When one lives in Chicago, taking the Chicago Transit Authority is just a way of life, an everyday occurrence. And sometimes part of the CTA tango includes some unpleasant things: losing a transit pass or needing to put more money onto a Chicago Card. Or even worse, losing the coveted U-pass, a pro-rated card for college students which costs $30 and a trip to CTA headquarters to replace. Here to assist is local-based company mPayy, which could provide CTA riders with a completely new option: paying via cell phone.
In a market today where many citizens are “unbanked or underbanked,” Vice-President of Products Trace Johnson sees mPayy’s no fee, online account transactions as an innovative way to pay for getting from here to there. With much of the population using pre-paid cell phones and debit cards, mPayy offers a simple account set-up that can allow texting of money between parties, such as for coffee.
“We provide our safe secure mobile pay linked to account in cloud accessed through fair media ,” said Johnson.
So instead of rushing to Walgreens to purchase a new card or visiting a vending machine to add cash to a Chicago Card, transit riders would have the ability to link money directly from their checking accounts to a transit card. And for those without bank accounts, they have the option of texting money from their mPayy account to the card or manage accounts online.
While revolutionizing the way payments are made for your commute mPayy is also helping out the way you donate to charity. mPayy has partnered with Philanthroper, a website offering consumers the opportunity to donate $1.00 to a charity of the day, similar to Groupon’s deal of the day. When creating the Philanthroper account and making the first donation, you can automatically sign up for an mPayy account and press a single button for donation and your good deed of the day.
“The really cool thing is the incredibly high number of repeat donations,” said Johnson. “People are coming back and giving each day.”
After the initial donation is made, an authorization code is stored on the users behalf. The benefactors can use their mPayy password to authenticate themselves and the one click donation transaction is complete.
And who wouldn’t want to pay for their bus fare, coffee and give a little something back all in the space of a few minutes?
Michelle Doellman can be reached at [email protected].
