A new contest from the Royal Canadian Mint may address Canada's lack of mobile payment options. Just a few weeks after a government panel reported Canadians are falling behind in mobile payments, the Mint announced it has launched a contest challenging developers from across North America to use its MintChip digital currency technology and determine its applicability to the current marketplace.

MintChip is a mobile payment technology that stores an electronic value on a secure chip and then uses a secure protocol to transfer that electronic value from one chip to another.    

The MintChip Developer Challenge is part of the Mint's ongoing research and development efforts. The contest is asking North American software developers and industry experts to design apps that  test the technology's robustness in order to guide its development.

"The Royal Canadian Mint has been a trusted and respected custodian of Canadian currency for more than 100 years," said Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Mint. "As part of its research and development efforts, the Mint has developed MintChip, which could be characterized as an evolution of physical money, with the added benefits of being electronic."

Winners will be selected in three categories: Best Person-to-Person app, Best Business-to-Consumer app and Best Micropayment app. Entries will be reviewed by a panel of judge, and members of the public will select a Popular Choice Award. Winning entries will be announced in September.

Winners will receive a share of nearly two pounds of gold from the Mint. (Sorry, developers, if you haven't already submitted your idea. The contest has proven so popular the Mint is no longer accepting new submissions.)

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