ETA Preview: Stop Fighting the Bar Crowd

In Bank Innovation’s vision of payments, social interaction and mobile technology are on a collision course, and for once, the crash should be a good thing. Why? With the two facets of innovation eventually intersecting more, greater payment efficiency should follow. Actually, it is already happening — only on a smaller and fragmented scale.

Last week, I had a call with ProPay, a company that highlighted Zumogo, one of its newer applications for the iPhone, Windows 7 and Android, which strives to define social m-payments through hand-held devices. Here’s how Zumogo works. Imagine you’re in a crowded bar, standing in the back corner, in need of a drink. Rather than fight the hordes of people or flag down your server, you bust out your smartphone, place a drink order and make payment. You can even “chat” with the merchant if need be. That, my dear Bank Innovation friends, is efficiency and innovation within payments. The social part of the payment process comes from the app letting customers engage with merchants by not only viewing their information, but also interacting through chat, and other technologies, to make reservations, order, inquire as to a product’s availability, check wait times and ask questions.

“We see the social aspect being a critical aspect of mobile technology,” Chris Mark, executive vice president of data security and compliance for ProPay, told Bank Innovation.

So do we.

Though Zumogo will face the challenge of getting both merchants and consumers onboard — as do most payment players —I’m intrigued by its concept. The merchant scenes in Manhattan, where I live, can be brutal. But this week, I’ll see how the application plays out in reality, as I will be demoing the technology at the Electronic Transaction Association’s conference. Though that review is to come, what struck me in the briefing call is that the need for the payment app is acute. Who knows when NFC will finally take off, yet this app exists today. Banks should take note of emerging technologies like this one. Though ING Direct showed its innovative flair this week by offering certain customers bumping smartphone payments technology, the majority of banks are behind the cashless payments time.