For a fintech European startup may be challenging to compete with Apple Pay, Google Pay & Co, but Bluecode is changing this by working on a European alternative for mobile payment transactions. The solution from Austria has raised 12M€, marking one of the highest fintech investments of 2019 in Bluecode’s Austrian home market. With the new capital, the company wants to drive the national and global expansion of the European payment solution for iPhones and Android smartphones.
In Europe, 130 billion non-cash transactions are performed each year and this number is growing 6.5% annually. The alternative payment methods like Bluecode are increasing its relevance and are estimated to process 20% of the total cashless transactions by 2020. Through a 100% European payment scheme, Bluecode solution aims to avoid the consumer’s need of resorting to USA players to conduct the non-cash payments in Europe.
“For many participants in the banking and retail sector, it’s now obvious how their business model is endangered by non-European third-party providers”, said the CEO Christian Pirkner. “We want to use the additional funds so that our partners can benefit from our technology even faster and offer their end customers secure payment by smartphone, based on European rules”.
Three areas to improve and spend the money on
Bluecode will use the majority of the growth capital for three core areas. Firstly, the Austrian company will create the possibility for European banks to join the Bluecode network. In the future, they can integrate the solution into their banking apps as a mobile payment solution.
Secondly, Bluecode wants to expand the number of services it offers, just like Asian mobile payment solutions or WePay already do.
“In order to keep the customer journey in the app, it’s indispensable to also offer services as being able to book tickets for local public transport, parking lots, e-scooters, hotels, cars and more,” added the CEO.
And thirdly, the money will be used for the cross-border expansion of their partnerships with leading mobile payment solutions from Europe and further abroad.
The project has received a Phase 1 and Phase 2 grant from the European Innovation Council. To foster the security and expansion of this European key technology, last year the pan-European mobile payment solution Bluecode received funding of 1.9M€ in Phase 2.
DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.