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How Xalis Works

Consumers sign up by downloading the Xalis Mobile Wallet application into their NFC handsets. The consumer can then transfer his existing leather wallet into his mobile phone by adding up to 16 payment cards, 16 loyalty cards and 128 coupons. These contents can be viewed and managed intuitively and securely from the Wallet application's advanced user-interface. At a merchant's point-of-sale location, the consumer can use selected cards and redeem relevant coupons to his purchase with only a single tap of his NFC handset onto a contactless reader. Consumers can fetch coupons into their mobile phones by using a highly performing keyword-based search menu which allows them to remotely fetch a plurality of offers. The search functionality is based on a proprietary mCouponRank algorithm which utilizes user location, product price, coupon category, face value and other parameters to list available coupons. Other sources for search also include scanning in-store or outdoor 2D barcodes and radio tags from their mobile phones. Tags and barcodes, which contain encoded URLs for retrieving coupons, would be generally embedded in product packages, traditional media or interactive smart posters. The search results may optionally include targeted yet relevant ad banners displayed in a non-intrusive manner on their handsets' screens.

The consumer's mobile wallet application is by default associated with a virtual bank account on the Xalis platform allowing micropayment and remittance transactions. Consumers may load money into their Xalis accounts by linking them to their existing payment cards, by buying prepaid reload cards, or by visiting authorized cash-in/cash-out agency points. Consumers can then check balances, reload money, view transaction histories and transfer money between themselves either via remote or proximity (i.e. P2P NFC) exchange. Consumers can also make instant purchases for goods or services at merchant locations equipped with contactless Xalis acceptance terminals. The Xalis platform is not a real bank system as accounts are neither generating interest nor used in sophisticated or unethical investment transactions. Depending on the local regulations, there is also a maximum balance amount that a consumer can hold in a Xalis account or transfer to another Xalis account holder. Consumers should expect very low remote and proximity remittance fees.

Merchants integrate with the Xalis platform by installing new NFC-enabled POS terminals or by leveraging deployed POS terminals currently used for accepting contactless payment cards. A thin client software is installed remotely in each of their POS terminals. The optimized thin client software uses a patent-pending secure and rapid mechanism to capture user-selected closed-loop/private-label payment and loyalty data, and redeem relevant coupons from a single tap of an NFC phone onto a contactless terminal. Merchants benefit from a faster transaction process at checkout lanes and a quicker handling and reimbursement of their coupon transactions.

The advanced Xalis checkout technology is significantly faster than traditional (paper and plastic-based) transactions while mitigating the security and operational issues associated with these transactions. Processing of cards doesn't require any changes for merchants as they would just use their existing IIN/BIN lookup systems to route directly the card transactions to the issuers. For handling digital coupons, a typical real-time electronic processing transaction takes about 2 seconds via ISO-8583 or XML-based authorization request messages exchanged with the Xalis platform. Merchants may also opt in to perform offline processing of coupons in batch mode using EDI files. Merchants receive funds instantly if they have Xalis virtual bank accounts or within 24-48 hours if they use their existing acquiring banks. Merchants should expect very low transaction processing fees compared to open-loop payment-based transactions. Merchants could even earn additional revenues via an incentivized manufacturer coupon deduction program.

Issuers create, personalize and remotely issue closed-loop/private-label payment cards (gift, prepaid, etc...), shopper loyalty cards and digital coupons from web-based dashboards or other communication channels. The dashboard tools allow content publishing, management and real-time analytical data reporting. Issuers of coupons are guaranteed the uniqueness of each digital coupon thanks to a secure, enhanced EPC data structure capable of supporting over 68 billion coupons for a single coupon program. Support for GS1 DataBar and other standard formats for coupons is also available. Electronic coupon authorization, clearing and settlement are incorporated as integral parts of the life cycle of digital coupons issued on the Xalis platform. Issuers who issue manufacturer or store coupons, pay only for coupons that are redeemed. We call this business model Pay-Per-Redemption (PPR). The interactive fetch technology allows them to engage in real-time with consumers, establishing and maintaining thus a unique one-to-one relationship with them.

As an open-platform, Xalis is not intended to reinvent the wheel. It can be integrated with existing processing platforms and is well-suited to be deployed by wireless carriers.

The following diagram illustrates the Xalis platform architecture: