BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - September 09, 2014) - Earlier today during Apple's product presentation, Apple made two exciting announcements pertaining to the payment space: 1) that the company's mobile wallet, Passbook will support mobile payments and 2) that the iPhone 6 will contain an NFC chip.
LevelUp, the mobile-first payment network with over 1.5MM customers and 14K businesses is today unveiling three exciting new features to help merchants be ready for, and benefit from, the increased customer demand for mobile payments.
"We are thrilled that Apple has thrown its weight behind mobile payments. Millions of customers and businesses will soon be introduced to mobile payments for the first time, setting the scene for a major behavioral shift," said Seth Priebatsch, Chief Ninja of LevelUp.
LevelUp's 14,000 businesses are already well equipped to ride the rising tide of mobile payments and with Apple's announcement today, will be able to take advantage of four newly unveiled features to make the most of their iPhone 6 wielding customers.
1: Integration into Passbook: All businesses on the LevelUp platform will now be able to have customers store their "pass" in Apple Passbook to enable super fast payment at the POS and easy/seamless accrual and redemption of any loyalty rewards. This gives LevelUp merchants a branded card ("pass") that'll sit right next to American Express, Mastercard and Visa, but of course with cheaper interchange, more data and embedded loyalty rewards. With iBeacon, the mechant's "pass" can even be the first triggered to open, ahead of the other card brands. Merchants running LevelUp's SDK within their own applications will see Passbook support rolling out to the SDK in a couple of weeks. An integration into Google Wallet is also planned, giving Android users equivalently fast access to their LevelUp rewards programs.
2: Support for NFC/BLE in LevelUp's New Scanners: LevelUp's next-generation scanners will be shipping in late Q4 or early Q1 with NFC and BLE support to enable iPhone 6 customers (and Android users) to tap and pay at any LevelUp business. LevelUp already offers businesses the ability to send targeted local notifications to nearby customers via iBeacon and this functionality will now enable iBeacon to bring the user right to the businesses' pass within Passbook.
3: Enhanced Smartwatch Support: LevelUp already has "watch apps" that allow users to pay with a flick of their wrist for both the Pebble and Android Wear platforms. With the announcement of Apple Watch, LevelUp's commitment to smartwatch payments grows even further enabling LevelUp's merchants to extend their support from the mobile phone to the smartwatch.
"Today's long-expected announcement will not just change consumer behavior around mobile payments, but also set a new tone for businesses. In a single day, mobile payments makes the jump from a nice-to-have to a must-have," said Seth Priebatsch, Chief Ninja of LevelUp.
"LevelUp is here to be the platform to help businesses make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime shift in payments. As the mobile-first payment network, we're here to ensure that businesses can integrate seamlessly with Apple Passbook, Google Wallet via NFC, BLE or any other technologies that arise, while achieving the true benefits of mobile payments; lower interchange, robust data collection and the ability to run data-driven marketing campaigns."
About LevelUp
LevelUp is the mobile-first payment network. Customers pay with LevelUp at businesses by scanning (or tapping) at the business' POS. Customers can also securely pay with their LevelUp account online with a secure second-factor confirmation from their phone. Businesses accept LevelUp transactions and pay just 1.95% flat, thus enabling dramatic cost savings they can pass along to customers in the form of loyalty and other rewards. Learn more at thelevelup.com.
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