The community app Gem2Go gives citizens a good overview of what is happening in their community. You can be reminded of important appointments, and all online forms on the website can be used there amtsweg.gv.at can be accessed, downloaded and filled out directly in the app. The latest feature is that you can also pay contactless with the Gem2Go app. This is made possible by a cooperation with the Austrian fintech startup Bluecode.
Video: How Gem2Go works
Pay contactless: win-win for retailers and citizens
According to Christian Pirkner, CEO of Blue Code International AG, this results in a “win-win situation” from which both retailers and citizens benefit. “On the one hand, users of the Gem2Go app can make contact-free payments by mobile phone and at the same time take advantage of attractive bonus programs such as digital stamp passes, vouchers and competitions from local dealers or free admission to community facilities such as outdoor pools. Local and regional shopping is also rewarded, “he says:” On the other hand, retailers can offer secure cashless payments, win new customers with the wide-reaching Gem2Go app and strengthen customer loyalty with individual bonus programs. “
Start in Kremsmünster, rollout throughout Austria
Kremsmünster in Upper Austria is the first municipality to use contactless Bluecode payment together with regional businesses via the Gem2Go app. About half of the population there uses the Gem2Go app.
“The aim is to enable all Austrian municipalities and businesses to make mobile payments with the Gem2Go app in the near future,” says Michael Kölbl, managing director of RIS GmbH, the developer of Gem2Go, about the future plans. A total of 2100 Austrian municipalities are recorded in the app.
Requirements and how-to
A brief test of the brutkasten shows that you can already save your account data in the current version of the Gem2Go app for later use of the payment function. The prerequisite for users is a current account with an Austrian bank.
The on-site payment process works because the Gem2Go app displays a blue barcode, the Bluecode, during the payment process. After scanning the blue code at the respective retailer, the purchase amount is debited directly from the customer’s current account and any redeemed loyalty bonus is immediately credited.
Pay contactless with SMEs
The background to the cooperation is also to strengthen the domestic medium-sized economy. Because the corona pandemic has led to a real boom in mobile payments – and according to one Study by the Gallup Institute this is a trend that will continue after the pandemic. Accordingly, SMEs should also participate in this development.
“Entry is quick and risk-free without major investments. For smaller dealers, market stalls or kiosks on the sports field, for example, the Bluescan app on the dealer’s smartphone is enough to scan the customer’s blue code. Alternatively, there are also other options, for example Bluecode can be integrated directly into the existing cash register system, ”says Pirkner. Since it is not necessary to enter a PIN at the terminal, all hygiene recommendations for protection against Covid-19 are complied with during the payment process.