Miami programmers win Citi Mobile Challenge prize for beacon tech

Several Miami-based Centric Consulting mobile developers landed a top prize in an international competition hosted by Citi.

The team's platform, BlueBeak, allows users to send money to friends, who can then withdraw the funds from an ATM without a debit card.

Centric Consulting was named the Citi Mobile Challenge's most innovative ATM solution, winning $20,000 and a chance to have Citi deploy BlueBeak. The competition included more than 60 teams, chosen from 700 submissions from 72 countries.

BlueBeak uses beacons, pieces of hardware that allow businesses to send location-based messages to consumers' smartphones and tablets.

Beacon technology has myriad implications for banking, retail, travel and other industries, said Chris Martinez, part of Centric Consulting's award-winning team. The team included six other Centric Consulting employees.

"All this data that companies are going to collect as you walk past … is going to be used at some point to understand what your purchases are," Martinez said Thursday during a presentation at the ITPalooza conference at Nova Southeastern University in Davie.

Beacons only cost about $5 to $10 apiece, he added, so they're likely to replace some pricier technologies, such as the scanners at store exits that determine whether a customer has shoplifted.

"It's so cheap that if one does die, you're just going to rip it off [the wall] and put up a new one," he said.

Here are three ways Martinez predicts beacon technology will change business:

• Retailers will be able to send targeted discounts.

Companies can track consumers' past purchases and whereabouts, allowing them to tailor their offers.

Celia Ampel covers technology, startups, venture capital and angel investment. Stay on top of the latest venture news with our free daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe.