SMB Payment Solution Punchey Launches With $1.7M in Funding
August 17th, 2012
The latest platform in the burgeoning all-in-one payment industry, Punchey Inc, launched yesterday after securing a $1.7 million funding round from Stevens Ventures. Punchey enables businesses and consumers to securely conduct transactions wherever they may be via a mobile device, on the Web or at the store counter.
"We're bringing small businesses on the grid, connecting the local shopping experience to their upstream marketing initiatives," said Nathaniel Stevens, founder of Punchey, in the press release. "We believe it's the first completely end-to-end payments solution for local businesses, enabling them to ‘make sense' of their marketing and promotional investments."
Punchey boasts a number of payment methods and devices. Its flagship service, Punchey Mobile Card Reader, is an all in one terminal designed for businesses of all kinds, authorizes sales, captures signatures and sends digital receipts to customers. It is compatible on any iOS device and connects through Wi-Fi or a 3G/4G connection. The Boston-based company also offers the Punchey Countertop Card Reader, which is compatible with the PCs and Macs that millions of local retailers already have at their place of business. With its software, dubbed by Punchey as smart terminals, it looks to completely turn the industry upside down as its technology is "intended to completely replace the analog dial terminal typically found at brick and mortar stores."
While it's great that Punchey is making it easier for SMBs to get paid, the fact that it can add promotional capabilities to user accounts is the cherry on top. The program allows merchants to automatically heighten user accounts with personalized rewards, as well as special offers and promos, thus providing additional post-sale engagement opportunities.
As noted in the press release, Look for Punchey to roll out additional marketing features by the end of the year.
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