Breaking (ish) news: LevelUp is launching a mobile payments web app that allows anyone on a web-connected device to pay with their phone — using any credit card or any web-connected device with a simple QR code. Merchants must downoad a reader or the Merchant app, which then provides analytics such as insight into the behavior of customers and savings on interchange fees. This service is currently in San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and has access to over 2 million customers through the reach of a previous product.
In other parts of the world, mainly 3rd world countries, true mobile payments are abundant and often the preferred method of payment. And we're talking true mobile payments - as in standing at the grocery store check out line, receiving a code from your bank to give to the checkout attendant, and having the funds automatically transferred from your bank account to the merchant.
So, of interest to me in this article is the fact that this company already has a 2 million user customer reach, and is growing. The current service works with credit card or reward points, but the logical next step might be incorporate functionality for actual funds from a bank account, and the step after that would be to have a standardized system across borders. Another step towards making the world a smaller place ...
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