QR-code: LevelUp to Make Card Payments with a Mobile Phone
- The US-based start-up LevelUp enables its customers to link their payment card to a customised QR-code to be displayed and scanned to make transactions. This app (available in iOS and Android) could be used on the go and in face-to-face payment contexts; it must have been installed by the merchant and his customer. Purchasers can use it for free but merchants are charged a 2% flat fee per transaction. For now, it is available in ten US towns (Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Saint-Louis).
- Customers have to fill in an online form and provide their card information. Their access to the app can be secured with a configurable password.
- This solution includes analysis and monitoring tools for merchants and loyalty features for customers: list of near-by accepting shops, discovery offers (preloaded credits offered by merchants), special offers for regular customers. Once the transaction a receipt stating the amount of the acquired credit is sent to the customer.
Source: L'Atelier
- LevelUp was launched in March 2011. Unlike Groupon or LivingSocial, it chiefly focuses on loyalty aspects rather than on the daily “deals” market. Still under development, the start-up wishes to improve transit in local stores. It is supported by five investment funds, including Google Ventures.
- The originality of this solution mainly relies in this possibility to create a link between a payment card and a QR-code. The mobile phone becomes an extension of this card –a new way to use it– and not a new means of payment. The start-up also insists on the notion of security: customers do not part from their cards, hence they cannot be copied.