For the test run, Conduct Research used Billon to transfer funds via mobile phone to 100 participants, who can pay bills, transfer to their own bank account, or withdraw cash at over 40,000 Paypoint locations.

Already live in Poland with the support of a top tier bank, Billon recently transferred its HQ to London and is one of the first participants in the Financial Conduct Authority's regulatory sandbox programme.

The company's aim is to eliminate the need for vouchers, pre-paid cards, and other semi-cash payment methods by transferring funds via a mobile phone and auditing transactions over a distributed ledger.

Melo Wallace-Potter of Conduct Research says: "As a small firm, we can’t afford the back office costs of pre-paid cards, and certainly, no one wants to give us their bank account details. Our participants were happy to simply download a free app and get paid instantly. Users maintain their own details and passwords, but we get an electronic audit trail of who is paid."

David Putts, Billon chairman and MD, expansion and partnerships, says that having proven the concept, the company aims to scale up activity for UK SMEs and offer the software to banks on a Saas basis for onsale to merchant accounts as a value-added service.

"Billon eliminates the cost and friction of pre-paid cards, cheques, and cash - now companies can send instant pay outs to users who register in seconds," he says. "With an audit trail secured by distributed ledger, much of the back-office costs of monitoring and reconciling pay outs are eliminated. Billon’s systems enables banks to reduce operating costs by 90% and offer value-added corporate and merchant services."