There is nothing like being stuck in a foreign country without your wallet to make mobile payments vividly imperative.

Elise Moussa founded Snapay to solve the problem of in store mobile payments.  To do that, she needed to make the process as painless for the merchants as it would be for the customer.   She saw that the hardware and cost to a merchant was too large a barrier, and hence was a barrier to the customer too.    So, she phoned an engineer friend, told him to drop everything, and together they created Snapay.

Snapay is a mobile payments platform that is using cryptocurrency to serve the underbanked.  It has a large European bank as a banking partner.   And it is an easy download for both the merchant and the customer, who can both put in their bank account information, and use the app almost immediately.

Snapay is issuing an ICO today to allow a more democratic process in fundraising and allow her loyal customers to participate in the venture funding.

Let's hope Elise's next eureka moment isn't as painful as the last one!

 

Produced by Rachel Morrissey, Senior Producer, Provoke Media