Virgin Money, owned by Richard Branson, has released an upgrade of Virgin Money Spot, their peer-to-peer (P2P) payment application. Virgin Money Spot launched in partnership with Cape Town-based mobile software company, wiGroup back in February. The mobile payment app has now adopted blockchain technology for their most recent update, Spot 3.0.

The latest update utilizes blockchain for a number of reasons, including security and speed. The inspiration for the new technology comes from Project Khokha’s distributed ledger initiative.

Project Khokha is a South African Reserve Bank which is recognized worldwide for their innovative implementation of blockchain technology.

Virgin Money Spot

With the new functionality, Virgin Money Spot allows clients increased safety on the platform and more ease of use. Additionally, for the first time, the application will enable users without 3D-secure bank cards to send and receive funds via their bank accounts.

Spot 3.0 enables all payments and referral-awarded funds to sync directly to a user’s Spot Wallet, all you have to do is link your bank account to the app. Additionally, users can pay vendors directly and instantly using the app.

If you spot a “Pay With Spot” sign, all you have to do is click “Pay a Merchant” and proceed using the vendor’s QR code. A national listing of Spot merchants will be available shortly, according to Virgin Money Spot.

South Africa’s First Micro-Token Exchange

Spot 3.0 has made Virgin Money Spot South Africa’s first ever micro-token exchange. Moreover, it will act as a way for customers to transact quickly and cost-efficiently with merchants. Additionally, the transactions on Virgin Money Spot will be entirely transparent and recorded thanks to the use of blockchain technology.

Spot will help users pay merchants. Furthermore, it will enable the fast and securing transpiring from wallet to wallet. Users can quickly “Spot” friends money. In addition, Spot will soon allow municipal bill payments and data and airtime bundles.

This follow’s Power Ledger’s win in Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge. Power Ledger is a blockchain platform with two cryptocurrency tokens. In other words, this isn’t Branson’s first venture into blockchain technology.