IBS Journal February 2016


IBS Journal February 2016


NanoPay takes over MintChip from Royal Canadian Mint, looks for global partnerships


Toronto, Canada © Christine Wagner


Toronto-based start-up, nanoPay, has acquired the assets of the digital currency business of the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM), MintChip. It is understood that around ten


companies were interested in acquiring MintChip and the discussions to offload the business have been underway for over a year. Developed by RCM in 2012 as an alter-


native to Bitcoin, MintChip was initially backed by the Canadian dollar. It was subsequently pitched as a digital currency (with many attributes of cash) stored on a microSD card. NanoPay describes MintChip as ‘the


first digital cash platform to kick start the evolution of currency’. It supports retail, e-commerce and B2B payments. The vendor says its offering is ‘faster,


safer and at a fraction of the cost of other digital payment alternatives available today’. It continues: ‘MintChip uses secure


asset stores to move funds, which can be denominated in any recognised national currency, between parties without an intermediary and can process transactions both online and offline. This reduces the cost and risk of financial transactions by enabling real-time settlement with no recourse and non-repudiation.’


The technology is now set for a wider


commercialisation under the new owner- ship. The initial launch is in Canada, with the US and UK to follow. According to nanoPay, the platform


‘was successfully tested by the Mint in a six- month internal trial and has been granted five patents, with another five applications in process. The platform is now live and processing transactions today, and will be commercially deployed soon.’ The focus is now growing the MintChip


recognition via partnerships with central and commercial banks, telcos, retailers, acquirers, developers and POS vendors. Tanya Andreasyan


Tangerine Bank first in Canada to offer online chat-based transactions


Canada-based digital bank, Tangerine Bank, has released a new chat service that will allow customers to make transactions and talk to staff about confidential banking matters without having to call or visit a branch. The system, named Tangerine Secure


Chat, has been developed to alleviate con- cerns customers might have about talking about their bank details over the phone where others can hear them. Tangerine says that it’s the first bank in Canada to develop a service in which you


32


can conduct transactions and payments over chat. The system uses technology from omnichannel provider Genysys and runs on a customised platform built in collaboration with IBM. Customers can start a new chat session


straight from Tangerine’s website, without having to pass through extra security steps. The Secure Chat feature will also be made available on the Tangerine mobile banking app.


‘Chat features are the future when it comes to convenience and preference,’


© IBS Intelligence 2016 www.ibsintelligence.com


says IBM Canada CTO Charbel Safadi. The new chat service at Tangerine, he adds, will enhance engagement for the bank and its clients. Tangerine Bank, a subsidiary of


Scotiabank, offers savings accounts, mutual funds, mortgages and chequing accounts and has around two million customers. Before being bought up by Scotiabank in 2012 it had operated as the Canadian unit of ING Group under the name ING Direct.


Alex Hamilton


digital round-up news


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48