BCL Soft held its first “Conference within a Conference” yesterday at the 31st Annual IRTA International Conference. Barter21 software users and prospective users came from as far away as China to learn about Barter21 and our newest feature.
While swipe cards have been an industry buzz word for years, there has never been an effective or viable solution for using membership cards to process barter transactions…Until now.
Swipe Cards? You Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Swipe Cards
2D Bar Codes are the next generation of bar coding and Barter21 software has taken advantage of this technology along with the technology of Android and iPhones. Barter21 now has a true mobile application that allows exchange owners, brokers, and members to view and search the directory, view and purchase from the Trading Floor, review account balances, and post transactions using a membership card with a 2D bar code. No swipe cards needed!
BCL Soft researched the swipe card feature for Barter21 software since our launch 19 months ago. And we always came to the same conclusion - the cost is prohibitive and not every business in your exchange has a swipe box for their merchant account. And most businesses don’t want to change merchant processors or cannot add programming to their swipe box. Plus those additional swipe fees can really add up.
With so few exchange members that have actual credit card swipe boxes and with the expense of supplying members with swipe card readers for your members, BCL Soft looked for a better and more universal way to read a membership card to process transactions.
Mobile Apps and QR Codes
BCL Soft has incorporated a type of 2D bar code known as a QR Code into our true mobile app - the first mobile app in the barter software industry. A QR code can be printed on anything from a membership card to a simple business card or a gift certificate. A QR code can even be sent via email and you can read it right on your computer screen.
Barter21′s new mobile app allows your members to download a program to their Android device or iPhone*. With this application (app) your member can log in to the app, scan the buyer’s membership card, and process the transaction. It’s easier than taking picture with your phone.
Questions or comments? Please call us at 623-242-2537 or info@bclsoft.com. We’ll be back in the office on Monday, November 1.
We hope you are as excited about this feature as we are. We’re the only barter software on the market with these amazing new features.
Barry Cohen
Catherine Cohen
Luther Monson
In the last week Barter 21, a software supplier to the barter industry, proudly boasted that they have installed new 2d bar code technology and are the the first ones with “These amazing features.” Truth is anyone that is part of The Trade Banc network has been able to do transactions from their cell phone for 2 years. Second point – 2D bar codes are very insecure so anyone could start to use someone else’s account (most people are now using 3D bar codes). Being first with outdated technology is not anything to be proud of.
I’m assuming there is a difference between having a mobile app and being able to process transactions via cell phone. Does Trade Banc have an app? (Not meant as a rebuttal, but as a question I don’t have an answer to.) And I don’t personally know much about the difference between 2d and 3d bar codes. In fact, the only thing I can tell you about them is that I know Target and Google use 2d codes. I’d be interested to find out more about both questions.
Negative spin is great, isn’t it?
I will give a very brief answer. Barter21 has a TRUE MOBILE APP. It is not simply a watered down version of our website. The app allows for transaction processing, browsing the member directory, making purchases from the Trading Floor, and checking account balances. It is native to the mobile platform.
2D barcodes - specifically QR Codes - are far from insecure. In fact the way we have implemented them provides for the same security as our desktop-based website. They are not old technology. 3D barcodes, as Mr. Mink suggests are just that - 3D. They require specialized embossers to create them, which makes it cost prohibitive for most barter exchanges. They are also not very widespread in use.
Over the next several months, you will see more and more QR Codes on websites, advertisements, membership cards, etc. It is about to hit big.
Thanks. I would love more info on the site when you have some time. Maybe some links or info on the QR codes.
For a lot of technical information on QR Codes, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code
Allen, thank you for the opportunity for us to clarify what our software was able to do and the upgrades we have made. Out of the gate 2 years ago any user of Barter21 software was able to process transactions on their cell phone. That’s because from the beginning we designed a sleek, efficient program.
What we launched was the first true mobile app in the industry - something very different than simply being able to pull up a website on a phone, no matter how well designed our website is.
As was mentioned in a prior post, 2D technology is not at all outdated and is extremely secure. We pride ourselves on security at every level. As you look around you will see more and more 2D codes in various applications. in fact while watching TV the other day a 2D bar code came up with the instructions to pause, scan and be directed to their website to order.
Again thank you for the opportunity to clarify what we have had since day one and what improvements we have recently made on that technology.
Hi guys sounds like great technology for your members. Contary to the opening statement in the article (never being an effective solution). I’ve been swiping my Bartercard through several bank EFTPOS machines for several years, here in Austarlia. Infact amongst my members, the SMSPos facility has become extremely popular amongst members that don’t have an EFTPos machines. So both seem to be an effective solution for transacting.
Typical of your “Information” you publish, it is not always true. You say out of the box 2 years ago your members could process transactions from their cell phone. Your company was not even in existance 2 years ago, Maybe 17 months according to info I just saw last week. I will not further engage in this useless banter when you cannot tell the truth. We have had uninterupped service for our barter software users with continued upgrades and modifications during this time and will continue to do so.
Any technology can be secure or insecure. What matters is how you use it. When you scan the bar code for a product it will send you to the page for that product. So it is a shortcut but not a way to authenticate you.
What can be worrying at first with the description of BCL is that it suggests that the card with the barcode printed on it will let people do transactions without another form of authentication. It is then compared with Swipe cards which were(is?) a way to authenticate the member and would work like a credit card ( but would you sign up with a bank that will give you a printed barcode in place of your credit card?). So I don’t blame Alan for raising the question.
Most likely for marketing purpose it was painted that way and I hope that the 2D bar code is not a way to authenticate the user but rather some sort of shortcut to remove some data entry. Maybe to save the user from entering his username. But even this kind of shortcut is sometimes to be avoided. Someone can easily copy your barcode and then he’ll have half of the answer to enter your account. Anyway, I’m sure BCL took security seriously and will clarify on their website as to what their offering actually is.
I’m glad that BCL is investing in researching new ways of making barter grow. The Trade Banc has often inverted in various things that have proved to be useless but we’ve learned along the way from those failures and the industry too. So far mobile hasn’t had the ROI that we would have expected but smartphones are supposed to sell well in 2011. We also have plans to support smartphones with their larger screens (http://www.barter-software.net/2010/10/07/mobile-marketplace/) and have started building a prototype. It will most likely NOT be a native app. BCL has decided to go native but all that matters to users are whether it works for them or not, they don’t care if it’s native or not. We’ve learned that when we’ve built a smart client which was a native application for the desktop, it was nice but people just did not buy it for various reasons that weren’t obvious at first sight.
So I thank BCL for taking the risk and investing, we look forward hearing more about the results and whether it boosts sales or not. In the end we all share the same goal, making barter companies more successful. If 2D barcodes prove to be useful, we’ll support that too but for now we’ll wait and see.
Hi Darryl -
Yes, you guys “down under” did an amazing job with elevating swipe cards for a barter exchange to a more widely accepted level. Heck, you guys made barter more valuable than cash in many instances. We applaud you!
Up here the swipe cards just aren’t taking off. With so many different merchant processors we just needed to find a better solution. And the Android and iPhone operating systems are truly taking off. So it is the best solution for this problem right now.
With everything in technology, as I type this it is changing. And so are we! The best we can all do is elevate our industry and keep coming up with easier, less expensive and better ways for members to barter.
NOTE TO ALAN - You are correct. We will celebrate our “official” 2 year anniversary on March 1. Our first 2 exchanges actually began using the software around mid-February 2009, but we launched in March. So we are actually 20 months old. Sorry for rounding up.