If Sharif Alexandre and his startup XIPWIRE are successful, they won’t have simply created a new method of mobile payment or a perfected a hot application for mobile phones. They’ll have created a new verb–‘Xip’–as in “Did mom xip you any money this month?”
XIPWIRE addresses an age-old conundrum: You’ve just finished a meal with a bunch of friends and when it’s time to pay the bill, not everyone has cash or it’s going to take a long time to split the bill eight ways. XIPWIRE allows users to simply ‘Xip’ each other cash via text message.
“This can be more than just a tech-toy,” Alexandre says. “It really has social value, and that’s when the project went from something interesting to a serious endeavor, to really build out something that has a functional nature and can work for everyone.”
Another popular mobile payment model mimics driving through the EZPass lane–simply swipe your phone, with a special chip implanted, over a merchant’s magnetic reader. XIPWIRE’s technology initiates a payment to practically anyone who can receive a text message. It’s ideal for friends sharing expenses or splitting a bill, parents sending money to children at school, Craigslist shoppers or merchants at local markets. Funds are pre-arranged and stored in a virtual “wallet” users can check or add to, also via text.
XIPWIRE prides itself on charging a fraction of the transaction fees imposed by credit card processing providers, who have taken their fair share of heat for charging what many believe to be exorbitant prices.
With its service set for deployment, the company’s focus is on obtaining users and merchants, and is waiving fees for Pennsylvania users through the first half of the year. XIPWIRE will start on college campuses, where they can find high concentrations of both text-happy students and nearby businesses who serve them. Sharif says XIPWIRE also plans on integrating the product with merchants’ existing point-of-sale systems
Keeping the process of a ‘xip’ simple, user-focused and inexpensive will also be priorities as the company, which already has a strong social media presence, makes its move.
“I feel if you can make it work in Philly, you can make it work anywhere,” says Alexandre.
Source: Sharif Alexandre, XIPWIRE
Writer: Joe Petrucci
