a Belgian mobile wallet
A new belgian payment solution?
On 4 November 2013, Belgacom and BNP Paribas Fortis set up «Belgian Mobile Wallet SA/NV», a joint venture to support online and mobile trade in Belgium. The European Commission had already approved this joint venture earlier. The establishment of Belgian Mobile Wallet SA/NV follows the announcement in the beginning of this year to launch a Belgian standard for payments via smartphones in spring 2014. This will allow consumers to use their smartphones in the future to pay for goods and services, exchange coupons, or use their customer cards.
It will be commercially launched under the brand name «Sixdots», a reference to the strong security offered by the platform for consumers and traders. Sixdots stands for a six-digit PIN code, that will be used, beside other security measures, for making online and mobile payments in Belgium.
Frederic Lhostte, Managing Director, explains: «Sixdots operates as an open platform, accessible to all consumers and traders in Belgium. The use of Sixdots is totally free of charge for the consumer. The app will be available to all smartphone users with a bank card from any bank established in Belgium and a mobile data subscription from any Belgian telecom operator.» For traders, too, Sixdots offers unique benefits for e-commerce and also as a safe solution for integrating «in-app commerce» simply and seamlessly into their own app, adapted to the user experience and look and feel of their own app. Traders will be charged a small fee for each transaction via Sixdots.
Sixdots is underpinned by the new MasterPass* payment solution. Sixdots takes care of the security and integration of this payment solution, so that the consumer does not have to enter any credit card details on the websites of traders or have a card reader at hand.
The underlying technical platform, developed by Accenture, will be operational in January 2014, when a pilot project will be launched with a limited number of traders and users, and with the focus on e-commerce payments soon followed by in-app payments. The commercial launch is scheduled for spring 2014. Later on in 2014, Sixdots will be expanded with virtual tickets, discount coupons and loyalty programs.
2024 update: Sixdots went life in 2024 – promising a revolution in Belgian payment traffic. The platform has now been absorb in the payment network of bancontact.
