Good News for Mobile Merchants: The World's First SMART Street Fair

PRLog^[1] - Jul. 31, 2014 - Organizers are hoping that the possibility to use additional payment methods next to the usually used cash payments will ease trade for both merchants and visitors. There will be more than 250 merchants selling folk art, artwork, souvenirs, clothes, accessories and food products at Vilnius City Fiesta.

The mobile payment solution to merchants will be introduced by Paysera, the electronic payment institution licensed by the European Union. Every merchant will receive a smartphone and in return they will have to give (provide) discounts for customers who choose to pay for goods with their smart phones.

“We will show to everyone that mobile payments are user-friendly, don’t require specific skills, or equipment”, says Andrius Balkunas, the development manager of EVP International, which has developed the Paysera payment system. More than 300 000 people attend the festival every year from all around Europe.

It is assumed that farmers or folk artists are not users of smart technologies and can’t offer their buyers payment method other than cash. According to Andrius Balkunas, this myth will be busted during Vilnius City Fiesta.

Merchants will be able to take payments for goods in cash, although the use of smart payments is mandatory for merchants of Vilnius City Fiesta. In order to promote smart trading, merchants will offer special discounts to smart payers. In return for using the smart payment option merchants will receive a smart-phone, which will work as a cash machine. No commission fees will be applied for payments processed.

Merchants will have three mobile payment technologies available for use.

iBeacons (Bluetooth (BLE) technology) work as a wireless agent, i.e. when the buyers comes near the counter he will see a payment window in his phone with the price agreed and typed into the payment register by the merchant. All the buyer has to do is to push a button, and the merchant will get the information about the completed payment immediately.

Second, is the QR technology, which is very popular in gas stations and restaurants. Every merchant will have a unique QR code displayed in his pavilion. Once the payments amount is agreed, the buyer will scan a QR code and will see the payment information and will make a payment. The merchant will receive the payment immediately.

The third technology will work by generating an unique QR code every time a person buys goods. The buyer will provide a QR code and the merchant, after scanning the code, will the take the money for goods. The buyer has the ability to have control over the charging limit.

It is suggested that the visitors to Vilnius City Fiesta would create a Paysera account, and add funds through the Internet or cash in advance, or to link it with their payment card. The free application can be downloaded from “Google Play”, “Apple Store” and “Windows Phone Store”. Funds to their e-wallet can be added during Vilnius City Fiesta too. There will be terminals available, where consultants of Paysera will provide help if it is needed.

Vilnius City Fiesta is the biggest multi-art form festival in Vilnius and has been organized annually for the last 20 years with hundreds of free events taking place in the streets, city squares and parks.

During the street fair there are many artwork pieces, ceramics, jewellery, unique handmade accessories, souvenirs, folk artwork and food products displayed and sold, together with many play areas and funfairs for children.

The biggest multi-art form festival in “Vilnius City fiesta” will take place on the 5th to the 7th of September 2014.

Vilnius has won the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant for 2014.

About Paysera:

Paysera is a global payments system, which enables its users to make reasonable savings when making international payments for the price of local rates. Paysera is an electronic payment institution, licensed by the European Union, and is a leader in a global market for its wide range of services such as international transfers at local rates, payments done via the Internet and mobile devices, money transfers by SMS, collect fees, make immediate payments when shopping by using QR codes.

Currently Paysera has 150 000 users. 327 m EUR were transferred using Paysera in the first half of 2014. Since the system was launched two years ago, 70 banks all over the world have chosen to become partners of the system. Paysera expands its business by creating global solutions for local markets.

Find out more about Paysera at www.paysera.com.

References

1. ^{^}PRLog (www.prlog.org)