Philip Morris in Poland innovates trade incentives using Billon technology.
• Philip Morris, the leading global tobacco company, used distributed ledger technology to make incentive payments in a series of pilots
• Billon delivered digital engagement – a mobile experience that exchanges data and money in real time
• Billon’s distributed ledger technology replaces pre-paid cards and vouchers with a system seemlessly integrated with Banks. Billon Group and Philip Morris International (PMI) have successfully completed a series of pilots in Poland over the past 8 months to replace pre-paid card solutions with a fully digital and mobile solution on a distributed ledger.
Billon was selected for its ability to streamline processes, and to deliver instant payouts upon receiving an event driven trigger – either from a user or from the corporate client. David Putts, Chairman and MD of International explains, “Billon’s peer-to-peer system exchanges data and funds, replacing what used to be an expensive process to distribute anonymous and temporary vouchers with a full digitial system that allows a corporation to control fund disbursement to your everyday smartphone.” Beneficiaries can then redeem funds at over 6,000 ATMs or at 20 banks, avoiding the restrictions and hassle that often come with having to deal with an additional card or voucher.
Marek Gebski, Manager of Commercial Strategy at Philip Morris Distribution (Polska) describes this further, “Our sales representatives report that the digital experience of collecting incentive payments results in a better understanding of our trade programs. 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 joint pilot programme in Poland involves national sales representative participants, serving all cities in Poland.
Philip Morris plans to continue this programme. About Billon Group: Billon is the 1st FinTech company to solve the problem of the cumbersome and expensive $2.3 trillion alternative payments market – they lever a proprietary distributed ledger technology to eliminate the need for vouchers, pre-paid cards, and other semi-cash payment methods. In Poland, Billon cooperates with PlusBank, and provides value added services to corporate clients in the form of instant payments, and soon to merchants and eSports enthusiasts. Billon enables banks to deliver a mobile current account and, levering blockchain, reduce costs for any currency application.
