Future of Contactless Mobile Payments is Here Now

How this Charlotte-based Fintech company discovered it developed the most innovative contactless, mobile payments system with security “baked in”

The future of contactless mobile payments is here…now…today. And it’s cooler than you can imagine.

The pandemic has driven merchants large and small into focusing on contactless, mobile payments, moving us forward in tech innovation to match that of what has been happening in Asia for years already. Truth is, we’re about 10 years behind Asia’s technology and, although, we’re starting to catch up, we still have a long way to go beyond tapping and scanning.

However, one fintech startup is changing that with the most innovative contactless & mobile payments platform they practically stumbled upon.

When the Charlotte Table Tennis Club in Charlotte, NC needed to figure out how to stay open, and in business, it turned to local fintech startup XcooBee to help.

XcooBee, a payments and privacy platform, offered more than a fully contactless and secure payments solution to the Charlotte Table Tennis Club, it helped to streamline their member processes and allowed them to come and go from the Club safely by:

• Automating membership payments
• Processing contactless visitor payments
• Controlling entry/exit of the facility
• Contactless signing of waivers
• All without new hardware and activated within a few hours, not days

While this seems simple enough, the solution has had a big impact on The Club’s business, allowing for facilities to remain open and members, and visitors, to continue come and play. For other small businesses, a platform like XcooBee can be a lifeline to maintain their business and the safety of customers while protecting sensitive and private information.

“XcooBee has helped the Charlotte Table Tennis Club reopen safely by providing a no-contact payment service for visitors and subscribed members,” said Bill Englebreth, Charlotte Table Tennis Club treasurer. “All players have to do is scan the QR code from the laminated sheet in the gym and their device is redirected to a registration portal. It really simplifies collections and record-keeping.”

The ability to quickly implement complete solutions for merchants at a low cost has implications for banks looking for new innovative Merchants Services solutions. The offer to merchant customers is huge, and even more so for merchants looking for affordable, contactless mobile payments that limit consumer/employee engagement altogether.

Reimaging the QR Code — More than a Marketing Tool, a Real Commerce Tool

After spending time in Asia, XcooBee CEO Bilal Soylu realized how far ahead in technology they are compared to America. They bypassed credit cards altogether and went straight to cashless. “They just want to see your QR code,” said Soylu.

The QR code in the U.S. was only used and pigeon-holed as a marketing tool and an easy way to get a consumer to a website or engage in a form of “experiential marketing”. The result was the number of media outlets deeming them “worthless” and calling them passing trends. Within this use, the critics were correct. QR codes died out, but then Covid-19 helped them make a comeback.

By re-purposing the QR code concept into a multi-use solution, XcooBee has made it far easier for consumers to use the platform and for merchants to receive payments. The XcooBee team has built a complete shopping experience platform. Brands can engage with consumers through the platform while they shop. Then, allow consumers to “checkout-anywhere-instore” yet offer higher security using AI at checkpoints, and even let consumers control the flow of their data and how much is released and handled by companies.

The XcooBee smart-QR code is made for long-use cycles. This allows operations on permanent fixtures like stadium chairs and gives business flexibility where and how they are used. Behavior and information can be changed on the platform without changing the smart-QR code, reducing reprints of the QR code, increasing transparency in payment transactions and providing more accurate insights.

For merchants, XcooBee’s platform provides beneficial tools and information for businesses large and small, while saving them money:

• Protecting employees and shoppers by promoting social distancing
• Offering better store security using AI at checkout points to validate purchases faster and with more accuracy
• Driving more revenue through the capture of more impulse purchases
• Customizing for a 100% branded experience powered by XcooBee — from start to finish
• Processing more transactions faster and safely
• Lowering average transaction costs for merchant
• Reduce costs by reducing hardware, use and maintenance of traditional self-checkout stations
• Reduce the number of returns by allowing 3rd party and remote shopping
• Make store operations more efficient
• Easily integrate into retailer’s POS system
• Ability for customers to retrieve any receipt for any purchase
• Easy and transparent connection to marketing programs for future business

While during Covid-19 customers are understandably reluctant to be near other people, Soylu points out that the behavior of customers is mostly going to remain post Covid as well. In person customer-employee interactions will remain unwanted, but digital interactions will increase. Both of these objectives can be achieved with the XcooBee platform:

• No app to download or account to setup, unlike Venmo, PayPal and others
• Multiple ways of payment from standard credit cards to Apple Pay and Google Pay and many other methods already included.
• Customer shop faster. No waiting in line to checkout. Your “checkout” is anywhere you are in the store.
• Employee count can be reduced and repurposed. Reducing personal in store allows for safer social distancing for everyone.
• No touching of shared equipment or checkout kiosks.

Payments & Privacy “Baked In” and Built for the Future

XcooBee began as a data privacy company. After building a solution for a customer they were asked if the platform could also take payments, knowing that the private information of consumers would be secure. XcooBee realized then the versatility of what they had built, and its capabilities went far beyond just privacy and secure data exchanged. Payments were added and other contactless business processes quickly followed. From vouchers to event ticketing, and contract acceptance, the platform has developed into a contactless powerhouse.

In the case of the Charlotte Table Tennis Club, members can check anonymized information on the club home page to see whether capacity has been reached. They can scan in when they reach the facility and either enter or join a wait list. Waiting members are informed when someone leaves the facility, and they can enter. All this is implemented with simple to use QR codes placed on the entry doors to the facility. Members are in charge of their information and can remove it at any time.

Englebreth believes that the role the XcooBee platform has played in helping the Charlotte Table Tennis Club maintain operations is a crucial one in many ways. “XcooBee, has kept the club functioning during this pandemic and positions us well to move forward this year.”

“XcooBee was built as a people-first platform that is transparent and gives consumers the rare opportunity to control their own data. We never sell it.” Bilal Soylu, XcooBee

Security is “Baked In”

With consumers becoming more aware and concerned about the use of their personal information on platforms like Facebook and Amazon, XcooBee puts the power back in their hands to control the use of their information and addresses the “dark side” of data privacy.

Operational privacy is difficult to achieve, said Soylu. XcooBee has an automatic time to live for any data we ingest, and we have a schedule to delete everything. XcooBee also follows guidance of its customers. Customers can completely control access to how much data if any XcooBee can read.

We allow companies to set their own encryption keys and controls and allow them to use XcooBee as a “blind” workflow and processing engine, added Soylu. XcooBee’s software defined workflows allow multiple parties to come together to process data without disclosing any of it to XcooBee. We call this mechanism Smart Privacy Pipelines.

When it comes to consumers, XcooBee follows the least friction principle. Most people interacting with the platform will not need to create an account or download anything. The QR code is the only thing needed to get started, said Soylu. This simplifies things quite a bit since all modern phones already have the ability to scan QRs.

The XcooBee platform has been built to require the least amount of information to complete the transaction. Yet, it still allows consumers to check on the status of their order at any time, receive feedback on packaging, and even remote payments without a signup or account. We created an incredible technology stack to be able to work with transactions effectively without signups. We did this when everyone thought it could not be done, added Soylu. Consumers can, of course, provide more information and have XcooBee actively manage data with their guidance. This all comes from our privacy heritage, explained Soylu.

Because of its high level of privacy, the XcooBee platform is seeing more growth and use in markets like Europe where proper privacy behavior is a larger factor. In fact, last year the company won the Worldline ePayments Challenge and is now working with Accor Hotels to activate the platform within their hotels.

What’s more, an overlooked safety component is simply the fact that you don’t need a wallet anymore and the safety knowing that your debit and credit cards and cash can’t be stolen.

What this Means for Enterprise Merchants

While the XcooBee platform presents a unique and affordable opportunity to smaller merchants, it also provides high level payment processing with security and transparent information sharing that goes far beyond the purchase and well beyond any system available.

By design, XcooBee is a global network with automatic data integrations — i.e., currency and language — and understands what corporations need to manage their company locations around the world. It is, also, “payment processor agnostic”, which is very rare in the payment’s world.

Due to their sheer size, these corporations require more security, KPIs, ROI, privacy and in-depth store analytics — i.e., store and employee performance — and more to make good decisions around purchasing and operations. XcooBee does this and much, much more.

While the XcooBee platform is complex, it is with good reason and purpose. The system itself provides so much more information to merchants and business owners then just the sale.

All of this while protecting a large merchant’s key stakeholders — its employees. Now employees in checkout can be redirected to other important jobs that keep the store running and consumers happy, like maintaining on shelf inventory or becoming products experts that help consumers via digital channels.

What this Means for the Future of Payments…Anywhere

“Everyone who runs a business can benefit from our platform,” said Soylu. “While simple, it can be very easily customized to meet the needs of a business from the everyday to a complex understanding and higher-level view of a business.”

Imagine buying event or concert tickets quicker and easier, reducing the time spent in a waiting room or even signing contracts (i.e., your activity waiver) all without face-to-face interactions. The key behind XcooBee’s success is that they understand contactless processes and their potential uses.

Soylu says today that the primary industry focus of the company is retail, hospitality and merchant services. The goal is to allow businesses to combine comprehensive contactless processes with communication and data-insights to build better customer experiences. Both small and larger corporations can benefit substantially from XcooBee’s platform.

To date, no other payments company has built, or is offering, such a unique, flexible, affordable, quick-activation contactless, mobile payments system.

When asked how XcooBee will transform the landscape of payments in every use, Soylu said, “This past year, companies have been forced to embrace new ways of working, managing, thinking about culture, technology…a whole new normal. Most of these changes will stay with us and lead to new innovations. Contactless mobile payments are one of those elements that are here to stay. However, there is a better way and XcooBee is that better way.”

He adds that many businesses are going to be impacted long term by Covid-19 and will be embracing innovative technology like the XcooBee payments platform to ensure that business grows today and is ready for the future.

The one thing that Soylu is watching carefully is the current privacy issues surrounding large corporations. “As consumers become more engaged in the use of their personal information, we believe companies will turn to the XcooBee platform to give consumers the security they want while giving organizations a methodology to be able to tell a story through marketing.”