Happy Holiday with easier shopping

Shopping is a prerequisite for the vast majority of travelers, but using all those credit cards and foreign currencies can be a pain, especially when carrying all your holiday shopping bags.

Card Case, the new app from Square won’t even require you to whip out that flashy smartphone next time you take a city break or romantic getaway.

“You walk in, say your name, and walk out. It’s a seamless payment experience,” explains director of products, Megan Quinn.

When a customer enters a 100 meter range of a registered shop, restaurant or café, they can simply state their name to a sales person to complete the transaction.

The system works by allowing the vendor to match the photo of the customer they see on their screen to the person in front of them, before seamlessly allowing charges to be made to their cash cards.

Though this revolutionary app aims to modernise the way we shop, it is hoped that the experience will redevelop communication between vendors and their loyal customers.

“We’ve removed the mechanics of the transaction and brought it back to the relationship and conversation between the merchant and their customer,” said Quinn.

Over 20,000 businesses have joined the program so far in the US only eight weeks into the launch.

But it’s not all plain sailing for Card Case. Stiff competition from the PayPal app, which allows financial exchange by tapping two phones together and the ‘tap, pay and save’ service with Google Wallet App for the Nexus S smartphone.

Currently available exclusively in the US, Square hopes to launch the service internationally next year. Next time you use the trusty CheapOair Travel App, why not download Card Case?

Source: Reuters

Photo: epicharmus