The Bendigo Bank has long been the upstart in the banking community, by aiming their services at communities who actually welcome them. They’ve done well by being big on small business, in a time when some of the larger financial institutions aren’t so interested, and they’ve just launched a retail point of sale mobile payment solution in partnership with Community Telco Australia (CTA), and Samsung Electronics Australia called ‘redy’.
So what is redy?
redy, is both the platform and app, which uses QR codes as opposed to NFC transactions that larger banks are seemingly aiming for, so iOS users as well as Android users can grab the app and start using it straight away. But using QR codes adds another layer for businesses. QR Codes are generated and displayed by retailers on a Samsung tablet, which is supplied as part of the startup kit when they sign up.
Consumers will need to download the app from Google Play or iTunes and link it to their Visa or Mastercard credit cards, or because this is a Bendigo Bank initiative, one or more Bendigo Bank accounts. From there it’s a little different to a normal transaction. You first purchase redy dollars – 1 redy dollar equals 1 Australian dollar – and you will use these dollars to pay for goods and services after scanning the QR code at the point of sale.
redy for shoppers:
There’s already a few businesses on-board with redy, with Bendigo reporting that businesses in Melbourne, Adelaide, Bendigo, Geelong, South West Queensland, Tasmania and in Victoria’s Yarra Ranges are already signed up with Redy and operating the service, Bendigo expects more businesses further afield to sign-on as the program becomes more public. redy offers convenience for businesses as well, while cash is always instant card transactions can sometimes take a few days to settle with the banks, but redy offers payments settled daily.
redy for Business:
So, once you’ve purchased your goods or services, with your redy dollars, you will then get into ‘Creds’. Creds are a virtual currency which is the ‘rewards system’ for redy. Creds are rewards with a twist, you can accrue creds and convert them to redy dollars to spend whenever you want, or you can donate them to charity. redy offers a platform for charities and community initiatives to register with redy and receive creds from customers supporting their cause, it’s just another way that Bendigo Bank and people can give a little something back.
There’s Bendigo Banks located all over Australia, with branches in each state and territory in Australia. There’s a large customer base, so it’s not a bad option for businesses looking to add some sort of mobile payments system, as well as rewards system. Because it’s backed by Bendigo Bank, it’s also secure, so there’s that knowledge that the transactions are safe.
If you’re interested in redy from either a business or personal perspective you can find a heap more information on the redy website.
I’ll call it already……flop