New contactless technology named “OPTO” was presented by leading Italian payment system manufacturer Payment Technologies (Pad. 4, Stand 21)

OPTO is a patent-pending data transmission solution developed b y Dinube, the digital payment network to enable contactless payments on any smartphone. The release of this technology has already sparked interest from a number of vending operators from across Europe who seek a secure, digital payment solution that works universally on any smartphone.

OPTO enables customers to complete contactless payments from any smartphone without the need for NFC (Near Field Communication) - which is not available on all mobile devices. OPTO is a contactless technology which transmits encrypted data via colour-encoded light signals of different frequencies to an optical reader installed in the vending
machine. Unlike NFC, OPTO uses a native feature common to all smartphones: light from the mobile screen. By generating a dynamic token in the form of color-encoded light, vending operators are able to provide their customers with a secure, private and simplified purchasing solution, available on all smartphones. Digitization can make cashless payments more efficient and attractive yet European vendors have hesitated to adopt cashless because until now, solutions have been modeled around legacy card systems and limited NFC availability that have not provided clear, new benefits for both consumers and vending operators.

“OPTO is the result of two years of applied Research and Development,” explains founder and CEO of Dinube, Jonathan Hayes. “The solution is based on hard science developed in coordination with a top team of scientists from the UPC (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) and the i2Cat innovation center in Barcelona. We have built a successful alternative to other contactless communication technologies that overcomes the technical and strategic business limitations of NFC.” The technology is being introduced by Paytec as part of the company’s drive to provide digital payment solutions to its customers in the vending sector. The OPTO model promotes topline growth for vending operators by providing new services to their customers with the most convenient, secure and personalized digital payment solution on the market.

During the announcement today, Gianmarco Broggini, CEO of Paytec declared “digital payments are here to stay and OPTO is the perfect enabler to deploy the power of digital in dayto-day vending. OPTO is simple to use, easy to install, user-friendly and works with any type and model of vending machine and payment equipment. Vending operators are quickly discovering and appreciating the features and benefits of adopting OPTO at their locations”.