Proximiant, a US start-up that lets customers tap their NFC-enabled phones against readers at the point-of-sale to receive digital receipts and loyalty rewards, has launched.
The San Francisco-based outfit is pitching to retailers its phone-sized transceiver that plugs into their POS system.
Customers who have downloaded the firm's Android or iPhone app can then tap their smartphones against the readers to pick up their receipt and earn loyalty rewards.
With NFC-enabled phones still a rarity, the vendor is offering a small contactless tag that can be carried in a wallet or put on a key chain and paired with the app.
The Proximiant app records all of the customers' purchases at the time of sale, so they can manage their personal spending, collect loyalty points and cash back. The firm's algorithm is used to provide automatic information extraction from receipts so that they can later be searched by store name, dates or product keywords.
Fang Cheng, co-founder, Proximiant, says: "Proximiant is the most efficient and secure way for retailers to extend their existing point of sale to an array of mobile loyalty and marketing programs without any IT overhead or customer signup process. For consumers, it makes shopping much more enjoyable and less of a hassle. The device saves companies an overhead investment and it saves customers from the time-consuming and expensive signup process."
At launch, the firm has signed up a dozen stores in the San Francisco area and expects the number to increase as it rolls out more trials later this month and throughout December.