There 's a problem haunting the digital-coupon world : Once people use a coupon , they usually do n't come back . But Seth Priebatsch , the young founder of a game-life app called SCVNGR and one of the foremost thinkers on using technology to make life more of a game , says he has a fix for that . It 's an app called LevelUp , and it 's launching in two new cities -- New York and San Francisco -- on Wednesday , Priebatsch said . `` The data ( about the app 's use ) has been just so freaking off-the-charts amazing , '' he said . In pilot cities where the app is already available -- Philadelphia and Boston -- more than 40 % of the people who used the app to make a purchase came back to the same retail store within a month , Priebatsch said . Other coupon sites are reported to have lower return rates . A Groupon spokeswoman declined to comment or provide statistics for this story . The difference with LevelUp , says Priebatsch , is in ease of use and game mechanics . Here 's how you use it : LevelUp users download an app and link it to a credit card . The app generates a unique QR code ( those black-and-white checkerboard things ) , which can be scanned at stores to make a payment and to earn LevelUp deals . This happens all at once . If you 're at the Kingston Station Restaurant in Boston , for example , and you pay with LevelUp , then you automatically get a $ 10 discount that 's offered through the app . Compare that with Groupons , which you have to buy in advance , print out and take with you to the store or restaurant . LevelUp works right in the moment . The app also builds in an incentive for you to return to that business . As its name suggests , customers `` level up '' when they make purchases , letting them unlock better and better deals as they return to a location over and over again . In the Kingston Station example , you 'll earn a $ 20 discount after you 've spent a total of $ 150 at that restaurant . It 's a digital version of those punch-card coupons , but there 's not a paper card to lose , and it gets punched automatically when you pay with the app . The app is also toying with more game-like features in the future . This makes sense in part because Priebatsch is also the founder of SCVNGR , a real-world game app that takes users on scavenger hunts through parks , museums and businesses . If you take a friend to lunch and pay with the app , each of you gets a $ 5 coupon , for example . And , in the future , the company is working on a promotion called Make It Rain , in which you 'll get a special discount if you make a purchase at a LevelUp merchant while it 's raining in your city , since that 's when restaurants are slow . The app is adding social and game-like features slowly to avoid `` the Blippy dichotomy of doom , '' he said , referring to a social site that lets users automatically share their credit card purchases on Twitter , freaking many people out . It 's also worth noting that LevelUp does n't take a cut of your purchases , which , according to Priebatsch , makes it a better deal for the businesses that use it . `` The coolest part -- and there 's some magic here -- is that when you pay with LevelUp , the merchant actually pays about 50 % less in their payment processing fees than the card that you would have paid with in the first place , '' he said . Instead , he said , LevelUp charges participating businesses a monthly fee of $ 55 after an initial three-month trial period during which the service is free . The app has 100,000 users in Boston and Philadelphia , he said , and LevelUp deals are available in about 500 businesses in those two test cities . About 800 businesses in San Francisco and New York have signed up with the service , he said , but not all will be active at the time of the app 's launch in those cities Wednesday . If you give the app a try , let us know what you think in the comments section .
LevelUp is an app that offers deals and payments . The app launches in New York and San Francisco on Wednesday . Users link a credit card to the app ; when they pay , they automatically get discounts . Comment: