Pilot Project
The pilot project: An excellent technology showcase!
Deployed since January 2011
The pilot project’s main objective is to validate MoneyCell’s business model, and to understand how our customers behave with the product. As we wish to replicate as closely as possible the actual conditions of the market in a confined environment, business partners will mainly have a logistics role in the project. We will also test key variables to enhance our customer offer and analyze it accordingly.
Several reasons account for our strategic choice to run this pilot project in a Québec university: for one, our primary audience is made up of young adults, aged 18 to 30, who attend university and are open to new technologies. As well, it constitutes the ideal location to collect and analyze data, and to set and correct parameters needed to better understand how customers behave.
The pilot project runs at the ÉTS : École de technologie supérieure, member of the Université du Québec, a leading school of technology specialized in applied engineering and technology. The ÉTS focuses on collaborative learning and aims specifically the development of new technologies and their commercial applications. And so, the ÉTS welcomes us for the duration of the pilot project.
Putting the emphasis on peer-to-peer money transfer and mobile payment at merchants, we have agreed with the school of engineers on the participating points of sale. Among the first partners are the Coop ÉTS bookstore, Bar 100 génies, the www.Claki.com website, the Dépanneur Ingénium convenience store and the Cafétéria Chartwells. This allowed students to first use MoneyCell on campus. We have added new points of sale in March and April 2011. Merchants such as the ÉTS Presse Café coffee shop, Amir Restaurant and Tim Hortons. The participating businesses benefit from a turnkey solution, faster transactions, increased customer satisfaction, lower costs due to less cash handling, and enhanced customer awareness and interest. In addition, businesses received, for the duration of the pilot project, a free point of sale terminal equipped with the near field communication technology. Our concept goes far beyond risk mitigation for participating merchants: we want our pilot project to be as seamless as possible.
Pilot Project Phase 1 – First results
MoneyCell is still present at ÉTS in July and continues to benefit from students’ and participating merchants’ inputs. The product has clearly improved since January 4th, its original launch date.
The numbers speak louder than words:
- More than 9.3% of students have adopted the MoneyCell E-Wallet in comparison to an adoption rate varying between 2.5% and 5% for new product launches.
- The average amount spent per transactions is $5.98, confirming the need for an alternative method of payment for small transactions.
- Over 4,000 transactions registered in our system.
- When asked how much money they wish to load their MoneyCell account per month, the answer was $20. In reality, $51 is the average amount reloaded per person per month.
- On week 7, 70% of users made between 1 and 4 transactions with MoneyCell per week and none have made more than 10 transactions. Six weeks later (i.e. week 13), over 22% of users have paid 10 to 15 times with their MoneyCell account. The users’ frequency has grown significantly.
- No theft, no fraud and no account closure request reported during the pilot.
- Over 200 posts on our blog and hundreds of contributions on our social networks (Facebook and Twitter pages).
Post pilot
Now that MoneyCell is building its reputation and notoriety, and that the metrics are measured, the commercial deployment time has arrived. This doesn’t mean the adventure at ÉTS ends here! Au contraire, MoneyCell will remain and will benefit from all the lessons learned to enhance its ecosystem among other universities on one hand, and on the other hand among local merchants.
MoneyCell will also continue to add new features and bring the product to a new level during the second phase of the pilot, starting September 2011. In partnership with big Canadians companies whose names will be revealed shortly (on our website and in the media), the second phase will have as a main objective to reinvent the experience between a merchant and his customer at the point of sale, thanks to MoneyCell new innovative and technological features.
While other players are still at a theoretical stage, the MoneyCell E-Wallet solution is now part of our Canadian everyday reality.
