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A Cincinnati-based startup called LISNR is promoting technology that transmits payment data over sound waves. The technology, which the company demonstrated Tuesday at the Money 20/20 financial-technology conference in Las Vegas, is now open for beta and can be used as an alternative to near-field communication, the company said. It also announced what it called the first 1,000-bit-per-second data-over-audio platform solution.
NFC, which is used for contactless point-of-sale transactions for card and mobile-wallet data, relies on short-range radio waves. LISNR’s sound-wave technology can transmit data at various ranges.
LISNR said it has a software-development kit and application programming interface available. A major customer currently is Ticketmaster, which is using the technology to process mobile event tickets.
Also announced at the event was a collaboration that is making available customized smart-terminal apps for specific merchants in a range of vertical markets. AEVI International GmbH, a German developer and unit of Diebold Nixdorf, is working with merchant processor Vantiv Inc. to make the tailored apps available to merchants and independent sales organizations, starting in the first quarter of next year.
“It’s a ready-made solution” that offers only Android-based apps that work for specific merchants, Scott DeAngelo, senior vice president and head of product for Vantiv, told the audience. “We’ll curate an ever-increasing platform of the best software apps to get them into the hands of the merchants who need them the most.”
The apps cover a range of functions, including checkout, payroll, and loyalty management.
Finally, TD Bank announced a new approach to electronic bill payment that tries to meet the needs of U.S. consumers. Half of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. That number climbs to 75% when retirees are excluded, John Thomas, executive vice president of U.S. payments and data strategy, told the audience. “We know our customers are struggling,” he said.
The problem with existing bill-pay services is that they don’t help these customers solve problems that get in the way of paying bills, Thomas said. “The technology works, but the consumer has to bring a bunch of data, keep track of when things are due, and take money out of just one account. We’re just not meeting the need,” he said.
Instead, he said, bill-pay services should be capable of smart functions that remind customers when bills are due and allow them to consolidate funds in their accounts. Banks, in other words, shouldn’t assume customers keep all of their money at the bank they’re using to pay bills, Thomas said.
“Listen to your customers. Let the technology come later,” Thomas advised. For TD, “later” will be early next year, when the bank will launch its new bill-pay service.
