NNOVATION ECONOMY
Mobile payment app aims to create loyalty
March 25, 2012|By Scott Kirsner
Seth Priebatsch, 23, has a big vision for his Cambridge company, SCVNGR. He wants to dominate the market for mobile payments, allowing cellphones to be used in place of cash or plastic to buy things.
Already, 250 businesses around Boston allow consumers to use SCVNGR's LevelUp mobile app to pay, and Priebatsch says another 100 will come online soon. The system, deployed in eight other cities, is handling more than $1 million in transactions each month. One analyst believes the only app used by more consumers today for mobile payments is the Starbucks app.
SCVNGR has had several incarnations.
It started in 2008, enabling sites like museums or colleges to create text-based games that could be played on any mobile phone as players navigated a real-world environment.
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