- Micropayments as low as CAD 0.01 can now be sent in real time through QUID
- This is a welcome development for content creators who usually charge pennies for their work
- QUID is a Canadian paytech that recently launched its services in Canada and the United States
Paytech start-up QUID, a firm based on Toronto, recently launched in Canada and the United States. Its payments platform processes micropayments as low as CAD 0.01. While paying in pennies at rather high volumes does not seem useful to individuals who transfer money internationally on a regular basis, the Canadian paytech says that micropayments is an important niche.
In fact, none of the major payment firm process micro transactions at affordable domestic or overseas transfer rates. Credit card providers, for example, have a base fee of CAD 0.30 for every transaction. QUID, on the other hand, does not charge a per transaction fee.
This is a milestone, according to fintech observers in Toronto, as the brand was built to minimise the constraints to monetising pay-per-use products such as apps, content, and systems. According to the company, QUID aims to be the go-to provider of content creators and publishers so that they can “sell virtually anything online”. There is also no upfront user registration fee.
“Today’s consumers are fatigued by subscription-overload, and content creators need predictable ways to expand their digital revenue, beyond schemes such as ads and subscriptions”, says Mohit Cheppudira, the company’s Chief Executive Officer. QUID’s integrated gateway ensures low transaction costs, allowing merchants to receive payments that are only worth pennies without them paying too much for it to be processed. It also removes the burden of paying for the transaction fee on the side of their customers.
The brand is reportedly 30% cheaper as compared to other paytechs. It is noted by QUID that its technology was also built to handle large transaction volumes. The platform also offers APIs, according to QUID and can even receive payments in any currency. The settlement is also instant.
In 2017, a startup called Blendle started selling newspaper articles by the piece to help the industry. At the time, the Harvard Political Review published a comment by Tess Saperstein who noted that: “Print readership is steadily declining, newspapers are closing, and journalists with decades of experience are being laid off.” Blendle, a Dutch online news platform, has been operating for over two years. Ravi Somaiya writes on The New York Times that Blendle employs a micropayments platform that gives readers the ability to “quickly buy individual articles with a minimum of form-filling”. Somaiya adds that the business model is what the “beleaguered news industry” has been hoping for. The New York Times has been advertising its $2 subscription online for years, an example of how major newspapers are struggling to make ends meet for their online operations.
This is not the only use for micropayments though, according to QUID as there are other industries that sell their work for pennies. Freelancers in information technology and graphics artists are just a few examples, the company adds.
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