August 21, 2013 at 10:06Here is your pizza. Pay by card or cash?
The process of payment by card on the spot
We have a piece of iron that connects to the phone and allows you to pay by card on the spot . Now the client simply swipes a card over it, the application does the processing, and the phone is needed as a communication platform.
This is the dream of many online stores - that payment by plastic was done immediately upon delivery. It’s still mega-convenient to work both in terms of finding change, and in accounting, and in controlling funds from couriers.
So, the old problem was that the POS terminal is a heavy expensive and difficult to design thing that you just can’t take with you.
We have developed our own solution, which consists of three parts:
- Mobile phone;
- The application installed there;
- And a small connected piece of iron-terminal stuck into the audio jack.
All.
The benefits are that our model is very affordable (you can give it to hundreds of couriers without hesitation, which cannot be done with ordinary POS-terminals), and convenient (the terminal fits in your pocket).
The idea is not ours, the first such things were made in America by Square. PayPal Here pulled right behind it, and the market literally exploded. Of course, the market is very “hot”, because banks are well aware of how important it is to enable people to pay on the spot with a card.
How does it all work?
First you need an iOS or Android phone on board. The application is installed on it. A card reader the size of a box of matches is inserted into the audio jack, which gives the phone data about the client’s card. These data are transferred by the application to the processing center, and then, after the transaction is completed, they are erased from the phone’s memory.
The most interesting point with the signature: without it, a transaction, like with rolling through a regular POS terminal, is considered invalid. After, for example, the courier bills you, you see it on the screen. Then, right on the screen, you simply sign - and that's it, the payment is made.
For data processing, we use Amazon-based cloud solutions. The software is fully self-written Java, php, C ++, C #. From the point of view of the bank, the process of payment through LifePay looks the same as the process of payment through a regular POS terminal, which greatly simplifies integration with banking systems.
People from Wellpay, VimpelCom, ChronoPay and Rambler participated in the development (and are participating), therefore there is experience in the correct mobile development, and a good level of security.
Where can i use it?
Given that we do not have a hard-wired piece of iron, but a mobile application, a lot of opportunities for additional use in business are opened. For example, for courier services there is a tracking of couriers (to know the place of payment), plus an analysis of the duration of trips.
For taxi services, we plan to automatically calculate the fare so that you can easily and simply calculate how much the trip cost. For insurance companies, an eternal jamb is errors in filling, here the application insures simply perfectly. The second problem of insurance turned out to be even more interesting from the point of view of the project: the fact is that they usually receive money from agents in a month (they need to bring cash to the office, and then make payment to the counterparty), and when paying directly by card, this process can be significantly accelerated .
There are plans and features of shares like this: "Every fifth car wash paid with LifePay is free." The business owner simply sets the rules in human form, and the application executes them.
Judging by the western market, it is also very convenient for freelancers.
This is how the business owner sees it. Yes, there is a bit of analytics here.
I want to try - what to do?
Card reader and mobile application we provide absolutely free. The project was launched in March this year, before development and testing was underway. Now many cafes, several taxi services, courier services, car services and many online stores use our services. There is no integration with CRM / ERP systems yet, but for large clients we make connector gateways, plus there is bulk upload that allows you to take raw data into our analytics systems.
Connection takes 1 day: an agreement is signed, an account is created and the required number of reader terminals comes to you. By the standards of the Russian banking system, it is just instantaneous. We have a number 8 800 555 2362 (calls to which are free), by which you can find out any questions about connecting. Website - life-pay.ru.
UPD, this is how the reader itself looks:
Here it is in our client’s hands:
Answers to the most important questions from comments in one line: PCI DSS certified terminal, Cardholder Present transactions, 2.7% commission, registration in tax is not required, all cards are accepted except MOMENTUM (unnamed "revolving", without the name of the owner on the card). In September there will be a seal to meet the requirements of the new law. The terminal encrypts the data and sends it to the phone already closed, that is, the application simply transfers this “black box” with the card data.
