LevelUp Pilot for Student Dining Launches at Pair of Colleges (April 9, 2013)
Students at two colleges have a new way to pay for campus meals, thanks to a pilot being launched by food service manager Chartwells Higher Education Dining Services and mobile payment and loyalty network LevelUp. The program—undergoing a test run at Buffalo State University in Buffalo, N.Y., and the Curry Student Center retail dining venue at Northeastern University in Boston—enables students to pay for food purchases using LevelUp’s mobile payment app. Students download the app and register a payment card to generate a personal QR code. At checkout, the student pulls up his or her code, which is scanned by the cashier. Upon completion of the transaction, a receipt is sent to the student via email, enabling students and parents to track how much is being spent on meals and where.
That purchase data also is useful to Chartwells, the company said. “What’s great for Chartwells is that LevelUp can provide analytics about meal purchases, site visits and return visits,” noted Patti Girardi, vice president of marketing and creative services for Chartwells. “This information can be used to gauge which promotions or limited-time offers were popular among students and any sales fluctuations at retail locations based on student purchasing behaviors.”
A subsidiary of mobile payment app provider SCVNGR, Boston-based LevelUp recently has been expanding its operations. Last month, the company inked a deal with merchant processor Heartland Payment Systems to roll out a joint mobile payment solution. Last August, LevelUp landed a $9 million investment from Deutsche Telekom to expand its payment network. That infusion followed a $12 million investment the company received in June.
