

CardFlight, The Stripe For Real-World Payments, Has Raised $1.6 Million - timsaunders
http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/02/cardflight-1-6-million/

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jonahx
I'm a bit confused about what these guys do even after reading that article.
Could someone clarify?

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nairteashop
Say you are a small retail chain that accepts credit card payments at the cash
register, and you want to make things more efficient (Apple-store style) by
also accepting payments via portable devices that your employees carry around.

You have a couple of options: a. Invest in proprietary portable payment
devices (what Apple does) b. Sign up for a service like Square and invest in
iPods or iPhones

Primary problems with (a) are cost and possibly an outdated interface. Problem
with (b) is the payments are not tied into your existing infrastructure, and
you have to live with Square's 2.75% fee, which may be higher than what you've
already negotiated with your card providers.

With CardFlight, you get a card reader like Square's, but you can use their
SDKs to collect and send payments into your existing card infrastructure.
Square is ideal for independent coffee shops and the like, but if you're a
small business with a few locations, something like this is probably the
better solution.

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jonahx
tyvm, exactly the explanation I was looking for. So, to be clear, the
responsibility would still be on you to use their SDK to create a custom app
that would interface with the CardFlight card reader, correct?

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nairteashop
Correct, or use their SDK to enhance your existing app with the ability to
accept payments.

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Miyamoto
> _While other companies like Square and PayPal have provided businesses with
> the ability to collect payments with mobile credit card readers, businesses
> are reliant on the provider’s apps to process those payments. CardFlight
> provides its clients with card readers, and also gives them an SDK to build
> payment processing into their own branded apps._

Does Square have any future intent to allow this?

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satjot
All signs point to no. Square wants to be a prominent brand in the eyes of
SMBs and consumers (e.g. Square Register, Square Wallet.) They don't seem
interested in offering APIs or other white-label tools that help app
developers feature their own brands and experiences. Seems like Cardflight
clients can integrate payments into their own app experience, rather than
having to push CardFlight's, Square's or anyone else's brand.

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satjot
I have a friend who runs Zuldi Co has probably spent month and months (and
thousands of dollars) looking for a solution like this. He sells point of sale
ordering systems so waiters and waitresses can take orders and accept payment
at bars/restaurants/casinos etc.

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toomuchtodo
Why not just use Square in this scenario?

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manuela610
Most likely Zuldi probably wants to keep their own user experience, inventory,
CRM etc. Using Square doesn't allow them to keep control of their brand.

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saym
So, What's CardFlight's revenue model? Looks like a useful service.

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derekw1
[Disclosure: I work for CardFlight]

We're still experimenting with different pricing models to figure out what
makes the most sense for our clients. We typically pass the hardware expense
through at cost and charge an all-inclusive monthly or annual fee per deployed
device for the SDK, payment gateway, unlimited transactions, unlimited
support, etc.

One upside of using CardFlight is that clients can shop around and pick
whichever processor they want for the lowest rates, easiest integration, best
service, or whatever reason they wish, while using the CardFlight SDK for an
easy technical integration. Our clients/developers can even work with multiple
processors in parallel, or switch processors down the track without having to
rebuild their back end.

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fivethree
Not really germane to the topic, but I really dislike people that pitch their
company as, "<existing company> for <demographic>." I get it lets you easily
convey what you do since it's really just an improve version of an existing
thing. Let your product stand on it's own. Sell what it does and why it's
better. Not, "Like this existing thing, but fit into this subset?"

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dhyasama
Congrats from ff, Tim! We're all looking forward to helping CardFlight grow.

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skspeeds
been following these guys for a while - wish we had this in the early days of
our app when we did more on-the-ground sales to customers within our app.

