Back in April, I met up with Luxembourg-based startup Flashiz during The NextWeb conference to talk about how they were going to squeeze into the tightly fit online payments space. As one of the first certified electronic money institutes in Europe (admittedly, like 50% of online payments startups), Flashiz’ solution hopes to offer merchants a system to accept payments via smartphone, with a loyalty program built inside.
When I first looked at their service, I admit I thought “oh no, not another QR code payment system.” I had already been underwhelmed by the technology before – and the simple statement of “iPhones do not come pre-packed with QR code readers” seems to stump any QR code-based business ; however, when I sat down to talk to Caroline Deleuze, VP of Marketing and Communication of Flashiz during the event, my worries were soothed.
Flashiz itself isn’t a QR reader, or the display technology to show QR codes for merchants – that is merely an implementation of the technology. They also implement their technology to do NFC-based payment – another technology not available on the iPhone – but it is good to see them hedging their bets by not being technology dependent.
The company is already working with 500+ merchants in Luxembourg, including parking giant Vinci Parking, the Postal Service & more, and is now available all over Europe, including France. There is no doubt that this technology is coming, and merchants who figure out the value of being data-driven, even as a restaurant or bakery, will be phenomenal.