Coinzone Announces Bitcoin Wallet

Bitcoins have often been in the news for a number of reasons and many times in a negative light. Bitcoins were strongly related to the website Silk Road which was an online ‘deep web’ black market space that sold illegal drugs, firearms, assassinations and more.

However bitcoins have the potential to be a useful form of currency as we move into an age where many are predicting the decline in need for physical cash payments and a move toward contactless payment technology. Bitcoins are not tied to countries or regulations and are useful for international payments. They are easily transferable and can be kept anonymous which is why there has been doubts due to usage in illegal activity.

Coinzone, a Europe-based payment solution provider have recently announced that they will launch a new bitcoin wallet that will support currencies across Europe. The announcement signals the move toward embracing bitcoins as a more mainstream form of currency. Coinzone’s new wallet has been developed in order to address legal and privacy frameworks in operation across Europe.

Manuel Heilmann, who is the CEO and co-founder, told CNN “The Coinzone Wallet will be unique for a number of reasons, both at launch and also looking ahead to the future,”. The new wallet will be available for users wherever they have a web browser. This means that iOS and Android users will be able to manage and authorise bitcoin transactions whilst on the move. Heilmann goes on to say “For launch, our goal is to make it very easy to spend bitcoin. It’s a simple yet very crucial feature that is either missing or not easy to use in other wallets.”.

According to Heilmann the top five most active countries on the Coinzone platform are Germany, France,Spain, Romania and Italy. The initiative has also been launched now in the U.K. and the Czech Republic where growth is increasing. The wallet is available to very diverse range of countries with customer service initially aiming to support English 24/7, German, French, Spanish and Romanian and aim to respond around the clock. When it comes to bitcoins, customers cannot afford to wait until the next day when purchasing or selling.

Coinzone has a broad and comprehensive understanding of the European regulatory landscape. Users of the wallet will be under European privacy laws that means data is securely hosted in European data center locations. Heilmann believes the wallet will give users a hassle free experience that allows them to “transact with confidence” and to utilise “the local language, currency and payment instruments that are relevant to where they live.”.

This announcement signals the constant development in the payments world that seeks to create easier payment transactions for businesses and consumers alike. Creating secure and dependable systems for bitcoins can take the stigma away from the negative connotations that arose from Silk Road.

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See Latest APEX Europe Attendee List

In just a few short weeks, 200+ payments and retail executives are heading to Marbella for All Payments Expo Europe. This is Europe's only devoted retail & payments business development meeting, where the prepaid and retail value chain host meetings, create new partnerships and explore synergies.


With delegates coming from 25+ countries, you'll be able to hear insights from an international group of merchants, programme managers, issuers, MNOs, networks and processors. You'll sharpen your strategies with expert insights on:

• Latest data on prepaid's growth and market size
• New opportunities created by HCE technology
• New sales channels for gift cards
• White space for prepaid partnerships in mobile money, education and B2B
• Consumer demands in contactless
• Contextual commerce's impact on conversion and more!

Join an international community and get face time with the peers and partners you need. Register today to secure your spot - PLUS save €100 when you use the code XU2940BLOG.

Here are some of the companies you'll meet:
3V Transaction Services • Accent Intermedia • ACI Worldwide • Airplus International SRL • Al Fardan Exchange • ArbitorSports • Auctionata • Bankable • C24 Payments Contact Center LLC • CardOneBanking • Cardwise • Centigo AB • Contact Payment System • Coop Danmark • Dansk Supermarked A/S • Di Pocket • Edgar Dunn & Company • Emerging Payments Association • eNett International • ePayService • Epipoli SpA • EuroCommerce • First Data • FlexCard • Flex-e-Vouchers • Gap Inc • Gemalto SA • Genesys • GKFX • Global Prepaid Exchange • Globoforce • Gruppo Poste Italiane • Hobbs Limited • Home Retail Group plc • Hotel Voucher Shop • IKEA MOS • IMA • IQ Card • John Lewis Partnership • Leroy Merlin • Italia srl • Load & Go • Localz • Locke Lord • Lycamobile UK Ltd • Marks & Spencer • MBXP ApS • Mercator Advisory Group • MintCombine • MTACC Inc • MySafePay • Nordic Choice • Optimal Payments • Orwell • P&MM Ltd • Payment Card Solutions • Payoneer EU Limited • PerfectCard Ltd • PMA Media Group • Polymath Consulting • PPRO • Prego Prepaid Solutions • Prepaird International Forum • PSI-Pay Ltd • Raphaels Bank • Rapid Financial Solutions • Reward Technology • Rideau Recognition Solutions • Riverbridge Partners LLC • SafeCharge Card Services • Sears Holding Company • Signet • Simple Card • Skrill Ltd • Smart Concepts BV • Swift Prepaid Solutions Inc • TESCO Bank • Thames Card Technology LTD • The Billing Project LLC • Ticket Surf • TJX Europe • Trancash Italia • Travel Payments Amadeus IT Group • TrustEu Affairs • TrustPay • Tuxedo • WEX • Wickes Building Supplies Limited • XXImo BV • Yandex Money • Zalando SE


Event Partner

Platinum Sponsor

Supporting Sponsors

 Bronze Sponsor

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Digital Transactions Surpass Cash in UK

This past weekend saw the end of cash leading as the most popular payment method in the UK. On Sunday March 8th, more transactions were made via credit, debit and other cashless methods than that of cash.

The Payments Council had predicted that this switch would occur in the UK in 2015.

See the figures in the article from The Telegraph, one shows the total value of cash vs. credit transactions from 2014 and the credit transactions out valued cash at a rate of 250:1. This is due to the fact that large corporations who deal with high-value transactions rarely touch cash.

The figures also continue to show the decreasing average payment on a credit or debit card, the rise of contactless payments, and the decrease of average cash transactions over the last few years. These are telltale signs that cash is losing its grip on consumers and is being replaced by digital transactions.

It is suggested that by 2023, cash transactions will fall to just 13 billion and the cashless alternative will grow to a staggering 27 billion. 

The direction of the payments industry is hard to deny, as years pass cash will begin to become an obsolete payment method that is rarely used by the everyday consumer. As new technology continues to emerge, cash slips a little further from relevance.


How long will it be until cash is no longer carried by the everyday consumer? Only time will tell but right now it seems as if it is sooner rather than later.

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Top 5 Reasons You Can't Miss APEX Europe

At APEX Europe, you'll join an international community and get in-person insights, valuable face time with peers and partners and access to consumer research and case studies you won't hear anywhere else. This is where 250+ payments, retail and technology executives are convening to build the next generation of inter-connected commerce.

With a focus on consumer experience and intra-industry collaborations, All Payments Expo Europe is the most relevant gathering of Europe's payments players, including retailers, programme managers, card networks, processors, issuers/acquirers, financial institutions, payments start-ups, technology and investors.

The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Miss APEX Europe:

1. The only European payment & financial services event where retail, mobile, data and technology intersect to grow connected commerce
2. Partner with 250+ movers and shakers in the prepaid, retail & technology industries
3. Sharpen Your Strategies with insights from industry leaders
4. Design your company's solutions to challenges in regulation, consumer awareness and interoperability
5. Uncover new ways for payments technology to acquire new customers, deepen loyalty, leverage data and improve the financial health of consumers

Download the programme.

Register with the code XU2940BLOG by 20 March & save €300!

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Mark your calendars for APEX Europe | Brochure now available!

APEX Europe is the international meeting place for prepaid, technology and retail executives to grow business and identify consumer needs.

Access Insights: Hear next generation consumer needs - and gain a better understanding of how to position your company to capture new business.

Merchants:
Participating retailers include: Home Retail Group, Zalando SE, Coop Danmark, Dansk Supermarked, M&S, Tesco Bank, John Lewis, Nordic Choice, Auctionata and more
Hear from other merchants on the new path to purchase:

• How omni and multi channel strategies are impacting every customer touch point, from in-store payments to gift cards
• How mobile can tangibly improve customer engagement and drive bigger conversions and increase in-store visits
• How mobile can tangibly improve customer engagement and drive bigger conversions and increase in-store visits
• How digital gift cards are transforming brick-and-mortar institutions' strategies
• The impact of ApplePay and digital wallets on retail marketing and couponing
• The implications of new in-store technologies, including iBeacon and geolocation
• How e-commerce executives are anticipating customers' evolving needs across Europe     

   
Prepaid:
Participating programme managers include: Bankable, IQcard, Tuxedo Money Solutions, Perfect Incentive, 3V, WEX, Payment Card Solutions (UK) Ltd., eNett International and more
Hear from industry stakeholders on new consumer needs:

• New innovations in grants administration
• Prepaid's evolving role in gaming
• The rise of new use cases, including social media payments, prepaid for the affluent and alternative banking platforms
• The latest developments in corporate payments, and how to identify new opportunities
• The implications of the latest regulations, and the impact on product development
• The latest consumer-centric links between prepaid and loyalty
• What's blocking global issuing?
• Partnership opportunities with new players, from cryptocurrency to P2P technologies     

Access the full agenda here.

Join attendees from across Europe to meet, partner and devise powerful new partnerships. Use the code XU2940BLOG to save. Register now to lock in the lowest rates.

We look forward to meeting you in Marbella, Spain in May this year!   

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Paybefore Announces Winners for European Awards

Today Paybefore reveals the winners in 2014 Paybefore Awards Europe.

The third annual competition proved fierce throughout all 10 categories—the most ever—which included Top of Wallet, Market Mover and The One to Watch. This year, awards judges created the category Best Problem Solver, which recognizes winning programs using prepaid as an elegant solution to a significant problem. Entries across categories represented programs from the U.K., Turkey, Austria, France, Germany, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Italy and more.

“Paybefore Awards Europe shine a spotlight on the innovators using payments to solve complex problems for a variety of constituents,” said Loraine DeBonis, Paybefore editor-in-chief and chair of the judging panel. “Our winners are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in payments.”

Paybefore CEO Marilyn Bochicchio added, “It’s an exciting time in payments everywhere in the world, but this year’s Paybefore Awards Europe winners demonstrate how quickly prepaid and mobile solutions are replacing legacy paper-based systems. Paybefore Awards is thrilled to recognize the organizations that are taking on paper in its many forms—not just cash—to improve business, government and consumers’ lives.” Paybefore Awards Europe’s distinguished winners were selected by a five-judge panel comprised of Dr. Hugo Godschalk, PaySys Consultancy GmbH, managing director/partner, and Prepaid Forum Deutschland founder; Craig James, Neopay CEO and director of Prepaid International Forum; Siobhan Moore, associate, Locke Lord; and Paybefore’s Bochicchio and DeBonis.

Today’s winners now compete for the Best-in-Category distinction, which will be announced during a presentation at the All Payments Expo Europe in Marbella, Spain, on 19-21 May 2014. Before and during APEX Europe, visitors to Paybefore.com will be able to vote for one People’s Choice winner. Stay tuned for more details coming soon at Paybefore.com. Congratulations to all our winners!

Best Choice Retail Card:

ASDA Closed Loop Gift Cards
ASDA and First Data

HTA Garden Gift Card
Horticultural Trades Association, StoreFinancial

River Island Gift Card
River Island

Top of Wallet

Kalixa Pay
Kalixa

Skrill Prepaid MasterCard
Skrill

Vodafone SmartPass
Wirecard AG

Best Travel Companion

airberlin Flight Voucher
airberlin

Fair FX
Payment Card Technologies

ICE Travellers Cashcard
International Currency Exchange, Lenlyn Group

Top Motivator

Air BP Sterling Reward Programme
Air BP and Citi Prepaid Services

Bridgestone Prepaid Card
The Bancorp

Nikon Consumer Cashback Programme
Nikon and Citi Prepaid Services

Boundary Buster

Bread4Scrap
Payment Card Solutions

EE Cash on Tap
EE Ltd.

mpass
Wirecard AG

Prepaid with Soul

fastPay
DENIZBANK A.S.

ICE Travellers Cashcard
International Currency Exchange, Lenlyn Group

One4all BBC Children in Need Gift Card
One4all

Best Problem Solver

Austrian Airlines Prepaid Card
PayLife Bank GmbH

Canon Easy Warranty Plan
Epipoli

Travel Welfare
Payment Card Technologies

Market Mover

fastPay
DENIZBANK A.S.

Gordio Pointstic
Epipoli

Pingit
Barclays

Consumer Champion

cash4web MasterCard
PayLife Bank GmbH

ICE Travellers Cashcard
International Currency Exchange, Lenlyn Group

paysafecard
paysafecard.com Wertkarten AG



The One to Watch: Program

Genç Bankkart
Ziraat Bankasi

Infinite Aisle
InComm Europe

One4all Personalise My Card
GVS

The One to Watch: Company

CashStar Inc.

Skrill

Wirecard Card Solutions



Join us at APEX Europe to see who wins Best-in-Category! See you May 19-21 in Marbella, Spain!

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King of the Payments Jungle?

If you’re taking charge of the payments jungle, we want to give you your rightful crown. Enter the 2014 Paybefore Awards Europe, recognising ferocious innovation and a mighty commitment to excellence in prepaid, mobile and emerging payments in Europe. In 2014, Paybefore Awards Europe will honour winners in 10 categories, which reflect the vibrant market for prepaid, mobile and emerging payments.

The nominations submission deadline is Friday, 14 March 2014. Download the Nomination brochure today. Paybefore subscribers and members of UKGCVA, PIF, or IMA organisations receive a discount on the nomination submission fee.


Benefits of Winning:
Because Paybefore Awards Europe (http://bit.ly/1byo4R6) involves rigorous analysis of nominations by an independent, experienced judging panel, the value of the awards is unparalleled.

• Roaring rights. Recognition from colleagues, clients and prospects of winning in a rigorous and highly competitive juried competition. There’s no more impressive way to let the world know the value of what you do than by winning a Paybefore Award.
• Brand building. All winners may publicise their awards in appropriate ways, such as issuing press releases, posting information on Websites and using the 2014 Paybefore Awards Europe badge for winners and Best in Category in advertising and other communications— extending your influence and building your brand.
• Paybefore coverage. Coverage in Paybefore publications and Paybefore.com, reaching thousands of industry members worldwide. As a winner, your accomplishments will be highlighted in our extensive media coverage.


Awards Presentation:
The Paybefore Awards Europe presentation will take place during All Payments Expo Europe, being held 19-21 May 2014 at the Don Carlos Resort and Spa in Marbella, Spain.

All Payments Expo Europe converges 500 executives from diverse industries to build the next generation of prepaid, retail payments, emerging technologies and alternative financial services. With a focus on innovation and interoperability, this is the most relevant gathering of Europe's payments stakeholders, including retailers, card networks, processors, issuers/acquirers, programme managers, financial institutions, payments start-ups, technology and investors.

All Payments Expo Europe is co-located with Retail Payment Innovations, a one-day event, focusing on retail innovation and payment technology. This event dissects the future of shopping, omnichannel merchant perspectives, mobile payments and wallets, as well as e-commerce & m-commerce. Leading organizations will have the ability to showcase their game-changing technologies in mobile loyalty, M-POS, and mobile payments & wallets through interactive on-stage demonstrations.

Download the programme.

Register now to lock in the lowest rate.

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