Philip Morris Test Promotes Blockchain Payments in Poland
Moving incentives to virtual prepaid cards is an important trend, but Philip Morris International is taking its incentives a step further with blockchain. The cigarette company and fintech firm Billon Group reportedly have completed a test replacing prepaid cards with the distributed ledger technology, enabling digital and mobile payments.
The tests took place over the last eight months, according to the International Business Times. Blockchain is the decentralized transaction-verification system that underpins bitcoin.
“Our sales representatives report that the digital experience of collecting incentive payments results in a better understanding of our trade programs,” said Marek Gebski, manager of commercial strategy at Philip Morris Distribution for Poland, according to the news outlet. “This provides commercial benefit. And for Philip Morris, the digital nature of the solution provides a better audit trail and streamlines back-office processing.”
The Philip Morris push is only the latest development involving blockchain. A recent plan put forth by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, for instance, seeks to use the tokenized form of the country’s dollar on a distributed ledger to enable clearing and settlement of payments and securities. So far, the project has resulted in the creation of a “working interbank transfer prototype on a private network,” according to a progress report from Deloitte.
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