The selfie may have found a new purpose at Humber College, following a partnership with Lucova, Compass Group Canada and Volante Systems. The result is the recently launched mobile app, ETUP, which enables students to verify payments with a selfie.

The “Pay With Your Selfie,” concept leverages Lucova’s proprietary Bluetooth-based solution. The app matches the user’s image against a token form of their credit, debit or meal plan card stored on their mobile phone, which is then used to create a secure, in-store transaction. The ETUP App is available for both iOS and Android devices.

For Lucova, integration into existing infrastructure was vital to ETUP's success. Compass Group Canada operates Humber College's food services, and with the ETUP app, has the ability to better understand its students and create promotions and offers catered to those specific needs. Volante manages the college's point-of-sale terminals.

The full solution offers back-office support with real-time data and analytics, as well as provides the ability to take action on the data via the platform’s instant mobile marketing campaign feature, which is fully integrated into the point-of-sale workflow.

Since the program began at Humber College, students who have downloaded the app and uploaded their selfie are visiting on average 3 times per week and have doubled their spend in a span in just two months.

“Technology works best when it is hidden and focuses on the human element,” explains Amit Jhas, CEO of Lucova. “Empowering frontline staff with access to real-time and relevant information is the key to unlocking true customer loyalty – and this can be as simple as providing staff the name of the customer who is standing right in front of them.”