Kuapay is a defunct Santa Monica, California -based payment service provider that combined a digital wallet and mobile payments . The company developed one of the first foreign third-party payment apps to go live in China , and was reportedly the official mobile payments provider in Chile .[ 1]
History
The company was founded by Joaquín Ayuso de Pául, who previously created and sold Tuenti , a Spanish social networking site.
Kuapay's seed round collected $900,000, launching in 2011.[ 2] The company received a $4 million investment in 2012 from a single funder.[ 3] [ 4]
By 2013, Kuapay was used by over 600 merchants in the United States .[ 5]
Availability
Kuapay was available both in the U.S. and internationally with significant merchant adoption in Santa Monica, California , New York City , Chile , Spain , Colombia , Panama , and the United Kingdom , with trials including franchises such as KFC , and Telepizza .[ 6] [ 7] [ 8]
Functionality
The Kuapay system allowed consumers to present a one-time QR code to a merchant, authorize a purchase, and receive a receipt. Credit card information was not transmitted in the QR code, increasing safety. The system also included location-based coupons and loyalty marketing .[ 2] [ 6] This one-time mechanism increased security over presenting a credit card number.[ 9]
Offices
The company was based in Santa Monica, California with offices in New York City , Santiago, Chile , and Madrid, Spain .[ 10]
References
^ Fernholz, Tim (2018-05-18). "KuaPay is banking on China to fatten its share of the mobile wallet market" . Quartz . Retrieved 2018-06-08 .
^ a b Ohngren, Kara (2011-12-01). "Will This Payment App Make You Ditch Your Wallet?" . Entrepreneur . Retrieved 17 June 2013 .
^ Simon, Geoff (31 August 2012). "Kuapay Gets $4Mil, Expands Mobile Payments to NYC" . Technorati . Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2013 .
^ Perez, Sarah (27 June 2012). "Mobile Payments Startup Kuapay Grabs $4 Million Investment, Readies Global Expansion" . TechCrunch . Retrieved 17 June 2013 .
^ Jarvey, Natalie (7 June 2013). "Kuapay Updates Mobile Wallet Features" . Los Angeles Business Journal . Retrieved 17 June 2013 .
^ a b Van Grove, Jennifer (15 August 2011). "Kuapay Lets Mobile Users Pay With QR Codes" . Mashable . Retrieved 17 June 2013 .
^ Perez, Sarah (5 June 2013). "Mobile Wallet Kuapay Gets An Upgrade, Reaches 600 Locations Through Trials With KFC & Others" . TechCrunch . Retrieved 17 June 2013 .
^ "Telepizza adopta la tecnología de pagos móviles de Kuapay" . ABC.es (in Spanish). 10 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013 .
^ Wakoba, Sam (6 June 2013). "Mobile Wallet Solution Kuapay Unveils New Interface & Features For User Security" . TechZulu.com . Retrieved 17 June 2013 .
^ "Mobile Payments Startup Kuapay Grabs $4 Million Investment, Readies Global Expansion" . TechCrunch.