NEW YORK,  NY – September 12, 2019 – LaterPay, the industry-leading platform that offers users immediate, frictionless access to content or services without requiring upfront registration or payment, has appointed John McKinney as Chief Technical Officer. As LaterPay continues to expand and scale up its operations in Europe and North America, McKinney will be responsible for managing the end-to-end development process of the company’s suite of technologies. Based in New York, he will report directly to LaterPay Founder and CEO, Cosmin Ene.

“A dynamic leader, John excels at managing his product and technology teams while also  understanding the wider vision for LaterPay as a whole, and we are extremely pleased to welcome him to the team,” said Ene. “John brings with him a deep understanding of our technology and industry but has also demonstrated the ability to work with different teams and company functions to build out efficiencies across multiple groups and disciplines, which will be essential as LaterPay continues to conquer new markets.

A well-rounded industry veteran, McKinney brings almost 15 years experience in managing diverse teams as well as shepherding companies through the evolution of web technologies. Most recently he has served as CTO of the Boston-based fintech start-up Netcapital as well as the co-founder of [opening riff], a technology investment and consulting group. Earlier in his career, McKinney co-founded Ashe Avenue Development in 2007, specializing in the development of web platforms, native applications, and experiential campaigns, and led the construction of vice.com and other properties for VICE Media. After working for a number of publishing clients, including building multiple lifestyle verticals for AOL.com, Ashe Avenue was acquired by AOL in 2015 and McKinney took on the role of VP of Engineering, AOL Core Products. He holds dual degrees in Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

“LaterPay has created a truly unique and empowering industry model - one that has the potential to fundamentally change the way people perform financial transactions online,” McKinney said. “At the same time, that requires a structured and systematic approach to technical development, which is something I look forward to bringing to the team in this new role. I am very excited to be joining the company at such a pivotal moment.”

LaterPay enables publishers to convert users into subscribers at a higher rate than traditional models and helps publishers to earn revenue with single articles and time passes from readers who never will subscribe. By using LaterPay’s solution, digital publishers and service providers can simultaneously expand existing subscription models, increase paying customer bases and improve user experience.

About LaterPay
LaterPay owns patented technology for enabling micropayments without upfront registration, facilitated by the “use now, pay later” approach. This allows users to consume paid content and services on the internet with one or two clicks — without prior registration or having to pay in advance. It is only when the online tab’s $5 limit is reached that users are prompted to register and pay. LaterPay aims to empower content providers to monetize the vast space that lives between ads and subscriptions. www.laterpay.net

Like seeking shelter from the rain under a bridge, building a business model around a loophole is not a long term strategy. Dealing with the aftermath of closing the Google Chrome’s Incognito mode loophole gives publishers the chance to embrace more user-centric models and engage directly with their audience in order to generate revenues from readers while also protecting their privacy.

With millions of people using news aggregators daily, they’re here to stay. And your phone’s app store has countless options available, from Flipboard to Feedly to Nuzzel. But we’re now entering the age of the Super Aggregators – for want of a better term – and things look set to change. What will the implications be for publishers?

The 2019 GEN Summit saw so much positive awareness about how different monetization models can complement subscriptions. Just like at INMA earlier this year, people are paying attention, listening to the arguments being made, and building their own opinions. In this article for Medium, Cosmin Ene shares his own contribution to the debate when he participated in a panel on the future of publishing and paywalls.

Expanded partnership will allow publishers to better manage communities and convert readers into paying subscribers without friction

NEW YORK,  NY — June 5, 2019 — World Table, the online public engagement platform for the world of journalism, and LaterPay, which offers users immediate, frictionless access to content or services without requiring upfront registration or payment, have announced the expansion of their partnership to help publications build, manage and serve their communities, converting users into subscribed readers. World Table and LaterPay have teamed together to help publishers utilize the World Table platform to collect subscriptions and revenue in new channels, with the shared goal of motivating audiences to pay for high quality content while also elevating the online conversation. 

“Good journalism is worth paying for,” said Bryan Hall, CEO of World Table. “By partnering with LaterPay, we are determined to leverage our platform to provide readers with a space to engage further with authors and publishers and to offer a frictionless way for audiences to financially support journalists and publications for their work.” 

A public benefit company, World Table is committed to supporting and funding effective, responsible, and sustainable journalism. At the heart of this is the company’s recognition that journalism requires an engaged community, providing a forum for civil discourse and public debate and incentivizing readers to act as content creators, curators, and ultimately customers. World Table supports smaller newspapers who are looking to capture the attention of, and grow, their audiences, by helping develop a community of readers and build a subscriber base; larger publications leverage World Table’s suite of tools to manage their audiences filter engaged readers into subscribed users.

“As digital advertising plateaus, publishers are accelerating the pursuit of direct revenue from audiences,” said Hal Bailey, COO of LaterPay. “At the same time, we know that only a very small portion of an audience will commit to a subscription. That’s where LaterPay and World Table come in – identifying new means to monetize publications and their content.”

LaterPay enables publishers to convert engaged users into subscribers at a higher rate and monetize users unlikely to ever subscribe by offering them immediate access to content that they pay for later. By using LaterPay’s solution, digital publishers and service providers can simultaneously expand existing subscription models, increase paying customer bases and improve user experience.

About World Table
World Table makes online engagement tools for publishers, editors, and journalists specifically in the news industry. World Table has a complete suite of audience engagement tools, including one of the best, easiest-to-use online commenting systems and a highly effective, yet low maintenance moderation system. All our tools are fully integrated with TownNews’ BLOX CMS, and install in a matter of minutes. For more about World Table PBC www.worldtable.co

About LaterPay
LaterPay owns patented technology for enabling micropayments without upfront registration, facilitated by the “use now, pay later” approach. This allows users to consume paid content and services on the internet with one or two clicks — without prior registration or having to pay in advance. It is only when the online tab’s $5 limit is reached that users are prompted to register and pay. LaterPay aims to empower content providers to monetize the vast space that lives between ads and subscriptions. www.laterpay.net

There used to be two ways to read a news article — buy a subscription or buy a “Single Copy” of the newspaper at the newsstand. Today that has changed — online, publishers for the most part rely on only one direct revenue model, the subscription, and the single copy has been lost. At LaterPay, we are proposing to bring the single copy back in the form of a 24-hour pass to a publication’s entire website or app. Think of it as a “Digital Single Copy.” 

2019 is set to be the most challenging year yet for journalism, and editors and journalists alike face an enormous task: finding a way to incorporate readers into the publishing equation in order to remain profitable. In this article, LaterPay Founder and CEO, Cosmin Ene, proposes five truths that publishers must recognize this year in order to successfully monetize their digital content and keep their readers, rather than their investors, top of mind.

Today’s news publishers are facing difficult situations, among them selecting the best membership model suited for their consumers. LaterPay spoke with Editor & Publisher  about its new initiative inspired by the newsstand paper. Called the digital single copy, it is essentially a 24-hour pass to a publication’s entire website or app.

The holy grail of payments providers working within the digital media space is, and has been, converting users to subscribers. The roadblock: How do you ease consumers that are used to getting their content for free into paying for content?

Rather than looking to the future and trying to predict the shiny, new technology and solution that will solve our current woes, we would be better served looking into and improving upon the solutions already available to us.