Enhancing Security and Permanence Using Blockchain
Increasing Trust in Secondhand Transactions
BC Card has secured a patent for storing past payment records as blockchain-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This is expected to serve as a kind of 'digital certificate' when trading luxury bags, watches, sneakers, and other items secondhand.
BC Card announced on the 27th that it has filed two domestic patents for this 'payment receipt-based non-fungible token.'
When customers upload paper or electronic (mobile) receipts received from purchases at all card-affiliated stores, including cash receipts, to BC Card's lifestyle finance platform ‘Paybook,’ the receipt information is automatically stored on the blockchain as an NFT. Customers can view and send these through a ‘digital wallet’ that BC Card plans to provide.
BC Card expects this patent to act as a kind of ‘digital certificate’ in the rapidly growing resale and secondhand trading market. According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency, the domestic secondhand market has grown from 4 trillion won in 2008 to 24 trillion won in 2021, and is expected to exceed 30 trillion won this year.
First, both sellers and buyers can conduct safe secondhand transactions. Paper receipts record detailed information such as item name, payment amount, purchase date and time, and merchant information. This makes it difficult for sellers to provide products different from their description or to falsify the original purchase price. BC Card is also considering offering appraisal and warranty services through luxury appraisers in the future.
Additionally, sellers can register the purchase receipt only once, and then instantly view or provide the receipt from their digital wallet during future secondhand sales. Previously, if a receipt was lost, it had to be downloaded one by one from the card company’s website or application (app). After a certain period or if the system was down, requesting a receipt issuance was impossible. In unexpected situations, NFTs, characterized by ‘permanence,’ can be used as certificates.
Security is another advantage. Paper or electronic receipts registered on Paybook are created as NFTs using blockchain technology, making tampering difficult. Data is also stored in a distributed manner on servers, eliminating concerns about loss. BC Card plans to collaborate with its parent company KT and the electronic payment group company VP for this purpose.
Previously, BC Card, which holds the most patents (124) in the domestic secondary financial sector, filed a total of six NF patents this year alone (three completed, three pending). A representative example is the NF patent filed in March that allows proof of asset details in the event of national disasters or financial institution system failures.
Kwon Seon-mu, Executive Director of BC Card who led the patent filing, said, "Through this patent application, the reliability of domestic secondhand luxury goods transactions will greatly increase," adding, "By registering any payment receipt, we will be able to analyze real consumption patterns and suggest improvements to customers’ spending habits."
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