Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Skip the plastic, pay by cell

Janet Forgrieve, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 29, 2006 at midnight

Text size  

More More Business

More stories »

Diners texting on mobile phones at a local restaurant may be having a casual chat - or they may be picking up the check.

Noodles & Co.'s three Boulder restaurants have begun using mobile technology from Boulder-based startup FEED Tribes. The setup lets customers pay using text messaging, cutting credit-card fees and offering merchants a better way to connect with customers, the companies say.

"One of the things that appealed to us was that it helps us establish a stronger relationship with our customers," said Noodles spokesman Chad Gretzema.

Basically, customers open an account with FEED Tribes - which expects to launch a dedicated Denver/Boulder Web site in January - and then use text messaging to pay at participating merchants such as Noodles.

Even more important to merchants is FEED Tribes' ability to deliver marketing messages to customers who opt to receive them, said Rod Stambaugh, the tech company's CEO. Using that technology, customers can receive notices of special promotions and events and merchants can offset slow times by offering deals to text-only customers.

The service targets 18- to 28-year-olds and has signed about 250 users so far, he said. Users link the account to a checking or savings account, so they don't go into debt. Customers don't pay a fee, and they see their balance each time they pay, making it a potential budgeting tool for young people, Stambaugh said.

The company plans a December push to recruit merchants, he said, and hopes to sign a slew of restaurants, coffee shops and small service-oriented shops - places where the tab rarely tops $50.

FEED Tribes is one of many companies worldwide selling or testing some form of mobile payment, from chips embedded in cell-phone handsets to an increasing number of marketing messages available via text.

Internationally, 89 percent of brands expect to use text and mobile messaging in their direct marketing campaigns by 2008, according to a survey done this year for mobile software provider Airwide Solutions.

The survey also revealed more than half of the 50 brand name companies queried expect to spend up to 25 percent of their marketing budgets on mobile marketing by 2011.

The main distinction for FEED Tribes is its emphasis on serving local communities, Stambaugh said. The technology has been in use at a handful of Denver-area and San Francisco restaurants for a few months. Now, the company is ramping up marketing efforts, hoping to quickly add to its roster of merchants.

FEED Tribes' strategy is to prove itself here and in one other city first, then roll out in the country's top 50 to 100 markets, Stambaugh said. "Consumers want to really know what's going on in their local community - they want to opt in for what's relative to their lives."

The technology

To use Boulder-based FEED Tribes' technology:

• Sign up: Consumers sign up through the company's Web site, establishing an account that's linked to either a checking or savings acount. They can also set up automatic "recharges" at regular intervals or when the account balance hits a certain amount.

• Shop: They shop in a participating merchant's store or restaurant, including Noodles & Co.'s three Boulder eateries.

• Give 'em the code: Customers punch in a five-digit contact code for FEED Tribes, then use a PIN number to access their account balance and receive a code that's good for 15 minutes. They give the code to the cashier, who enters it into a machine that debits the customer's account.

or 303-954-5191