Mobile Payments Startup Loop Goes to School (Oct. 31, 2013)
Mobile POS payment startup LoopPay Inc. is getting out of the gate fast, inking a deal to distribute its dongle-based mobile wallet to college students through marketing and payments provider Campus Nation Network (CNN). The companies have announced they will work together to create Campus Loop, a student-focused digital wallet based on the LoopPay platform, which will enable users to store payment, gift and campus ID cards, as well as manage student dining and loyalty programs—all from a smartphone app. True to its name, Campus Loop will be usable on campus and within the surrounding off-campus area. No special scanners or NFC acceptance technology are required on the part of merchants; instead, the LoopPay platform uses magnetic resonance technology to replicate a card swipe when the smartphone is held over the card swipe slot on a payment terminal. Users load cards into the app by swiping them through a slot built into the dongle, which stores the information for payment.
For LoopPay—which recently demonstrated its platform at the Money 2020 conference in Las Vegas—partnering with CNN gives the fledgling company an immediate presence in a network of more than 1,150 college campuses where CNN has digital marketing signage. Within the next two years, CNN plans to build out its network to reach more than 2,000 campuses and 5 million-plus students.
