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ToneTag, a sound based proximity payment technology provider launched an Audio Pod for merchants. ToneTag Audio Pod is as simple as just tapping a phone on a Pod to complete a transaction. On tapping the phone on the ToneTag Audio Pod, the pod emits a sound wave carrying data that is received by the mobile phone. On confirmation of the same, the payment is complete.

Image Source – ToneTag

From the invention of wheels and flint stone tools to Nano-technology and artificial intelligence, man has always produced technologies and machines that make his life easier. In today’s world, technology is everywhere! Everything we do involves technology. It is completely integrated into our lives and the two have become inseparable. Even the way we make payments has evolved significantly. Today, we have different types of payment technologies available, including cards, mobile payment options such as NFC, QR codes, RFID chips, e-wallets, applications and many more.

But what about a device that can be placed anywhere and can enable payments via sound without any dependency on Wi-fi or internet? Sounds intriguing, right? That is because we do not associate sound with payments, but with more traditional things such as music. But why should the beneficial nature of sound be curtailed or confined to producing just music? Why can’t one utilize sound based technology to make payments? Well, with ToneTag Audio Pod, you can!

Kumar Abhishek, Co-Founder & CEO, ToneTag, said

ToneTag Audio Pod is a device that can be used by any merchant irrespective of their scale of operations or nature of the business. This device can be that trigger which enables mass acceptance of digital mode of payments amongst merchants. In our push towards a digital economy, a device like the ToneTag Audio Pod can bring in both the merchant and the consumer segment to accelerate the digital drive.

ToneTag Audio Pod is a one stop solution for everything in payments.

  • Enables quick and faster checkout at stores, with transactions being completed under three seconds and thereby acting as a queue buster
  • Any issuer, merchant or acquirer can use the ToneTag Audio Pod to receive payments
  • Payment acceptance from any e-wallet or banking application
  • Payment experience is better when compared to prevalent methods
  • No congestion and rush at stores, giving merchants and customers a pleasant retail experience
  • Works in offline conditions. No data connection required
  • Robust build quality, combined with state of the art design features
  • Space efficient and user-friendly

For more information, please visit ToneTag’s Blog on Audio Pod

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Digitisation has been instrumental in determining the growth of any business and the last bottleneck of the digital economy is the point of sale. ToneTag’s sound wave technology has reduced this by enabling contactless on any phone and provide easy, friction-less, and secure proximity payments and communications using sound. This has resulted in a 4.2x jump in their sale.

Image Source – ToneTag

ToneTag technology is provided as an Interaction as a service solution. Post demonetisation, Tonetag has garnered more experience and popularity among merchants and is proving to be a vital game changer in the payment industry.

ToneTag has partnered with Banks, Issuers and Acquirers, Toll plaza, Parking operators for payment solutions and Retailers for payment solutions and locating and engaging the customers. Some of the ToneTag partners are Freecharge, ICICI pockets, YES Bank, Airtel, Shoppers Stop etc.

ToneTag is the ?rst company on this planet to enable contactless payment acceptance on EDC machine using Sound. So far 100,000 plus Ingenico and Verifone EDC machines made contactless with ToneTag and 4000 computer POS made contactless with TT SDK push.

Kumar Abhishek, Founder of ToneTag said

In a short span of time, ToneTag has reached 32 million plus consumers through its technology, giving them a whole new payment experience. We have with us 110,000 plus merchants, who use our technology to receive payments. We have a total of 18 clients so far. Our partners have reported a 4.2 times improvement on overall transactions compared to prevailing methods of transacting using OTP or QR codes, keeping the spend on consumer adoption same.

Digital India is the way forward, with the ‘Smart City’ projects underway and government’s push for a cashless economy is evident as UPI based payments and Aadhar Pay are government initiatives. All banks and financial institutions have started to embrace digitization; this simplifies our role even further. Since India is home to the second largest mobile phone user base in the world with around 1 billion subscribers and 80% penetration, it’s the one technology that has truly captured the urban as well as rural areas.

ToneTag is in talks with other major players in the retail, banking and fin-tech companies, trying to make the payment front more secure and safe.

About ToneTag

ToneTag is a sound based proximity communication provider that enables contactless proximity communication, location based services and customer engagement services among a multitude of other solutions. Backed by Reliance VC among a host of investors, ToneTag has enabled contactless, offline, proximity communication on any device through sound and their team continues to innovate and transform the way devices will communicate with each other in the near future. For more information, please visit ToneTag

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Shoppers Stop partners with ToneTag, a proximity communications firm, to integrate and deploy ToneTag sound-based contactless payments at Shoppers Stop stores. This technology will enable  customers to make ‘cardless’, ‘cashless’ and ‘contactless’ payments at Shoppers Stop stores across India.  The ToneTag technology will use sound-waves from mobile phones to make electronic payments.

With ToneTag’s sound pay technology, customers can make secure payments within a matter of seconds and experience a faster check out. This launch is a fin-tech revolution and a significant step towards the adoption of cashless payments in India-in line with the vision of Digital India.

Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate & Managing Director, Shoppers Stop Ltd. said

Our collaboration with ToneTag is yet another step in the direction of digitizing all our Shoppers Stop stores. Our paramount focus is to offer our customers a convenient, fast and enhanced shopping experience. With ToneTag’s sound-based technology, our customers will now have multiple payment options for a smooth, fast and convenient shopping experience.

Kumar Abhishek, CEO, ToneTag said

Shoppers Stop’s contribution towards digitization has been exemplary. I am a strong believer that Shoppers Stop and ToneTag will continue to strive for best consumer experience by bringing great retail technology with simple user interface.

ToneTag’s breakthrough technology uses audio signals or ‘tone tags’ for data exchange between devices.  Payment instructions can be transmitted, using a sound signal, through a traditional phone line, without any additional hardware or software requirements or dependencies.  This makes highly inter-operable and secure cashless payments possible from any mobile phone to another phone or computing device.

About ToneTag

ToneTag is a sound based proximity communication provider that enables contactless proximity communication, location based services and customer engagement services among a multitude of other solutions. Backed by Reliance VC among a host of investors, ToneTag has enabled contactless, offline, proximity communication on any device through sound and their team continues to innovate and transform the way devices will communicate with each other in the near future. For more information, please visit ToneTag

|In: startups|Last Updated: | 0 Comments

Trust Chemists and Druggists Ltd., Karnataka’s fastest growing retail pharmacy chain, has partnered with ToneTag, a proximity communication company to integrate and deploy its sound-based, contactless payment technology  in 70 outlets across Karnataka. ToneTag technology will allow Trust customers to make ‘cardless’ and ‘cashless’ payments using their mobile phones.

Trust’s mission of maintaining excellent standards of pharmaceutical care, has led them to innovate and adopt various technologies such as ToneTag, which enables contactless payments over any mobile device, including feature phones. Although cash was the most commonly used form of payment, post demonetisation, it became essential to enable cashless payments specially in pharmaceutical stores that provide emergency and round the clock services to customers.

Now, customers can download any of ToneTag’s  partner apps including YesPay, Airtel  Money and ICICI Pockets and can select the ToneTag option to make fast, secure and cashless payments.

ToneTag uses sound signals to establish communication between devices. Their Software Development Kit [SDK] only requires a speaker and a microphone to work. It can utilize the in-built mic or speaker of any device to enable data transfer through sound-waves and hence it supports most existing devices such as PCs, POS, EDC devices feature phones and wearables. Since this technology supports any hardware, the only prerequisite is the integration of the ToneTag SDK at both merchant [POS or Mobile devices] and customer interaction points (Mobile apps). The SDK contains features such as patented noise filters, three levels of encryption, tokenization, white box cryptography and multi-factor authentication to ensure security and reliability.

C P Bothra – Chairman, Trust Pharmacy said

I am delighted that Trust is tying up with ToneTag for contactless payments in our retail stores.  Having served the customers for last 15 years, this is a value addition for Trust and its customers with no extra cost.  Trust will carry this service forward with ToneTag to connect the loyalty program and many such value added services in future

Kumar Abhishek, CEO, ToneTag said

With ToneTag, Trust customers can now experience fast and secure payments from their mobile phones by downloading our partner wallets. ToneTag delivers unparalleled convenience to the customer as one can pay in-app at physical stores with just the click of a button.

Mohandas Pai, Vice chairman of Manipal group & a ToneTag Investor said

The ToneTag team have combined their deep insights of the banking systems in India with core technology innovations to solve a long-standing challenge of cashless payments. Technology like ToneTag’s will be a natural enabler of India’s shift into a new information infrastructure. I am delighted to see that the chain of Trust pharmacies has decided to adopt ToneTag’s solution. By accounting for the multiple use cases of contactless proximity payments, Trust will be radically improving the customer experience.

Payments through ToneTag are higly secure and allow businesses to streamline their checkout process by providing a seamless transaction experience for both the customer and the retailers. The technology is currently available to Airtel  Money, ICICI Pockets and Yes Pay wallet users. It further advances ToneTag’s drive to reduce cash usage and promote a better payment experience for all.

About ToneTag

ToneTag is a product first company driven to realize mobile payments and revolutionize the proximity communication ecosystem with their innovations. It’s technology uses sound waves to enable contactless, offline, proximity communication on any device. It is transforming the way devices will communicate with each other in the near future. For more information, please visit ToneTag