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Blaze trio aims to revolutionise the way you pay
BY SHAMILLE SCOTT Business reporter scotts@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, July 28, 2013
THE existence of a feasible mobile payment market against the background of customer demand to carry out cashless transactions prompted Jason Scott, Kevin Leyow, and Jonathan Cooper — co-founders of Blaze Payment — to start the business.
Blaze Payment acts as a mobile payment tool by which persons can top up their accounts and use web-enabled devices, such as a cellular phones, to make payments for products and receive cash from friends who sign up to blaze-pay.com.
(From left) Kevin Leyow, Jason Scott and Jonathan Cooper, founders of Blaze Payment Limited, brainstorm inside the JGX Lab.
"I witnessed a vendor on Duke Street, in downtown Kingston, accept phone credit from a man who wanted to buy something and he had no cash," recalled Jason Scott, the chief executive officer of Blaze Payment.
Though conducting daily transactions without cash isn't a new phenomenon, customers are generally charged fees by banks each time they swipe their debit or credit card, or make withdrawals at automated teller machines (ATMs).
But those who sign up to Blaze Payment can use a mobile device to pay a food bill without spending extra for user fees that are charged by banks, Scott reasoned.
"Blaze Payment comes with no lines, no surprises or fees..." he told Sunday Finance.
How does it work? When carrying out a transaction with a merchant signed on to the Blaze system, consumer clients simply pay for services with the click of a button.
What's more, Blaze users can act as human ATMs. For instance, a user can transfer Blaze credit to another, in exchange for hard cash, said Scott.
Blaze Payment is one of four portfolio companies at JGX Labs — a new technology incubator in New Kingston started by American tech expert JJ Geewax. JGX Labs invests in local start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs interested in the global technology industry.
Convenience is also arguably Blaze Payment's biggest selling point, since shoppers nowadays have smartphones and tablets at arm's length.
"Blaze is a far more convenient method of payment than the offerings from banks," said Scott, adding that the process to set up an account is less onerous than the traditional banking system.
Popular restaurant Usain Bolt's Tracks and Records has partnered with the technology company, along with over 60 customers.
"A pilot company and testing is very important, so our selection at the moment is only Tracks and Records," Scott said. "No business was built in one day."
Still, Blaze is actively pursing more merchants in the restaurant and entertainment businesses. The company makes revenues from fees that they charge participating merchants. These, of course, will be less than what merchants pay to use point-of-sale machines.
The company does not keep cash in-house; it is stored at Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB), where one of JGX Lab's directors, Imani Duncan-Price, serves as JMMB Group's chief strategy officer.
Admittedly, Blaze Payment wasn't the first brainchild of the founders, who initially wanted to make a mobile application for music lovers.
But Geewax, who was injecting capital into the business, wasn't quite impressed and sent them back to the drawing board.
"I can say that the first time Blaze was pitched to JJ, he was not particularly impressed, then he advised me to look at the wider picture, thus Blaze is where it is at now," Scott said.
The business incubator provides the start-ups like Blaze with the "right mentorship and guidance on both technical and business sides of a company," said Geewax.
It is a standard venture capital model, but with a lot more hand-holding services.
BY SHAMILLE SCOTT Business reporter scotts@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, July 28, 2013
THE existence of a feasible mobile payment market against the background of customer demand to carry out cashless transactions prompted Jason Scott, Kevin Leyow, and Jonathan Cooper — co-founders of Blaze Payment — to start the business.
Blaze Payment acts as a mobile payment tool by which persons can top up their accounts and use web-enabled devices, such as a cellular phones, to make payments for products and receive cash from friends who sign up to blaze-pay.com.
(From left) Kevin Leyow, Jason Scott and Jonathan Cooper, founders of Blaze Payment Limited, brainstorm inside the JGX Lab.
"I witnessed a vendor on Duke Street, in downtown Kingston, accept phone credit from a man who wanted to buy something and he had no cash," recalled Jason Scott, the chief executive officer of Blaze Payment.
Though conducting daily transactions without cash isn't a new phenomenon, customers are generally charged fees by banks each time they swipe their debit or credit card, or make withdrawals at automated teller machines (ATMs).
But those who sign up to Blaze Payment can use a mobile device to pay a food bill without spending extra for user fees that are charged by banks, Scott reasoned.
"Blaze Payment comes with no lines, no surprises or fees..." he told Sunday Finance.
How does it work? When carrying out a transaction with a merchant signed on to the Blaze system, consumer clients simply pay for services with the click of a button.
What's more, Blaze users can act as human ATMs. For instance, a user can transfer Blaze credit to another, in exchange for hard cash, said Scott.
Blaze Payment is one of four portfolio companies at JGX Labs — a new technology incubator in New Kingston started by American tech expert JJ Geewax. JGX Labs invests in local start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs interested in the global technology industry.
Convenience is also arguably Blaze Payment's biggest selling point, since shoppers nowadays have smartphones and tablets at arm's length.
"Blaze is a far more convenient method of payment than the offerings from banks," said Scott, adding that the process to set up an account is less onerous than the traditional banking system.
Popular restaurant Usain Bolt's Tracks and Records has partnered with the technology company, along with over 60 customers.
"A pilot company and testing is very important, so our selection at the moment is only Tracks and Records," Scott said. "No business was built in one day."
Still, Blaze is actively pursing more merchants in the restaurant and entertainment businesses. The company makes revenues from fees that they charge participating merchants. These, of course, will be less than what merchants pay to use point-of-sale machines.
The company does not keep cash in-house; it is stored at Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB), where one of JGX Lab's directors, Imani Duncan-Price, serves as JMMB Group's chief strategy officer.
Admittedly, Blaze Payment wasn't the first brainchild of the founders, who initially wanted to make a mobile application for music lovers.
But Geewax, who was injecting capital into the business, wasn't quite impressed and sent them back to the drawing board.
"I can say that the first time Blaze was pitched to JJ, he was not particularly impressed, then he advised me to look at the wider picture, thus Blaze is where it is at now," Scott said.
The business incubator provides the start-ups like Blaze with the "right mentorship and guidance on both technical and business sides of a company," said Geewax.
It is a standard venture capital model, but with a lot more hand-holding services.
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