With the digital wallet movement firmly in full swing, Australia’s leading dining rewards app Liven has recently announced its in-store invisible payments integration with ApplePay.
Liven is the first to offer ApplePay in this way and will reward users 10-35% on every transaction. Users can simply tap once in the Liven app at the restaurant and their point of sale system completes the rest of the transaction, without the user needing to bring their phone to the counter (NFC), or scan a QR code, or even be at the terminal, as they can pay from the table. Apple recently featured Liven on the back of these recent developments as its national App of the day.
What does this ApplePay integration mean for Liven?
This gives Australia’s 600,000 Liven users the simple and secure option to skip the more lengthy process of adding their credit card details to the app, and instead manage their payments via ApplePay. It means a seamless, Uber-like experience in retail, but with ApplePay, so not only does it speed up the usual onboarding process, but also adds another layer of security and trust for customers.
Shahrooz Chowdhury, Chief Product Officer at Liven, said he was delighted with the recognition and support from Apple to build momentum for the mass adoption of Liven’s technology, and pleased to be able to offer customers more convenience and flexibility with this latest offering.
“At Liven, we’re constantly looking at new ways to improve customer dining experiences. Dining out is a way of life in Australia, and payments shouldn’t just mark the end of an experience. Rather, they should be the gateway to many more.”
“Offering the convenience of ApplePay together with our unique invisible payment experience, on top of the value of our rewards platform, is a crucial step forward for us in creating something that is not only adoptable but highly scalable; it’s something that we will take globally.”
“It’s a wonderful experience to tap once in Liven and then walk out of the restaurant with your phone in your pocket and know that the bill will be taken care of. It’s just like getting out of an Uber and not worrying about payment.”
What is the motivation behind this integration?
Mr Chowdhury pointed to a recent statement from industry association Restaurants and Catering Australia (RCA) which encouraged people to either pick up their own food or dine in at their favourite restaurants, rather than using a delivery service.
“It’s no secret that takeaway giants are taking huge commissions from local businesses. We hope that our unique integration with ApplePay helps to give the power back to Aussie business owners by getting more diners through the door and offering them ultimate convenience, rewards, and payment flexibility.”
Mr Chowdhury said that over 600,000 people are currently using Liven at over 1,000 venues across Australia.
“As the only Aussie startup to qualify for Richard Branson’s Extreme Tech Challenge in 2019 and then go on to win two categories gave us the conviction that there’s no reason why Australia shouldn’t be leading the world in payments innovation.”
“This marks the beginning of a deep roadmap of disrupting the world of payments, and we’ve got a number of exciting updates to share in the coming 12 months. Users can expect to see more dynamic rewards that energise the marketplace, personalised discoveries tailored to preferences, and more gamified elements, that distance Liven payments from traditional app and card payments. We’re building the future of money where currency has its own memory and intelligence and innovating the in-restaurant dining experience, and it’s only just the beginning,” concluded Mr Chowdhury.
Liven also recently expanded to Brisbane
This ApplePay integration news comes off the back of Liven expanding its services to Brisbane in December 2019. Brisbane locals and tourists travelling in the area are now able to use the dining rewards app at several well-known food merchants and restaurant partners, including Gelato Messina, New Shanghai, Pablo & Rusty’s, Taste Gallery, CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice, and more.
With takeaway giants like UberEats and Deliveroo taking huge commissions from local businesses, Liven is giving the power back to Brisbane business owners by getting more diners through the door and encouraging customer loyalty through its unique rewards program.
Sian Bishop, Brand and Marketing Manager at Gelato Messina says they are excited to be part of the Liven expansion and provide their services to their customers.
“We’re always interested in new concepts and ideas, and Liven is something the food industry had never seen before, so we wanted to get involved and give it a try. It’s easy to use, and customers know they’re getting rewards to spend on what they want. The integration with our POS also makes it very easy for our staff to use,” said Sian.
Having an already strong presence in Sydney and Melbourne, and an impressive 600,000+ user base nationwide, Liven’s co-founder Grace Wong knew there would be an appetite for the product in Brisbane.
“With the increasing number of millennials in Australia championing our app, and the huge amount of takeaway giants taking diners out of restaurants, we’re putting them right back into local businesses by allowing owners to reward their best customers instead of Uber and Deliveroo. So it made sense for us to support the food scene in Queensland instead of take away from it.
“We also know that Australian diners and particularly millennials are wary of loyalty programs that make them jump through hoops just to see any benefit. With Liven, our users don’t have to worry about downloading dozens of individual brand apps and instead use Liven as the one unified universal currency app where every time you pay, you instantly earn 10 to 35 percent into your digital wallet and so they prefer to dine out at their favourite restaurants, as opposed to ordering in.”
“From a restaurant side, owners desperately need to not only find their top users (the 20 percent of power users that brings 80 percent of their sales) but also continually personalise and reward them for their loyalty, but nothing in the market does this except Liven.”
“We have over 600,000 thousand foodies on a first of its kind, unified horizontal loyalty program with frictionless invisible payments like Uber and with AI driven gamification & discovery like Amazon and Foursquare. We’re so excited to help Brisbanites get rewarded instantly for dining out at their favourite local spots,” says Ms. Wong.
