Location-based social game SCVNGR has updated its mobile payments platform based on QR codes, dubbed ‘LevelUp’. The company provides retailers and other merchants with dedicated Android smartphones that can be used to read personalised codes given to customers. The codes, in turn, are linked to credit or debit cards via a triple-blind token system, ensuring security in transfers.
At the system’s heart is SCVNGR’s focus on game mechanics, with the firm offering consumers the opportunity to boost their offers and deals based on where, when and how often they shop. The name ‘LevelUp’ refers to the practice of increasing characters’ powers and abilities in role-playing games, with SCVNGR attempting to transfer this model to the real world.
According to figures released by the company after initial trials, users currently spend an average of 5.7 times the free credit that is given to them, with approximately 45% returning to a given merchant to pay full price at a later stage. “With LevelUp being transactional, we wanted to make it as fundamentally simple as humanly possible,” says Seth Priebatsch. “Frankly you should never have to do anything other than just pay with it and good things should happen to you and that should make you want to keep using it.”
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