It all goes back to 17 April 1974, the date on which the deed of incorporation was signed. Unicre. With a share capital of eighteen thousand escudos, the first group of shareholders was made up of the banks Totta & Açores, Borges e Irmão, Espírito Santo, Fonsecas e Burnay, Nacional Ultramarino and Português do Atlântico.
Without even knowing it, this moment would be of capital importance in the Portuguese financial system in the following decades. After being authorised in 1979 to negotiate representation contracts with international payment systems (American Express, Carte Blanche and Diner's Club International), the Unicre issues the first Unibanco cards under the VISA payment system (used only in Portugal) and, in 1986, was the midwife of the birth of the Redunicre brand, a payment acceptance network that would start accepting the first debit card issued in Portugal, the Totta Gold Card, in commercial establishments.
The story doesn't end here
Far from the theory of the "end of history" advocated by the German philosopher Hegel, in which he argued for the end of processes of change, the Unicre was based on constant innovation and development of technological solutions that would transform the lives of Portuguese consumers and companies. It's therefore not surprising that at the dawn of the 1990s, its Redunicre brand installed the first Electronic Payment Terminals in Portuguese commercial establishments and, twenty years later (2011), its payment solutions were incorporated into motorway tolls hand in hand with the implementation of accepting payments via smartphones and tablet PCs.
A dizzying array of ingenuity and innovation that took on a new chapter last February with the reinvention of its Redunicre and Unibanco commercial brands. Under the motto "The Future Brings Simplicity", the company presented itself with a new image which, as well as conveying greater openness and proximity to customers, was intended to emphasise the company's position in the market. Unicre on the market as a technology-based company.
As part of this rebranding, Unibanco moved towards a digital positioning and Redunicre began to present itself not only under the name REDUNIQand its scope of action has expanded to include acceptance solutions for physical shops e online payment solutionsnot only in Portugal, but internationally.
The solutions that made Redunicre a leader in innovation in the area of payment systems, have transitioned and developed with the move to REDUNIQ. In addition to this wide range of products, which included technology and Contactless paymentsphysical and mobile Contactless payment terminals - Contactless TPA, online sales and payments, e-commerce e distance sellingwill be joined later this year by two new solutions that will revolutionise the way payments are made in Portugal.
Innovation at the service of mobility
The first of these is the result of a partnership between UnicreThe Porto Intermodal Transport (TIP) and Visa have come up with an innovation that will allow users to pay for their journey on any means of public transport in Porto using just one card. Contactless bank card. Although this pioneering solution in Portugal is limited to the city of Porto in this first phase, the aim is to extend it to the country's main cities in the short term.
This innovation will be the start of a paradigm shift in the transport sector in Portugal, due to the convenience, simplicity and speed it brings to the consumer. With the firm intention of extending this project to the entire public transport network of the country's main cities, following the trend in the world's main metropolises, such as London, Singapore, Rio de Janeiro and New York, the REDUNIQ has picked up the Redunicre legacy to take it even further at a time when, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Portugal and the world are looking harder than ever for payment solutions that reduce contact with physical money and adapt to a type of consumption that favours online over face-to-face.
Innovation at the service of transactions
According to the report REDUNIQ InsightsBetween March and June this year, the weight of the Contactless doubled in the overall turnover of Portuguese businesses and membership of online payment methods by traders grew by 333%. As well as meaning that the economy cashless is spreading rapidly in Portugal, these figures have implied, on the part of the REDUNIQa journey to the solution @PaymentsRedunicre, which it inherited from Redunicre, has added a new feature that completely adapts to the new type of consumer and business.
If REDUNIQ @Payments already allowed businesses to accept remote card paymentsIn a simple, practical and secure way, by sending an e-mail to the customer, a couple of months ago it also started to allow the customer to send an e-mail to the customer. payment link can be sent by WhatsApp or SMS increasing the speed and intuitiveness of the transaction.
Created for businesses (with or without a website) that want to capitalise on the potential of digital to boost their business. distance selling e receive payments onlineThe new service gives economic agents access to a back office that allows them to issue payment links to their customers, which are then sent by e-mail, SMS or WhatsApp. The customer receives the message, clicks on the link and enters a secure payment page. The business receives confirmation of payment and can create/make/ship its product to the customer with the confidence that payment has already been made.
As well as having no monthly fees, no minimum revenue, no membership costs and no need for integration or development, this new solution REDUNIQ allows marketers to make WhatsApp the nerve centre of their business.
The days when Redunicre gave Portuguese businesses the chance to launch into the future by accepting debit and credit cards seem long gone. credit cards through a automatic payment terminal. It also implemented the Contactless and endeavoured to keep pace with the technological developments in payments that the first smartphones brought with them in the first decade of the 2000s. The change of name and image was just a parenthesis in a story that, as you can see, continues to be written with the same focus on the future, this time under the name REDUNIQbut with the same objective: innovation.
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