Dwolla, a low-cost mobile-payments provider, has launched of what it is calling the first location-based payment technology, which will enable users to check in at various retailers and use their mobile phones to pay for purchases, the company. announced March 2.
The payments start-up, financed by credit unions, says its Dwolla Spots enables users to walk into a store, pull up a map on an Apple Inc. iPhone, click on a participating store’s icon and make a payment for a purchase using the phone. The purchase is posted immediately on a computer located in the store. No cash, check or card swipe is needed, eliminating the merchant’s cost for hardware, card readers or expensive credit card networks.
The payments will cost consumers 25 cents per transaction.
Dwolla Spots is exclusive to the Apple iPhone operating system and will be released later this month in the Apple App Store. Updates to Google Inc. Android and Microsoft Windows 7 versions will debut later this spring.
Dwolla is partially financed by The Members Group, an affiliate of the Iowa Credit Union League, and Veridian Credit Union.
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