Tapit: new iPhone app
Today, as I was scanning through a few articles on some of my favorite blogs, I stumbled upon an article that wrote about a new iPhone app called Tapit. Tapit is a new iPhone app created by Swisscom. It is an iPhone app that was designed to make all of our lives easier and it is one of the newest apps to be released amongst a recent surge of interest in mobile apps that allow you to pay for groceries, coffees and more with just a tap of the finger.
Tapit was released about a month ago and it is called itself the “Swiss wallet of the future”. Essentially, with Tapit, people throughout Switzerland will now be able to pay for their groceries at the supermarket, their coffees at Starbucks and their burgers at McDonalds with a single tap of their iPhone. Once you’ve ordered your NFC SIM card and downloaded the Tapit app, you only need to look for the contactless logo and you can instantly make payments for goods throughout Switzerland and in certain locations worldwide.
Tapit device terminal with contactless logo
Tapit is new but by no means is it the first of its kind. There has been much talk in recent years of moving us, the consumers, away from our dependence on plastic cards and cash and towards a more mobile-friendly payment based system for the future. Japan, as a matter of fact, has been paying for goods with their cell phones for years and the mobile payment movement is also quite strong throughout Europe. It is really only in the US and Canada that these new mobile payment apps have been slower to catch on but alas, they are catching on. Scan It! is a mobile app created by Modiv that allows shoppers in Stop & Shop, a U.S supermarket chain, to use their iPhones to scan and pay for their groceries. For years, Starbucks has also been using a mobile app in the US that allows its customers to pay for their coffees with their iPhones, iPod Touches and their Blackberrys.
Tapit has huge potential to be another leader in this new and emerging market. With its present focus being on the Swiss market, I predict that this app will quickly spread through Europe and possibly even trickle into the US market. Personally, what I think sets Tapit apart from the other forerunners in its field is it’s branding, logo and marketing campaign. These three aspects of a business can really make or break a product and so far as to what I have seen from Tapit, they seem to be doing everything right.
Tapit logo 2014
The Tapit logo is simple, modern and uncluttered. I like the clear and simple typeface that they decided to use and I especially like how they staggered the ‘tap’ from the ‘it’. When written, I feel like the words ‘tapit’ are not at all recognizable as two separate words and this could have affected how well customers remember this product. However, by staggered the two words ‘tap’ and ‘it’ in such a way as they have done, I feel like this eliminates any confusion and instantly makes the individual words unmistakably unique. I also really like their color scheme of blues and greens as well as their website which is extremely clear and easy to navigate.
Tapit website
I will watch closely to see what happens with Tapit in the coming years and we will soon find out if their product is a success in Switzerland and if their marketing campaign, logo and branding are enough to keep it ahead of its competition.