Uptown Dollars Going Digital In Saint John
SAINT JOHN – A Saint John-based tech company wants to help Uptown Saint John turn its gift certificate program digital.
Botrow Technologies is working on a pilot project with Uptown Saint John, the organization representing businesses in the city centre, to turn their Uptown Dollars into a digital currency.
Uptown Dollars were launched in March of last year as a form of gift certificate that can be used in most uptown businesses.
“Have you ever wanted to give a friend or colleague a ‘gift card’ for uptown? Well, now you can … with ‘Uptown Dollars,’ which can be purchased and used like cash at participating uptown businesses,” said Uptown Saint John when they introduced the program.
Uptown Saint John sells the dollars at a discount for special events like Uptown Sparkles. Now Botrow is working to make the currency completely digital, which they say will have benefits for local businesses and customers alike.
At a presentation to uptown businesses last Thursday, Mike Lawson, vice president of business development at Botrow explained how the company’s app TaPay, will allow users to pay at uptown businesses and access exclusive deals and promotions through unique QR codes and their smartphone. This model will also help collect valuable data, reduce administration costs for businesses.
QR code payment isn’t yet common in North America, but it’s extremely popular in Asia, particularly China, where there are currently 700 million users.
“If you think about it, it’s a much easier platform to pay as opposed to pulling your card and typing in your number. It’s just a matter of scanning it,’ said Lawson, in an interview with Huddle after the presentation. “It’s something that’s slow-moving into North America. Right now, you see [QR Codes] on consumer goods, but they mostly bring you to websites, but not for payments. That’s how we see bringing it here. We see the benefits of it and hopefully, the businesses see the benefits of it as well.”
Yet cashless payment, in general, is growing in North America, with Apple Pay and Google Pay growing in popularity for smartphone users. But Lawson says what makes their TaPay system different is that businesses and Uptown Saint John would be able to set up promotion directly through the app.
“It’s really the ability to run promotions for the businesses and then the consumers then gain that ability to get the promotions through one app. Say you went on Facebook and you saw 15 per cent off … you can just bring it in, scan the QR code and automatically get the 15 per cent off,’ said Lawson. “On the business front, it’s a great way for them to collect data on who is actually spending money and target marketing as well for them.”
Uptown Saint John’s executive director Nancy Tissington says the app will also help uptown businesses to do promotions during times when things are slow. She compares it to promotions the organization does through its partnership with HotSpot Parking.
“One thing I can say about this promotion is if it’s going to be a percentage off [or something] that we’re going to host, it’s a really great direct way for people [to access it],” said Tissington. “Especially during time that might be a little less exciting, or maybe more cross-promotion in the city with our retail and restaurants or theatres. Let’s reward people for using all areas of our uptown. I see it as being a very handy tool.”
The TaPay app is still in development. There is no exact timeline set, but the pilot will likely begin next year. When complete, this would also be the app used for the payment system they are working on with Saint John Transit. Both projects are being funded through Economic Development of Greater Saint John’s Innovation Challenge.
“The bus situation came to us and we saw an opportunity there. Then when we decided that we were going to release TaPay, we thought that this is a great way to get into other users,” said Lawson. “We see it as a full city platform. You can go anywhere. You can take the bus and you can pay for it, you can pay at the bars and restaurants. Ideally, that would be awesome, but you have to start somewhere.”