how it started?
the bulkey code wallet idea.
Reading time: 7 minutes.
After 3 years of development, BulKey Code Wallet™ is finally on the market! But if you want to fully understand the product, you need to know more about how it was created. And we are really happy to share this story with you!
I. Who we are?
We are engineers with over 30 years of experience in security and access control systems. You can learn more about our core work at https://lesi.eu
II. How we got the idea
Besides the engineering path, we are also travelers. Over the years, we have been to over 70 countries combined. Traveling the world and getting to know new cultures, getting to know people and their way of life and history is something irreplaceable! If you travel, you know what we’re talking about.
But, despite all these incredible emotions that we share – behind the scenes, over the years, quite a few unpleasant things have happened to us while traveling… Most often – pickpocketing.
You’d be surprised how many pickpockets we’ve witnessed – and others we’ve fallen victim to. Thefts from hotel rooms, from bags, pockets. When we share stories with other travelers, we realize that we are not alone.
III. The thefts that happened to us over the years.
Austria 2009 – We were at a conference in Vienna, Austria. While we were in the conference room our friend left his jacket on his chair. He had several 50 Euro bills in his pocket. At the end of the day we had to pay for some things and when he got his money out there was a 50 Euro bill missing. We hadn’t even realized when someone had stolen the money from the jacket. Since we didn’t know who might have done it and when, we decided to just forget about it.
Brazil 2014 – Going to breakfast, I left my wallet on the locker in the room, locked it and left. When we returned the wallet was in the same place. The same day we left the hotel and only when paying for the taxi did I notice that 3 banknotes of 50 euros each were missing. We are sure that they were there before we went to breakfast. However we already left the hotel so there was nothing we can do.
Argentina 2019 – We left our luggage at the reception for storage while we explore the city before the transfer to the airport. Our luggage was allegedly left safely at the reception. When we were picking it up, we just quickly checked that the wallet and money were here and left for the airport. Only when we got back to Bulgaria did we see that 7 banknotes were missing, again each with a large value. But as the above mentioned case, it was too late and there was nothing we could do.
It turned out that a common theft is for the hotel staff to “pinch” just one or two bills from the wallet when you leave it in your room. Unless you count all your bills when you return, you won’t notice the missing ones. And by the time you notice they are missing, it will be too late to do anything. This has always happened to us on the last day at the hotel. The hotel staff cleverly do not take everything because if all your money disappears, you will know immediately and raise a scandal. And so with one or two banknotes, a person always first thinks that he has lost them or put them away somewhere.
In most cases, unless you happen to be robbed, you will not guess that there is such a danger in hotels. After learning about these thefts, you might be thinking, “Oh, I’ll take all the money with me and not leave it unattended.” But then you might become a victim of pickpocketing or street robbery. Let’s be honest, if you carry a large amount of money with you that you have to keep safe at all times, you will not fully enjoy your vacation and you will constantly be on the lookout for robbers.
In addition to hotel thefts, we have also become victims of many pickpockets in public places. Here are some incidents:
Philipines 2017 – We walked around the central part of the capital city Manila. A friend in the group noticed that her backpack had come open while we were walking outside and simply closed it and continued on. When it was our turn to board the intercity bus, she discovered that her entire wallet with the tickets was missing… The amount of money lost was not much, but the hassle of buying new tickets and waiting for the next bus ruined the whole program. (Luckily, her ID was somewhere other than in her wallet.)
See also: When and how to use the security steel cord?
New York 2018 – We were riding on the subway and one of the group was carrying his wallet in his pants pocket. At the last moment, he felt that something was wrong, someone was slowly taking out the wallet from his pocket. Our friend turned around. The pickpocket got scared and ran away as the doors to the station were opened.
Bulgaria 2020 – We were waiting at a traffic light with many people. Shortly after crossing the street, we noticed that a pocket of my backpack was slightly open and the entire wallet with personal documents and money were gone. Apparently, while we were standing still at the traffic light, someone managed to open the backpack and take the wallet. In addition to 130 Euros in bills, personal documents and driver’s license and bank cards were also stolen, we spent the whole afternoon at the police to give explanations and submit documents for new ones. If we combine the fees we had to pay for issuing new documents and bank cards + the stolen money, this theft cost us more than 320 Euros and a lot of lost time.
IV. The problem?
All that worry about not getting robbed, very often takes the joy out of traveling. For example, instead of enjoying the view from the square in front of the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, people put their backpacks on their chests in front and walk around like kangaroos, watching not be robbed. Or they keep their wallet in the deepest pocket of their backpack and if they have to get it out, they dig for 8 minutes.
After the theft of a serious amount of money in Argentina in 2019, which we talked about above, we decided to look for a solution on the market. As always, for every single problem there must be a solution in the market, right? RIGHT? Yes, but no. It turned out that there is no wallet with a code to that you can tie to various places. The closest product on the market were code-only wallets. Besides, they are not secure enough. (The code can be recognized from outside). But even if you have a code-only wallet, what’s the point if someone can grab it and run off with the whole wallet?
VI. THE Solution- BulKey Code Wallet™ – the first Code Wallet on the market with security steel cord and this much functionalities!
And here we are – 3 years later.
Our goal and main motivation is to give all travelers a chance to enjoy the world around them without worrying about their money and belongings.
What we did?
From the ground up, we’ve designed and created a Code Wallet that can also be attached with a protective steel cord, for anywhere. That way, no one can grab it from your backpack or pocket, and you can enjoy your vacation in peace. It can hold up to 40 bills or 10 cards, has a divider with 6 pockets, an ergonomic design and many other features.
We also managed to achieve efficient production with quality materials so that the product has an affordable price and everyone can buy it.
See also: How we developed BulKey Code Wallet?
For these 3 years, after many sleepless nights, we have refined all the details and made a quality product that we can proudly stand behind. During the last two years traveling, we always had several prototypes with us, which we tested in different situations in different places to be absolutely sure of its functionality.
BulKey Code Wallet™ is the first of its kind in the market and we sincerely believe that it will change for the better when traveling in your country and abroad.
And here our story about how it started, ends…
… and your journey begins!
