13 June 2009

Local Inventor Wins Business Award with Pay by SMS

| Jean Mc
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Went to the Canberra Business Point Awards last night.

Local inventor Harold of MHits won with the commericalisation of his “pay by SMS” system. You might have seen it on “The New Inventors“.

When I saw it the first time I thought “what a cool idea – paying for coffee by SMS”. I was pretty lucky to be sitting on his table to hear more about the product’s progress and that we have some cafes in Canberra that operate the service.

I’m so pleased we have such clever people here and glad to see them rewarded.

I didn’t take notes so I don’t know if I’ll remember all the other winners but what I do remember is:

  • The Wise Academy – Business Plan Award
  • Viridis E3 – Entrepreneur and another award
  • Lucy Media (Whos Dated Who)
  • An information design company – sorry didn’t remember the name.

I think I’ll definitely join MHits.

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I use mHITs at Coffee Guru and at Carlos @ Watson. Very convenient. I just need to take my phone with me to the coffee shop and I can pay by SMS. No messing around with coins or notes. Their website is http://www.mhits.com.au. Great to see a local business succeeding. I think everyone should get behind it!

Yeah mHITs is opening up in more and more Sydney and Canberra coffee shops. Plus it allows person to person payments, ordering ahead of time, bill splitting and is done with a simple SMS.

I have been using mHITs in Sydney and it is actually rather convenient, plus recommending friends earns each person $5 – you could keep joining people up and earn money to use to buy things.

Good work mHITs

Ah it’s slightly different – with MHits it’s charged to an account you’ve setup with them, a bit like paypal. With Daopay it’s charged directly to your phone bill.

A pay by SMS system has already been established by a service called “daopay”.

“Just dial a phone number or text us a message (SMS) and you’re all set: daopay lets you charge your online purchase to your existing phone bill – instant, safe and convenient.”
http://www.daopay.com/

If a bad-looking website with suspect third-party gossip about celebrities is being touted as a prop for the ACT’s economic future, Heaven help us!

Ant, good question, that was supposed to be implemented in public transport, banking, and many other areas. These days, you see them on a small selection of ATM cards but thats about it.
Seems the whole smartcard idea was one of the few good ideas Telstra jumped on early-on, that never went anywhere even though it shouldve.

Whatever happened to that smart card they were on about a few years ago? I rather liked the idea of something quick and swipable to pay for small things. Did people get too comfy using eftpos and the idea died?

canberratowie21:17 pm 13 Jun 09

It would be nice to know who the other contenders and winners are if any one knows

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