Cashless payment: Coca-Cola HBC Hungary introduces a fintech solution

Due to the unique cooperation with the banking and fintech sector, customers of the beverage company in Hungary will be the first within the Coca-Cola HBC Group to have the opportunity to pay for purchases via instant transfer and/or by card. The development will make financial transactions significantly simpler, faster, and safer for Coca-Cola HBC Hungary and for its nearly 35,000 customers, while the solution will contribute to the reduction of cash flow and the faster expansion of the increasingly popular instant payment solution.

Coca-Cola HBC Hungary will initially place 400 myPOS Carbon devices on the market with the CCHBC Pay application, developed by IQOM Consulting Services Kft., the Hungarian distribution partner of myPOS, which allows contactless payment by card and instant payment.

Through the instant payment system (IPS), electronically initiated individual domestic transfers up to HUF 10 million will be completed. The financial solution is available 24/7, with a transaction processing time of 5 seconds. The instant payment system is available to customers of Hungarian banks from March 2020. With instant transfer, one can forget about complicated account numbers: instead of an account number, a pre-registered email address or phone number can be used as an identifier. Instant payment is "cash without cash", as it is a convenient and competitive alternative to cash payments.

The highly durable, drop, dust and shock resistant smart POS terminal runs on Android 9.0 operating system, taking advantage of the myPOS AppMarket. Developed specifically to meet the needs of Coca-Cola HBC Hungary, the CCHBC Pay application reduces cash flow and allows Hungary's largest beverage company to track down real time all incoming card payments and to identify the customer who started the payment as well as the exact time the transfer has been received.

„The opportunity to work with Coca-Cola HBC Hungary demonstrates our commitment to high quality services and our ability to offer an integrated solution that meets all market needs", said Ferenc B. Tóth, General Manager of IQOM Consulting Services Kft. „The partnership with the largest Hungarian beverage company is very important to us because it allows us to introduce our services first-hand to the more than 35,000 customers they serve. We believe that this cooperation also proves that we are able to work quickly, efficiently and customer-focused, combining card and transfer payments, with immediate settlement for both. As a privileged distributor of myPOS, we strive to ensure that all businesses get to know us and that we can help them in their smooth financial digitalization" –  he added.

The banking background of the instant transfer is provided by Raiffeisen Bank, enabling Coca-Cola HBC Hungary to introduce an integrated banking and fintech application across its extensive sales network, replacing the expected growing share of cash payments.

„The modular ecosystem of the Premium API, developed for Raiffeisen Bank's corporate, financial institutional and municipal partners, provides the foundation for real-time, automated operations, supporting cost-effective functioning. This includes our QR code payment solution, with which we were the first to enter the market following the introduction of the instant payment system in Hungary”, said Gergely Czímer, Head of Corporate Digital and Payment Solutions at Raiffeisen Bank Zrt. He added that „Thanks to this innovation, our customers can make sure in just a few seconds that their payment has been successful, they are able to check it immediately and the amount received is credited to their account in real time. Moreover, our service can significantly shorten the administrative process and make logistics chains more efficient. Raiffeisen Bank remains determined to provide its growing number of partners with digital payment solutions that are as simple, fast, and cost-effective as possible.”

In Coca-Cola HBC Hungary's distribution network almost 80% of the approximately 26,000 customers regularly paid by cash in 2021, resulting a total of 351,000 cash purchases that year. The company will offer this new payment option to all of its customers in the future to raise the service level.