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"  The tech press has been writing for years now about how we&amp;#039;re all going to start using our phones as wallets, paying for everything with a swipe or tap. LevelUp is a company working in this space, and we caught up with COO and cofounder Michael Hagan at a coffee line at SXSW, where he was urging people to download his app in exchange for free beverages.  The user downloads the LevelUp app (iOS or Android), attaches credit card information to it, and then pays at the register. The cashier uses a slick glowing camera device to read the QR code that pops up on the phone screen. According to Hagan, business is brisk: Since the company went to market two years ago, one million users have used it to pay for something. About 6000 retail outlets have signed up, and the technology is becoming widespread at convention centers, hospitals, and some corporate campuses. (A guy from Dell walked by and confirmed that his corporate headquarters has the system in place.) The business model is pretty painless for retailers: There&amp;#039;s no cost to join the program and the equipment is free. Transactions are also free for the retailer. What they pay for is participation in marketing programs: LevelUp has a loyalty program for consumers, and if that drives business into a retail outlet, the company gets paid.  Like all good entrepreneurs, Hagan referenced a Silicon Valley goliath in explaining the plan: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s like Google was for search,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;They made searching all of the world&amp;#039;s information free&amp;quot; and make their money on the periphery of the primary activity. LevelUp wants to make retail transactions painless for users and stores, and make money off its marketing programs. Obvious question number one: Will NFC put the company out of business? According to Hagan, the QR technology is incidental; it&amp;#039;s the back-end that matters. When everyone has NFC in their phones, the LevelUp scanners will read those rather than QR codes.  Obvious question number two: Say you captured a photo of Hagan with the QR code showing on his phone\u2014won&amp;#039;t everyone in the world be able to buy coffee on his credit card? Nope: A new code is generated for every transaction.  If you do want free coffee at his expense, get to the Austin convention center in the next few days. Oh, as for the technology itself? Yep, we downloaded the app, signed up, got the coffee. And it was, in fact, more convenient than pulling out a credit card. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/apps/reviews/a8756/sxsw-phone-as-wallet-15189666/>