- SKUx, which builds on the Hedera blockchain, has received two patents from the US Patent Office for item-level payment processing technology.
- The first concerns promotional offers and payments, a market that was worth $200 billion by 2023, while the second concerns the integration of coupons and gift cards, a market that is expected to reach $1 billion by 2026.
SKUx, a digital payments company powered by the proof-of-stake blockchain Hedera, has been granted two new patents for payment technology by the US Patent Office.
The company announced today that it had been granted the two patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) “for item-level payment processing technology.” With these two, it aims to improve its payment solutions, allowing merchants to improve their consumer experience and promotions at the product level.
Digital payments firm SKUx today announced that they have been awarded two new US patents for #payment processing technology – leveraging the #Hedera network and ZK-proofs to improve customer experience and reduce payment fraud.
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— Hedera (@hedera) January 9, 2024
The first patent, No. 11,288,697 (or the ‘697 patent), focuses on promotional offers and payments at the item level. SKUx can now build a solution that enables payments without the need to review a merchant’s PoS system. This is the process by which the system communicates with external parties to validate the eligibility of a purchase transaction.
Lawsuits have increased in recent years, especially in the healthcare benefits market, which was estimated at $200 billion last year.
The second patent, No. 11,615,435, or the ‘425 patent, focuses on coupons and gift cards, allowing SKUx to build solutions that enable real-time integration into a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. CRMs allow companies to manage data and communications from existing and potential customers, such as Zendesk, Salesforce, and Freshworks.
With the ‘425 patent, SKUx will provide solutions that enable “real-time tracking of issuance, redemption and associated insights gained,” which in turn improves the customer experience, especially for consumer packaged discounts. Volume in this specific sector is expected to reach $1 billion by 2026.
SKUx Building digital payment solutions on Hedera
The patents come at a time when demand for better payment processes at the item level has increased as customers switch to mobile payments and digital wallets. This changing retail environment is moving toward Web3 and digital asset payments, as well as real-time digital payments, making SKUx’s patents timely.
In his commentary, Guy Berg described the patents as a commitment to offering the best digital payment technology. Berg, the Senior Vice President of the SKUPay Network, stated:
These and several pending patents demonstrate our commitment to developing digital payment innovations that benefit merchants and their valued partners. Merchants don’t want to share their shopping cart information with third parties, and we’re happy to provide a solution that eliminates this need while lowering their adoption costs.
SKUx is one of many startups building their solutions on Hedera, a proof-of-stake blockchain network with Google, IBM, LG and Ubisoft as board members.
Recently, NoviqTech, a publicly traded Australian AI company built on Hedera, was designated Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability in the Google Cloud Partner Advantage Program.
We are happy to share fantastic news: NoviqTech has just been awarded the Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability designation!
@googlecloud @gcloudpartnershttps://t.co/06DZqOZLEo#Sustainability #EcoFriendly #GreenTech #ClimateAction #CarbonNeutral #Innovation pic.twitter.com/XoOOHHOEk7
— NoviqTech (@NoviqTech_) January 10, 2024
