As mobile payments become more popular, the variety of payment options accepted by retailers continues to grow.
Today, nanoPay announced the first commercial deployment of MintChip across Canada. Beginning on June 21st, all Canadians can download the app on iOS and Android.
MintChip is a payments technology developed by the Royal Canadian Mint that allows users to send money back and forth as well as pay merchants. In addition to sending and receiving digital cash between friends, Canadians will also be able to make purchases at participating retailers.
“Canadian consumers and businesses have an opportunity to be the first to experience the benefits of MintChip digital cash. Whether sending money to a friend or paying in-store, MintChip provides Canadians their first glimpse of a cashless society,” said Laurence Cooke, CEO and founder of nanoPay, in a statement sent to MobileSyrup.
Several Liberty Village, Toronto locations will accept MintChip when making transactions including, Brazenhead, Bugigattolo Kitchen, Ciao Europa Café, For the Love of Cake, Freshii, Home Hardware, Joker Cafe, Liberty Village Rotisserie, Merci mon Ami, Nutrition House, Raaw Japanese Sushi, Smooth Wax Bar and Suzanne Gardner Flowers.
Cooke went on to say that the launch of MintChip in Canada represents the feasibility of replacing physical cash with digital cash.
Almost a week before MintChip was released in Canada, nanoPay Corporation entered into a partnership with Ingenico Group to bring MintChip to a wide variety of merchants around the world. During the Payments Panorama Conference, nanoPay Corporation and Ingenico Group announced a partnership that will allow retailers to accept nanoPay’s MintChip digital cash platform.
Ingenico Group is a global leader in payments serving both brick and mortar commerce and online and mobile vendors. nanoPay Corporation is a fintech company based in Toronto that specializes in loyalty payments solutions for e-commerce merchants and digital payments technology.
Through this partnership, Ingenico will integrate nanoPay’s MintChip digital cash platform into its Telium system, giving retailers the option to accept MintChip at their Ingenico Group smart terminals.
Using Ingenico Group smart terminals, consumers will be able to make transactions through their MintChip enabled app at participating stores. MintChip transactions settle in real-time, eliminating merchant chargebacks. Though MintChip is a technology was developed by the Royal Canadian Mint, it was acquired by nanoPay in December 2015.
“As demand grows for convenience at checkout, it is undeniable that mobile payment solutions are changing consumer behaviour. Ingenico Group is the clear leader in merchant payment terminals in Canada and our partnership provides an opportunity to introduce MintChip to their large merchant network, while providing Canadians with the security, convenience and simplicity of digital cash,” said Laurence Cooke, CEO and founder of nanoPay in a statement.
The integration of the MintChip digital cash platform into Ingenico Group’s payment technology is projected to take place in fall of 2016 while the app is currently available to Canadians on iOS and Android.
Related reading: What Apple Pay means for mobile payments in Canada
[source]nanoPay[/source]
