People have grown suspicious about the viability of NFC payments, but what if they also plugged into promotions?
Estonia based start-up Svipe will be bringing its card free payment solutions to retail shops around the world with financial backing from the LHV Banking association and mobile payment expert NOW! Innovations.
Svipe’s trump card is not only providing a handy application to promote retailers, but creating an equally impressive piece of hardware that increases positive customer experience.
Their new technological gadget, the Svipe Box, is designed to integrate with cash register systems running on ERPLY software in order to create a link between the merchant and its customer. The box makes a wireless connection between the customers smart phone, or “mobile wallet”, and the cash register system with the help of NFC technology.
The NFC (short for Near Field Communication) stickers are smart cards that make two way communication between electronic devices possible without any actual physical contact. In practice, this feature is mostly used in mobile payment solutions, which is where NOW! Innovations and Svipe step in.
The free Svipe application gives its users access to a broad variety of retailer loyalty cards. These cards contain promotions,discounts and special offers which can be used when visiting any of their shops listed in the application. So basically, if you were to try out this seemingly complicated collaboration of different software and hardware systems, all you would need is a smart phone and a NFC sticker card.
First, you need to choose a city in the app map where you wish to shop. This will list all the retailers in the area who have loyalty cards registered in the Svipe database. Search and browse for interesting offers you might like, and once you’re done, head on over to the shop in question to pick up the merchandise.
Once you arrive at the cashier, and this is assuming the cash register runs on ERPLY software and has the necessary Svipe hardware installed, you simply swipe your NFC sticker over the funny looking box on the counter and ta-da! The promotion or discount is automatically applied and the payment is completed through your smartphone. Your first Svipe sponsored purchase is completed without you needing to touch anything else except maybe the stuff you just bought.
No wonder all of this has more than intrigued the people at NOW! Innovations. After all, they are well known mobile service geeks themselves. Their money will be accompanied by their knowledge and experience in getting knee deep in wireless mobile technology.
“A mobile wallet is more than just a mobile payment,” said CEO at Now! Innovations Üllar Jaaksoo. “We’re happy to help the Svipe team create their solutions and achieve their goals. We’re contributing with our investment as well as our knowhow to the area of mobile payments.”
The money making aspect of Svipe becomes clearer with the notification buzz users will occasionally get on their phones. Targeted offers and promotions will be shown near and in the shops listed in the app, bringing extra sales to the retailers in question.
The young company is still in the beginning of its journey, but with experienced companies and even a major bank among its supporters, we can only expect to see more of their creations in the future.
So if you see a white box in the shape of a fat lightning, I strongly suggest you at least svipe it out.
