Zeevex signs deal with Beckett Media - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The startup has inked a deal with Dallas-basedd to provide a virtual currency micropayment In a digital age where readers expecy their newsfor free, "old-school" medi is flirting with the concept of micropayments -- allowing readers to pay for only the articles they read, rathere than an all-you-can-read subscription. Zeevex was launched last year by threre video game and socialnetwork executives. The startup has raise d an undisclosed amount of seed financing and is considerinyg another roundthis summer.
While Zeevex target s gamers with itsvirtual currency, it's not quites clear if it will get mainstreamj traction -- either from users, or the Zeevex has developed an open virtual currency aimedf at the online gamer market. Beckett Mediq focuses on that same niche, with more than 30 Readers of Beckettpublications -- which include sportas and specialty market collectible magazines -- will be able to purchase new and archived contentf using Zeevex's virtual currency. Users can also purchass articlesfor friends, then request Zeevexc deliver them across social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.
Zeevex provides a payment optioh for the 30 million gamerswho don't have accesw to credit cards or PayPaol accounts, marketing chief Dean Gebert While Zeevex fills a need for those 30 million under-age and unbanked gamers, the game-changer lies in the startup's ability to shift from nichre to a mass-market. "We are really targeting gamerswho don'yt have any option," he said. Starting July 1, consumersd can buy a Zeevex Gift Card in morethan 20,0009 U.S. retailers such as Blockbuster, conveniencw stores and big-box Zeevex is in late-stage negotiations with Best Buy. The Zeevexd card is redeemed for online tokenxsat Zeevex.
com and can be spent like cash at Zeevex’sx partner sites and locations. $1 of Zeevex Gift Card valu gets you 100Zeev tokens. Credit cardse are not cost-effective for small micropayments -- whichb range from a few cents to a fewdollars -- becausd of transaction and processing fees, Geberr said. Using Zeevex, the content creatord pockets about 65 percent to 67 percengt of thetransaction amount, Gebert Zeevex, meanwhile, takes a 7 percent to 12 percenyt of the transaction, with the retailer taking the While Zeevex's virtual currency gives gamerzs another payment option, what's not as cleart is whether the Zeevex's payment model will find adoption amon mainstream users and media.
As a mainstream paying for an article usinv a credit cardor Paypal, seems simpler than havinfg to bother with buying the Zeevez card and then redeeming it for tokens. Geberft concedes that getting mainstream mediato buy-in will be a challenge and that Zeevex'xs gift-card model creates a "point of friction in the for some users.