accept crypto payments for events and venues

Cash to Cards to Contactless: A Historic Tale of Event Payments

In the world of conferences, conventions, and business events, the way attendees register and make payments has significantly evolved over the years. From traditional cash transactions at the event venue to today’s seamless online payments, the evolution of payment methods has enhanced convenience, security, and overall attendee experience. Let’s explore the four key stages of this evolution.

Cash Payments at the Venue:
In the early days of events, attendees would register on-site, often waiting in long queues, and pay for their registrations with cash. This method was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors and security issues. Event organizers had to deal with the challenges of handling large amounts of cash, and attendees had to carry significant amounts of money with them.

Credit Card Payments and Online Registrations:
The introduction of credit card payments brought a significant shift in the event registration process. Attendees could now pre-register for events online, providing their credit card information for a secure payment process. This method reduced on-site registration queues and allowed organizers to plan better for the event. Online registration platforms emerged, enabling attendees to sign up from the comfort of their homes or offices, streamlining the entire process.

Mobile Payment Solutions:
As smartphones became ubiquitous, event organizers started exploring mobile payment solutions. These solutions enabled attendees to make payments through their mobile devices, either via credit cards or mobile wallets. Attendees no longer needed to carry physical cards or cash, and transactions became faster and more convenient. Mobile payment technologies also enhanced security by incorporating encryption and authentication measures.

Contactless Payments and Digital Tickets:
In recent years, the rise of contactless payment technologies has revolutionized event registrations. Attendees can now use their smartphones or contactless cards to make payments by simply tapping or scanning at the point of entry. This method not only ensures a swift and hygienic transaction process but also reduces the need for physical tickets. Digital ticketing systems have become more prevalent, allowing attendees to access event details, schedules, and updates through their smartphones. New advances in the field of cyber security has enabled the creation of what are called Smart Tickets, a new form of access control that combines digital ticketing with payment processing. These tickets are based on a blockchain technology called NFT that enable secure identification, decrease fraud and help fight scalping.

The evolution of payments for registrations at events, from cash transactions to contactless payments, has transformed the attendee experience significantly. As technology continues to advance, we can expect further innovations in the event registration process, such as biometric payments and blockchain-based ticketing. By embracing these advancements, event organizers can continue to enhance convenience, security, and efficiency, ultimately creating more rewarding experiences for attendees at conferences, conventions, and business events.

Oveit, as an end-to-end event registration solution, offers a comprehensive set of features that revolutionize the way events accept payments, manage visitor data, print networking badges, and optimize customer outreach policies. Let’s explore how Oveit facilitates each of these aspects:

Instant Payment Processing:
With Oveit, events can accept payments instantly through various channels, including online payment gateways, bank transfer, mobile wallets, and contactless payments. Attendees can register and make payments in real-time, eliminating the need for on-site cash transactions or manual credit card processing. This streamlined payment process reduces queues and enhances the overall attendee experience, making it convenient and efficient for both event organizers and visitors.

Real-Time Visitor Data:
Oveit provides event organizers with real-time access to visitor data. As attendees register and make payments, their information is immediately available on the platform. This data includes attendee demographics, ticket type, preferences, and more. Having real-time access to such insights enables event organizers to make informed decisions on the spot, adjust marketing strategies, and understand attendee preferences, which can contribute to better event planning and success.

On-Arrival Networking Badge Printing:
Oveit simplifies the check-in process by offering on-arrival networking badge printing. Attendees can receive personalized badges with their names and relevant information as soon as they arrive at the event venue. This not only saves time but also fosters a sense of professionalism and personalized engagement, helping attendees connect more easily during networking sessions. Organizers can customize badge templates and even incorporate QR codes for additional functionalities, such as lead retrieval and session tracking.

Optimized Customer Outreach Policy:
By utilizing real-time visitor data and analytics provided by Oveit, event organizers can optimize their customer outreach policies. They can tailor marketing campaigns based on attendee preferences, behavior, and feedback. Oveit’s data insights help identify target audiences, understand their interests, and tailor communication to engage attendees effectively. This targeted approach can lead to higher attendee satisfaction, increased event loyalty, and a more successful event overall.

Oveit’s end-to-end event registration solution empowers events to streamline payment processing, access real-time visitor data, facilitate on-arrival badge printing, and optimize customer outreach policies. By embracing Oveit’s innovative features, event organizers can enhance the overall event experience, build stronger connections with attendees, and ensure the success of their conferences, conventions, and business events. With a focus on efficiency, personalization, and data-driven decision-making, Oveit enables events to evolve and adapt to the changing landscape of event management in the digital age.

July 16, 2020 Economy as a Service, General, Technology, Uncategorized No comments yet

How to reach your financial goals through Gamification

We live in a world where 39% of adults would find it difficult to spend $400 for an unforeseen expense, without borrowing or selling something they own. For most of us, personal finance is boring. The idea of forcing yourself to limit your spending habits is certainly not a simple task. However, saving and spending money can turn into a game, a game where you can make your own rules or follow the rules of others.

As a result, fintech innovators came up with a novel approach, that of gamifying spending and savings. They’re using game design techniques to engage people in a non-gaming context. It is a fun and competitive way to challenge yourself and transform savings into a daily routine. 

What is Gamification?

It is a way of adding game mechanics into nongame contexts (scoring and winning while competing with others). It is frequently used by businesses in marketing campaigns and loyalty programs, to increase customer engagement and awareness. Gamified products and services stimulate users to reach a financial goal through competition, points, achievements, rules of play, and other methods.

3 Mobile Apps that can help you Gamify your finances

1.       Venmo

Simply put, Venmo is a money transfer service. Back in 2013, the company was purchased by PayPal and as we speak, it’s still under their control. It is a mobile-oriented App, without a web feature available. As transactions occur, users can decide to share purchasing habits on a social news feed with other Venmo clients. Many consider it entertaining since users can leave comments and reactions on those transactions that are made public.

This works by linking your bank account (debit or credit card) to the Venmo App. It is very common among millennials and younger tech-savvy users. It got so popular for its innovative way of embracing a new kind of money system. Users can pay family and friends by using a phone number or email address. Transactions are categorized based on spending habits and users can access detailed reports to monitor their financial behavior.

2.       Givling

This one is focused on students that need financial support to repay their student loans in a fun and competitive manner. Registered students compete by playing a weekly trivia game on their phones. It was founded by a Stanford University graduate.

Members are randomly assigned to a team of three. To earn points, a team needs to correctly answer several yes-or-no trivia questions to rank higher. At the end of a week, the highest-scoring team gets to split the cash prize three ways. This is available for anyone and a student loan is not required to participate.

For students that need financial support to repay their loans, they need to enroll in a so-called ‘Givling Queue’. To get in the funding queue, students need to collect as many points as they can. Points can be earned by either playing trivia for free, by watching sponsor ads, by purchasing Givling merchandise, by inviting friends to participate, and by following Givling on social media. The maximum amount allocated for a student loan is $50,000.

3.       Long Game savings

By downloading the Long Game Savings app, users can create an FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) savings and spending account. Its main goal is to make it fun for users to save money. When participants make a deposit in their savings account, they don’t just earn interest but are also awarded Coins. These coins can then be used to play games with the chance of winning cash and cryptocurrencies. With every financial goal achieved, users can level up and unlock new games as well as features. Cash earned by playing in-app games can be withdrawn at any point in time.

Create your own game to reach a financial goal

Instead of playing by the rules of others, you can get creative and begin to motivate yourself by sticking to your own rules. Here are some ideas that might inspire you.

·   Agree on ‘no spend’ weeks

Even if it sounds impossible at first, you don’t need to starve to pass this level. If you are eager to have an unforgettable holiday in the summer, ‘no spend’ weeks during cold and quiet seasons might not be so hard in the end. It can be looked at as a good strategy to take baby steps toward bigger financial targets.

When heading to work, bring your own breakfast and coffee instead of stopping by your favorite drive-thru. Forget about happy hour after work and enjoy your favorite beer at home. See, in the end, you’re still doing the same activities but slightly different. Now, try to keep track of your ‘no spend’ week costs and establish what needs to be changed and if it’s worth doing it.

·       Challenge your friends

Create a savings challenge among your friends with a tempting prize. The 52 weeks challenge is an all year competition. To begin, you need to figure out how much money you can put aside each month. Once you find out that amount, add an extra 10% to that number. Simply, divide that number by 52 and you end up with your weekly savings goal. The main purpose of this challenge is to end up saving at least 10% more than you initially thought you could. Based on individual incomes, the one that ends up saving the most wins it all.

·       Sell your old stuff

Always think of people in need and if you can, donate relevant items before posting them for sale. However, old electronics and gadgets can be looked at as an unexplored source of income. If you decide to upgrade your laptop or smartphone, sell your old ones rather than leaving them in a drawer for years. The available e-commerce platforms can accommodate your needs and help with your personal finances by selling unused items.

Bottom line

Who said that saving up can’t be fun? If you find it difficult to put money aside or don’t have enough to cover an unforeseen event, it might be the right time to give gamified saving a chance. Stick to your own rules or use any savings solution that matches your personality and motivates you to dream bigger.

At Oveit, we like the idea of making money social and transparent. We plan to enable economy members to share transactions with each other and add social media features, such as comments and likes for purchased products. Economy members will also have the option to set a spending limit, helping them to reach their financial goals in a responsible way. Stay tuned for more!

July 14, 2020 Economy as a Service, Technology, Uncategorized No comments yet

Dynamic Pricing: Strategies, Examples, and Applications

Recently, we’ve all seen concrete applications of dynamic pricing in different markets. Prices of everyday goods, such as toilet paper and hand sanitisers increased dramatically based on demand. Among other common examples of dynamic pricing, we can find happy hours at a local bar, airline pricing based on seasonality, and ride-hail surge pricing.

In this post, we’re going to identify different types of dynamic pricing strategies as well as help you establish if it’s an efficient pricing model for your business. 

What is Dynamic Pricing?

In simple terms, the dynamic pricing model can be looked at as a way of selling the same product at different prices to different groups of people. This pricing strategy enables businesses to set flexible prices depending on current market demands. In this model, prices continuously fluctuate, in a matter of minutes, hours, or days, based on the market in which a business operates.

Dynamic pricing, also called real-time pricing, surge pricing or time-based pricing incorporates many technologies to obtain a spontaneous range of prices. It allows businesses to modify prices based on algorithms and machine learning, considering competitor pricing. It’s not designed to work for every business or industry but among those that feel its positive impact, we can find: hospitality; travel; entertainment; e-commerce businesses; retail; electricity, and public transportation. Usually, this pricing model is more efficient among wealthier consumers since they have enough resources to cope with price variations. Consumers with more limited funds or other spending priorities might wait for lower prices or sales to purchase a product or service. 

Types of Dynamic Pricing strategies

This pricing strategy can be applied in different forms. Each of them may be employed to reach different goals. These are some dynamic pricing models adopted by market leaders:

  • Segmented pricing – This strategy is characterized by different prices for identical products, with the exact same production and distribution costs. It’s targeted for customers in different geographical areas, as the name ‘segmented’ suggests. The pricing differs based on a customer’s current location and it’s considered as a wise strategy to attract niche customers who place more value towards a service or product than others. It is used to increase revenue in areas where people are less sensitive to price fluctuations.
  • Time-based pricing – This dynamic pricing strategy is directly related to the age of a product or its entry in the market. Therefore, by applying discounts and by reducing the price of older products, businesses can experience an increase in its sale. When new collections are introduced in the market, the prices of older ones can be lowered to get rid of that stock surplus.
  • Peak pricing – Peak hours/seasons = high demand. This pricing is directly related to market demand. With time, a business will find that a product or service sells much faster based on seasonality or rush hours. Most of the time, this translates into limited choices for consumers with a lack of competitors providing similar products or services. A practical example would be the cost of hotel rooms during peak seasons vs. the cost of a hotel room during off-seasons.
  • Random fluctuations in market conditions – As we currently live in uncertain times, there is no better example of how vulnerable a given market can be. Therefore, if for any reason sales start to fall, companies should begin to lower their prices until things get back to normal.
  • Penetration pricing – This pricing is designed for newer products with initial lower prices compared to the market price. It’s applied when businesses want to reach a large portion of the market for customers to get familiar with their list of offerings. Prices are increased gradually as demand in the market increases.

Is Dynamic Pricing a good model for your business?

There are some techniques that particular businesses can apply to make this pricing strategy work. First, transparency plays a key role. Customers must always be aware of the factors on which the price depends. You want to avoid situations where customers have no clue why they bought the same product for different prices. Another way to implement dynamic pricing would be through motivating your customer’s behavior. If your business is based on seasonality, it’s a given that last-minute purchases will cost the end user a lot more compared to bookings made well in advance. Let’s go over some industries where this pricing model proves to be extremely efficient.

–          Events

While it’s still an under-utilised tool, if used accordingly, dynamic pricing can help event organizers generate more revenue and increase urgency. Based on the strategies mentioned above, event organizers should implement dynamic pricing by using time-based pricing and demand-based pricing. While ticketing generates an important portion of revenue, changing ticket prices based on demand and point in time is key. Therefore, it is not enough to simply increase the price of a ticket every 15 days if you don’t actually sell at least a pre-defined amount. Instead, prices should increase every 15 days and every time another 100 tickets have been sold. If only 50 tickets are sold within 15 days, it means that increasing the price is not relevant.

In the same event setting, food & beverage vendors should also use dynamic pricing. Think of a music festival that goes on for three days 24/7. There will be times when the number of participants will be relatively low. Therefore, lowering prices during those hours will increase sales and profits. It’s better to get rid of your stock and still make a profit rather than throwing it away.

–          Ride-hailing services

Uber, the world’s leading ride-hailing operator has implemented a dynamic pricing model since day 1. It controls the prices that customers pay based on demand. Whether it’s a public holiday, a snowy or rainy day, or some sort of public transport strike, the cost of fares and waiting time begin to increase. It’s what they call ‘surge pricing’.

  1.  The first reason for its application is to increase the supply of drives in a given area by increasing the amount they get paid.
  2. The second reason is to reduce demand and waiting times for a ride. Customers that are not willing to pay a higher fee during busy hours will most likely try to find another alternative or wait for prices to get back to normal.

 Their ‘surge’ pricing model uses Machine Learning to estimate market conditions based on multiple factors. Real-time data, such as traffic and weather conditions are essential for accurate forecasts.  

Wrapping it up

If not used properly, dynamic pricing can cause serious problems. However, its potential opportunities for both businesses and customers should not be overlooked. It can maximize profits by employing price optimisation while making sure that goods and services are sold at the ideal price. If you run a business where supply and demand influence your product considerably, dynamic pricing is most likely the most efficient strategy to ensure a steady flow of sales.

By using Oveit Pay, economy owners can onboard external vendors and create an internal payment system (closed-loop). How is this related to dynamic pricing? Well, transactions within this internal economy are updated in real-time. The available reports enable vendors to change prices strategically, based on demand and type of products sold. As a vendor, one has access to quantity and type of products sold and the exact time when that product was purchased. The system then customizes the menu and displays relevant products with price recommendations based on demand and available stock.

July 10, 2020 Economy as a Service, Events, Technology, Uncategorized No comments yet

Building a transparent economy for people in need

There are as many as 500,000 people experiencing homelessness in America. Governments allocate funds for shelters and food, but poverty is still a big challenge in many parts of the world. Some consider that these funds lack the right amount of transparency, leading to unfair and insufficient allocated resources for those in need. The long chain of intermediaries and lack of transparency are the main challenges when it comes to distributing funds in general, but especially for homeless shelters and other social services.

Unfortunately, these are questions that most government officials and citizens don’t have an answer to. There is no wonder why substance abuse, mental illness, and violence are so common among homeless people. The available data tells us that 37% are children, 8% are veterans and the remaining 48% are disabled.

Would you reconsider giving out some spare change to a homeless person if you were assured that your money contributes to their well-being? Personally, I would. This is not targeted solely for us, as the working class, but also for governments offering financial aid for people in need. If authorities cannot know for sure where allocated funds end up, how can we know any better?

In this post, we will go over innovative ways and available solutions aimed to distribute assets for people in need, instead of traditional ways of doing so.

Digital Tokens as an alternative in the Social Sector

Tokens have been around for quite some time. They were used in different forms, long before the emergence of blockchain technology. Usually, they can represent any kind of economic value. Some examples of tokens are casino chips, vouchers, gift cards, bonus points within a loyalty program, club access tokens such as a stamp on your hand, club memberships, and so on. They include in-built counterfeiting protocols to prevent people from cheating the system. In some countries, recyclable bottles might be looked at as tokens. To purchase a product that is stored in a recyclable bottle, one would have to pay a certain amount on top of the initial price. Losing the bottle means that you lose your deposit.

Nowadays, tokens have evolved considerably. We mostly find them in digital forms rather than paper vouchers or plastic coins. The most important achievement is related to the underlying technology used by end-users to share and exchange such assets, that of blockchain. Many find it as a breakthrough alternative to transparent and decentralized transactions. To keep on track, let’s get back to how this innovative solution might help people living in poverty and assure a secure and transparent purchase behavior.

  • Philanthropy and international aid

An increasing number of charities and non-profit foundations shifted away from traditional ways of receiving donations to accepting donations directly from donors through bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. On top of that, a number of foundations created their own ‘charity tokens’ to raise money for various social impact projects. For instance, the Clean Water Coin enables donors to purchase and donate by using cryptocurrencies, without any additional fees and intermediaries involved in the process.

  • Identity and land rights

In a recent study, the United Nations concluded that one in every five people globally lacks a legal identity. For refugees that are always on the run, the rates might be higher. The Humanized Internet is a project that enables vulnerable people to store their identifiers, such as birth certificates or university degrees on a blockchain, taking the form of distributed digital lockboxes. This way, people that have challenges with maintaining physical identification copies can take advantage of their privileges.

Applied cases – Ground-breaking solutions for people in need

Greater Change

A relatively new social innovation project, called Greater Change, provides homeless people with QR code badges. Pedestrians who wish to help can simply donate by scanning that code with their phone camera and make an online payment in a matter of seconds. That donation is transferred into a personal account managed by a caseworker, whose duty is to ensure that donated money is spent on real needs, such as rental savings, food, or a new identification document.

“The problem we’re trying to solve here is that we live in an increasingly cashless society and as well as this when people give they worry about what this money might be spent on,”


Alex McCallion, founder of Greater Change, told the BBC

GiveTrack

GiveTrack positions itself as a revolutionary donation platform. It enables donors to track their donations in real-time, providing transparency and accountability to donors by sharing financial information and live project results. Compared to traditional non-profit systems, this one offers low to no transaction fees, traceability of funds in real-time and cryptographic security. Fraudulent actions are nearly impossible to intervene along the way.

GiveSafe

As we live in a cashless society, helping others in need can be a real challenge. However, it is great to see that people become aware and act accordingly. GiveSafe proves again that it’s possible to help others in a cashless world. This solution enables people to invest directly and with clarity into someone struggling through homelessness. The app sends you a notification when you are passing by a person living in poverty. You have access to their personal stories and critical needs, providing you with a better understanding of their current situation. The payment is processed through the app and donations can only be used at partnered stores to buy what they need to survive or leave the streets.

Using Oveit to help those in need

Not long ago, we started to think out of the box and identify different applications for our cashless solution. We concluded that our available features could extend far beyond events & venues, with economies and communities as relevant candidates. Therefore, we decided to categorize our software as an ‘Economy as a Service’ solution, with a lot of potential use cases.

Among the different use cases, we consider that Oveit could be a viable solution for helping those living in poverty. How exactly? Well, our technology enables economy owners to onboard external vendors and become part of it. The economy owner, which in this case might be a local authority or other organization has total control over businesses part of the economy. As we talk about people in need, the process of adding money onto digital wallets takes a different turn. The economy owner has the option to top-up digital wallets with a certain amount, replacing the need for the end-user (people in need) to do so.

The digital wallet can take on different forms. Ranging from wristbands to cards or QR codes, economy owners can decide on the most relevant formats based on their needs and environment. Transactions are 100% transparent and the available reports enable owners and vendors to see goods and services purchased. 

Potential use for access control in homeless shelters

Our technology is also used for access control in designated areas. For events & venues, we have a lot of active use cases, where organizers require attendees to purchase a special ticket category to access let’s say a ‘VIP’ area. With Oveit, such information is stored and ready to be claimed with a simple tap of the hand thanks to an NFC wristband, card, or QR code. All entries are recorded in real-time and the available reports provide organizers with exact entry numbers and other attendee information requested in the registration form.

This feature might be a viable solution to keep track of the presence of homeless people in designated shelter facilities. If for instance an individual doesn’t check-in for three nights in a row, authorities can further look into what’s going on.


July 9, 2020 Economy as a Service, Oveit Features, Power to Community, Technology, Uncategorized No comments yet

Small businesses and their impact on Local Communities

Think of your neighborhood or local community for a moment. You come back home after a long day and you pass by your favorite bakery, which is right across the street. Every Tuesday and Friday, you stop at this local bakery to surprise your beloved ones with some delicious sweets. Now, imagine that there is no bakery or other local shop in the proximity of your home. Not fun, right? 

Local businesses create a sense of belonging, providing character and individuality to a community. They enable local farmers, craftsmen, professionals, and other service providers to make a living and give back to their communities. They cover a variety of industries and most important, they enable locals to make a living by pursuing their passions. Unfortunately, their value and contribution are most of the time underestimated.

In this post, we are going to place the focus on small businesses and their positive impact on the overall well-being of local communities. Remember, just because a business is categorized as “small”, it’s not necessarily as small as you think. They are classified as businesses with up to 500 employees.

Establish a unique community identity

A well-established community with a respected identity creates a sense of pride, self-respect, unity, sense of belonging and social responsibility for people, groups, and organizations in it. The visual impression of a community is very important for its prosperity and reputation. Whenever you walk into a large chain, such as Walmart, you have no clue what community you are in. On the other side, when someone walks into a small local business, it creates a more intimate and personal relationship between owners and clients.

Local job opportunities

People that live in small towns are usually limited in terms of finding jobs that don’t require travel and commuting. An increasing number of people leave their hometowns for better opportunities. This action does not have a positive economic and social impact on the well-being of a community.

Fostering local jobs proves to be extremely effective in lowering local unemployment rates in economically distressed communities. A small business that hires locally does not only prove that it cares about the community, but it also keeps business professional and authentic. Local employees are aware of their surroundings and have the right knowledge to make valuable recommendations for tourists and locals as well. Localwise is an innovative platform that enables locals to find a wide range of jobs in the proximity of their homes.

Community health

Besides contributing to the identity of a local community, small business owners can build healthy and long-lasting relationships among locals. They are more likely to know their customers by name, leading to personal relationships that can’t be replaced. It makes them feel part of a strong community that shows great care and involvement in its prosperity.

They can form casual relationships, such as merchant’s associations or mentoring. They inspire locals and educate them on best business practices. Small businesses within communities tend to adopt and implement worksite health promotion programs (WHHPs). Worksite wellness programs introduce preventive strategies that improve employee health, such as public events and volunteering. Another unique characteristic of small businesses within communities is that most of the time, owners know each other and promote their products or services through word of mouth and referrals. They care about the well-being of the entire community and of the small businesses part of it.

Less infrastructure and low maintenance

As expected, small businesses require less work and maintenance compared to your standard large corporation. Since they are mostly small and don’t have complicated infrastructure requirements, their environmental footprint is almost nonexistent. Most locally owned businesses operate in remodeled and repurposed older downtown buildings. This leads to less public services and infrastructure required.

Small businesses create a greater community impact than many realize. They have the potential to form long-lasting relationships among community members, create local job opportunities, improve the overall well-being and community health while building a strong local identity. Remember, the most efficient way to promote your business within a community is to become involved in your town while being responsive to the vibe of your community.

July 3, 2020 Economy as a Service, Power to Community, Uncategorized No comments yet