Your New Mobile Wallet Should Be PAAY

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Do you remember the last time you bought something from a new website? You’re not on Amazon, so the design is gorgeous, the products are awesome and ethical, and you’re super excited to be supporting a new startup.

You add the item(s) to your cart and click check out.

Boom. Great UX over. Because no matter how awesome the site is, they still have to ask you to fill out long forms with your address, credit card number, and a brief life history. The whole time you’re thinking, “Great. On the off-chance the NSA doesn’t already have this information, NOW they will.”

Yeah, Yitz Mendlowitz hates that, too.

When the problem grasped his attention, he was working on another startup, though that idea was winding down. When he would talk to people, his idea for a simplified system that uses your phone number to pay was the one they loved.

“Okay,” he finally thought. “I have something here.”

With the other startup ending, Yitz focused on the payments company. Then he met James Ruffer through an acquaintance. James had plenty of experience in startups and hacking, so Yitz pitched him the idea.

“It sucks,” James said, and proceeded to outline all the other areas the product could serve. With some extra effort, the company could also solve pain points for merchants and even for the credit card processing industry. What could be great for the consumer could also be great for the vendors, and that would be a real idea to pursue.

Naturally the two became cofounders.

The company has been working in stealth for almost a year, funded by two seed rounds that add up to $800k. With a shopping cart plugin, an iPhone app, and an Android app already in beta, they plan to launch in the next few months.

On the consumer side, PAAY is simple enough. You shop online, and when you’re ready to check out, you click the PAAY button. Rather than entering all of your information right then, you enter your phone number and a message is sent to your PAAY app. You approve the purchase in app and move on with your day.

“The only thing faster is Amazon one-click payments,” James told me.

As Internet consumers become more aware of fraud—but no less willing to shop online—the cool thing about PAAY is that your credit card number isn’t stored on the phone OR at the merchant’s website. It stays with the credit card processor, the same people that have it when you swipe at a store anyway.

And how exactly does PAAY help merchants?

For one thing, the plugin is free to them, too. (Credit card processors pick up the tab.) More importantly, because of the way credit cards work, it’s all too easy for customers to order something, but then tell the credit card company they didn’t make the purchase. Because there’s no signed receipt, Visa or Mastercard errs on the side of the customer and removes payment. Then the customer keeps the product but avoids paying for it.

With PAAY’s electronic signature, however, these chargebacks can’t be executed. The consent you give in the app, after giving your phone number, works as a signature. Merchants no longer have to worry about chargebacks, and they will be able to negotiate lower fees with the processing agencies.

Right now PAAY is focusing on the online space, but they hope to conquer the offline shopping experience, too.

Imagine all those times you got to checkout and realized you had left your card at home. When PAAY is in brick-and-mortar stores, all you’ll need is your phone. (And we know you never forget that!)

PAAY isn’t the only mobile wallet out there. Lots of people are trying to change the payments space. Dwolla, Google Wallet, and PayPal are all semi-competitors and have the benefit of pretty big head starts. While there is no product that does exactly what PAAY does, they still have to compete with the public’s general understanding about mobile wallets, payments, and credit cards.

Still, with Yitz’s sales backgrounds and James’s technical expertise—and both of their scrappy New York attitudes—I’m willing to bet we’ll all be clicking PAAY sooner rather than later.

Kentucky Startup Givr Launches Frictionless Giving To Charitable Causes

Givr,Kentucky Startup,Mobile PaymentAs the mobile wallet space and frictionless payments for consumers continues to explode, socially charged entrepreneurs are starting to explore using that technology for good. Specifically, socially conscious startups are starting to embrace technology, and mobile technology to facilitate charitable transactions.

Last week in Memphis Tennessee, Pam & Tom Cooper launched their startup Boosterville, out of the Seed Hatchery accelerator program. Boosterville embraces mobile technology, incorporates loyalty, rewards, mobile payments and fundraising, all in one easy to use app.

Now we drive up the road to Danville Kentucky where Brock Klein along with Brushfire Interactive started Givr.

Givr is a native iPhone payments application dedicated to helping charitable organizations achieve their giving goals.  The Givr app provides users with an elegant, frictionless giving experience that dramatically reduces the time and stress associated with mobile giving.” Phoenix based Brushfire’s Brandon Clarke told us in an interview.

The logic here being that as it gets easier to actually donate money to a cause or charity, more money will be donated. This has been shown time and time again when natural disaster’s have struck and the Red Cross has mobilized donations via text message. With the simplicity of using a mobile phone to quickly donate money, more money comes in.

Check out the rest of our interview with Givr below.

sneakertacoWho are the founders and what are their backgrounds?

Givr was founded out of a passion for technology and philanthropy by Brock Klein. After studying economics and statistical analysis at Centre College in Kentucky, Brock worked in the financial services industry.  His evolving interest in digital development led him to Phoenix, Arizona based BrushfireInteractive, where he worked as project manager.   With the support of Brushfire’s founder, Gabe Cooper, Brock began to refine the scope of Givr and development began in the Fall of 2012.

Where are you based?

Danville, KY (Central Kentucky)

What is the startup culture like where you are based?

Nascent.  Startups have been coming out of Kentucky for a while but the community is just beginning to get connected and evolve.

What problem does your startup solve?

Remove the friction with routine giving.  Don’t have cash on you?  Don’t have a checkbook?  Not in front of your computer?  You can still give to a cause or organization important to you.

 

What is one challenge that you’ve overcome in the startup process?

One of our greatest early challenges was defining the scope of the project, balancing big dreams with a lean launch.

 

What are some of the milestones your startup has achieved?

Our first milestone was closing our seed round of financing, catalyzing our development process.

Our biggest milestone was launching our iOS app in the App Store.

 

What are your next milestones

Our next milestone is 100 nonprofit organizations adopting our platform with at least 1,000 users (Givr’s) using the app for their routine giving with these organizations by the end of the year.

Who are your mentors and role models?

We wouldn’t be where we are today without the mentorship and counsel we’ve had.  One of our early investors, First Southern National Bank, has consistently given invaluable counsel – particularly the chairman and founder, Jess Correll and the Director of Culture and Outreach, Dan Lewis.  Gabe Cooper and LorenKutsko of Brushfire Interactive have also given consistent and indispensable advice and insight into the mobile giving space.  Finally, Brian Crall, an executive coach and successful business leader, consistently points us in the right strategic direction.

What are some of the advantages/disadvantages growing your startup outside of Silicon Valley.

Quiet.  We’ve been able to put our heads down and focus on our product and our mission.  We’ve had all the benefits of top line expertise without any of the noise.

 

What’s next for your startup?

We’re moving into the broader launch of our platform.  “How can we help people express their generosity through mobile?”  Wherever that answer leads is where we will go.

Where can people find out more?

People can see our product at www.givrmobile.com.

Startup America and Startup Weekend have merged, story here.

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Synapse And Start Up Viableware Develop Mobile Payment Platform For Restaurants

As payments go more and more mobile the next industry that should naturally heat up is restaurants and hospitality.

Although it’s not a rampant issue there have been cases where restaurant employees have been able to swipe and clone customers credit cards and then sold the information on line or used it later to commit credit card fraud. Viableware’s new RAIL system will eliminate than once it’s implemented on a larger scale.

More after the break
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