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CompanyProfile

Driving next-generation payments

n 2010, when digital and mobile technology expert
Christopher Brunner was installing a new short
message service (SMS) system on a large retailer's
I network, he had an epiphany. "I was rolling out
the SMS platform for Walmart Pharmacy and realized
the world was changing," recalled Brunner, founder and
chief executive officer of AUTHVIA Inc. "It occurred to
me the next obvious SMS step would be payments, elimi-
nating the need for people to stand in line for 10 minutes
just to make a payment."
ISO/MLS contact:
When he began researching, Brunner was surprised Christopher Brunner
to find no mainstream SMS payment applications. "I
honestly thought it was available, because we'd already Founder and CEO
seen applications for text donations, but I couldn't find
anything being done with the processors," he said. 562-567-6776
chris@authviacom
Four years later, he launched a software company in
El Segundo, Calif., with the intention of building a
frictionless text-to-pay application. According to Brunner,
AUTHVIA's technology was designed to help merchants more intelligent conversations into the user experience.
easily accelerate cash flow by enabling them to take "direct "Helping you, as the consumer, stay in touch with when
customer payment over any digital communications you owe, what you owe and when you want to pay is
channel, including SMS, social, chat, etc., without the use where our development team is focused lately," he said.
of external links, apps or websites."

First stop, integrations Brunner also pointed out that AUTHVIA's leadership
team is concentrating on pacing growth and smart
Brunner's engineering team focused initially on integrating operational scaling to meet an influx of new merchant
with major processors, providing their portfolios with and ISV clients. Overall, the CEO indicated, business has
direct SMS payment services. AUTHVIA also introduced been ramping up at a rapid clip due to "greater awareness
its application programming interface to independent and acceptance of the conversational payments model
software vendors (ISVs) integrating payment data into and current environmental factors that are accelerating
merchant-facing business management applications. And consumer demand for contactless payments."
a diverse set of partners gives AUTHVIA the unique Perseverance and persistent vision
advantage of being agnostic and more secure, Brunner
noted. As far as AUTHVIA's approach to the changing tide,
Brunner believes one thing has consistently worked
"Our seamless model enhances the payment experience throughout the firm's existence. "I feel like every step
for both the payer and payee, eliminates potential points of the way, there's been some boogie man out there –
of failure, and shifts PCI burden to the consumer," he said. competitors, legal, funding, viability and so on," Brunner
"Social conversations between merchants and consumers said. "You have to always assume someone's chasing
are increasing, and contactless forms of payment are also you, and keep trying to innovate and push, because the
gaining popularity. It's all about the customer experience, number one thing is perseverance."
and it's becoming critically important for merchants to be
equipped with frictionless options for accepting digital Not surprisingly, the AUTHVIA team's underlying grit
payments in today's world." and intuitive business approach is helping the company's
Traveling an unpaved road owner see further into the future. Brunner envisions an
AUTHVIA wallet consumers can use to cover expenses
Brunner admits the journey hasn't always been an easy and a number of ongoing day-to-day purchases.
one. "Everything we needed to get this product to market,
we had to build, since there was no road map," he said. "The beauty of some of our big partnerships in spaces like
utilities, automotive and pharmacies is over 15 percent of
Fast forward, and new challenges are in front of a merchant's customer base in each market will already be
AUTHVIA's development team. According to Brunner, able to pay with AUTHVIA's wallet technology," Brunner
now that the firm has streamlined its offering, one of the said. "Customers may never have to be reminded to pay a
biggest hurdles the company faces today is how to build bill again."
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