Mobile payment solutions company Flint is to tackle established names in the market with its new app. It replaces the traditional magnetic card reader for an alternative camera-based image-recognition system.
Flint aims to compete with big mobile payment market players such as Square and PayPal with a credit card payment product that does not rely on a card reader. The app instead uses image recognition algorithms which read numbers off of a card face to process transactions. However, Flint CEO Greg Goldfarb stresses: “It doesn’t take a picture of the card. It just reads the numbers and we do that to protect consumer privacy.” Additional features include the option to link the app to the user’s business’ Facebook page. Customers can then share testimonials directly to the business’ page. Flint also maintains a web portal to include an analytics and expansion scope for users. Although the recognition feature works quickly, how the app fares against competition remains to be seen.
“We’ve had people going from downloading the app from the App Store to processing their first transaction, literally, in two or five minutes,” Goldfarb said.
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