Loyalty and payments specialist Eagle Eye Solutions has been granted US and European patents for an EMV-based digital coupon and gift voucher solution that allows point-of-sale terminals to be used to both process card payments and redeem vouchers and coupons.

The new patents, says Eagle Eye CEO Steve Rothwell, "will assist our Epos technology partners to standardise their global EMV product features, in this case to enable voucher redemption via keyed entry and NFC."

"We have devised a way that covers 100% of the digital population now, that is anyone who can receive a text, email or download an app can redeem Eagle Eye vouchers via the EMV terminal using keyed entry," Rothwell explains. "We have also future-proofed this for when mobile wallet usage and NFC payment/redemption becomes the norm."

Eagle Eye previously secured patents on the system in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and more than 40 high street brands already use the technology. The UK-based firm is now looking to Europe and the US and is "in talks with a number of retail POS partners in the new territories to roll out our digital redemption technology."

"The joint benefits for retailers and POS providers are obvious," says Rothwell. "There is a very easy 'switch-on' for retailers to enable secure digital redemption at the point of sale, and a new, incremental revenue stream for retail technology partners with very little effort."