning. Users who want to pay by Digicash do not need to open a specific bank account or to top-up a “prepaid” account. Payments made using Digicash are withdrawn directly from the customer’s existing bank account. With the Digicash Beacon, the concept is still the same: the only change is the technology that triggers the payment. Beacon technology has recently been promoted and adopted by major phone manufacturers and international payment services providers, who have also positioned it as a major technological innovation for new features at the point of sale. As a forerunner and 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, Lineheart and some convenience stores). A large-scale roll-out is planned for the second half of 2014. To use the new system, Digicash users will simply have to update their Digicash smartphone application in the usual way.