Billon’s Regulated Digital Cash Solution wins EU Fintech Awards as Payments Tech of the Year

(London/Warsaw, June 16, 2021) - Billon Group’s Regulated Digital Cash (RDC) solution, was named  Payment Technology of the Year  by the EU Fintech Awards. The RDC solution, part of Billon’s Unified Enterprise DLT (distributed ledger technology) platform, was recognised for introducing an entirely new category of blockchain payment solutions which can transact with national currencies in the form of digital cash.

This news is all the more valuable coming from an independent panel of judges who recognize that frictionless, real-time blockchain transactions with regulated digital cash can make payments better -- in Europe and beyond,” comments Billon Chief Growth Officer David Putts.

Billon regulated digital cash is a new form of DLT explicitly designed to meet the performance and regulatory needs of “true cash” national currency payments including compliance with document and privacy requirements. 

The key distinction of regulated digital cash from cryptocurrency or stablecoins is that it is issued and controlled by banks or regulated institutions, who can seamlessly back an encrypted digitized asset with any government issued currency.  

Billon Unified Enterprise DLT System’s wide range of possible applications includes e-commerce, m-commerce, apps, marketplaces, services on-demand, booking platforms, crowdfunding, incentives, payouts and more. It has particular value in situations when legacy payment rails like bank transfers are too cumbersome, costly or time-consuming. 

In addition to money transactions, this regulatory compliant distributed ledger protocol and system features documents, data and identity management which add to B2C and B2B users to enable the true digitalization of the entire commercial experience. 

“Billon is working hard to bring blockchain technology to payments, a competitive field in Europe. It enjoyed a particularly successful 2020, striking partnerships with leading companies in its target markets and highlighting the potential of regulated digital cash,” the independent judging panel justified the award. 

Billon created the Unified DLT System before 2020, but the trials and turbulence of the year dramatically drove its adoption and use across Europe and beyond. The pandemic heightened consumer and B2B payment trends that were already accelerating, including the demand for frictionless, real-time digital transactions and the need for banks to modernize their approach to payments to compete with fintech innovators.  

In 2020, FIS’s new core banking platform launched with Billon’s funds transfer system embedded into it. Raiffeisen Bank International connected their network of banks across 16 countries building a platform for inter-bank, cross-border transfers on Billon’s DLT platform. And insurer ERGO Hestia joined established customers like Philip Morris, who already used Billon technology to provide payouts, in an innovative program to pay refunds to auto policyholders. 

Because it uses the unique DLT based platform, Billon’s payment solution provides instant settlements between peers, with multiple cash-in and cash-out options and instant commission transfer “on the way” to the partner. Segregated accounts with automated payouts offer a possibility of blocking funds to handle after-service payments or automatic refunds with event triggers. It includes a cash handling solution for cash-ins (deposits) made by agents / partners / couriers on behalf of the client to help solve the problem of cash handling and making deposits on a daily basis. The payouts solution enables payments processing to any end customer (inside or outside) and requires only the phone number of the receiver.

With this unique protocol, Billon can digitize almost any national currency to provide a cost-effective, modern and modular solution for high volume payments with near-real-time processing. 

To be able to introduce regulated digital cash for business use, Billon secured payment and e-money licenses with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) as part of the wider EU e-money regime.

About Billon Group

Billon created a DLT protocol and system for national currency payments and document storage at scale, meeting all regulatory requirements and solving challenges for the wide adoption of blockchain technologies. With the protocol designed for high throughput and low cost of maintenance, our mission is to unleash the transformational capabilities of blockchain in the regulated world.

Billon provides client services for handling documents and regulated e-money on blockchain. The system also supports clients developing their own enterprise solutions in areas of Trusted Document Management, Regulated Digital Cash and Asset & Data Tokenization

Billon Group Ltd. was founded in the UK in 2015, following several years of R&D in Poland. Its unique DLT protocol has been supported by many R&D grants, including the EU Horizon 2020 program. Billon subsidiary companies are licensed to issue electronic money by regulators in the UK and Poland.

Billon’s growing partner list includes leading companies such as FIS, Raiffeisen Bank International and BIK (the Polish credit reporting agency). Billon has offices in London and Warsaw.

For more information, visit www.billongroup.com. Follow Billon Group on LinkedIn & Twitter & Facebook.