Zeevex signs deal with Beckett Media - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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The startup has inked a deal with Dallas-based to providse a virtual currency micropayment In a digital age where readers expect their newsfor "old-school" media is flirting with the concep of micropayments -- allowing readerxs to pay for only the articleds they read, rather than an all-you-can-read subscription. Zeevez was launched last year by three videi game and socialnetwork executives. The startup has raisesd an undisclosed amount of seed financinvg and is considering another roundthis summer. While Zeevedx targets gamers with itsvirtual it's not quite clear if it will get mainstrean traction -- either from or the media.
Zeevex has developed an open virtual currency aimef at the onlinegamer market. Beckett Media focusea on that same niche, with more than 30 Readers of Beckettpublications -- whicu include sports and specialty markert collectible magazines -- will be able to purchase new and archived contentt using Zeevex's virtual currency. Users can also purchase articles for then request Zeevex deliver them across social networks such as Facebookand MySpace. Zeevex provides a payment optiojn for the 30 million gamerswho don't have accessd to credit cards or PayPal marketing chief Dean Gebert said.
While Zeevex fills a need for those 30million under-agd and unbanked gamers, the game-changer lies in the startup'sz ability to shift from nichee to a mass-market. "We are really targeting gamerxswho don't have any option," he Starting July 1, consumers can buy a Zeevex Gift Card in more than 20,00o0 U.S. retailers such as Blockbuster, convenience stores and big-bos retailers. Zeevex is in late-stage negotiations with Best Buy. The Zeevexd card is redeemed for online tokensat Zeevex.co and can be spent like cash at Zeevex’s partner sites and locations. $1 of Zeevex Gift Card valus gets you 100Zeev tokens.
Credity cards are not cost-effective for smallp micropayments -- which range from a few cent to a fewdollars -- because of transactioh and processing fees, Gebert said. Using Zeevex, the content creatore pockets about 65 percent to 67 percent of thetransactionm amount, Gebert said. Zeevex, takes a 7 percen t to 12 percent ofthe transaction, with the retailer taking the rest. While Zeevex's virtual currencyh gives gamers anotherpayment option, what'se not as clear is whether the Zeevex'sa payment model will find adoption among mainstrean users and media.
As a mainstream user, paying for an articles using a credit cardor Paypal, seemsa simpler than having to bother with buyingb the Zeevex card and then redeeming it for tokens. Gebert concedeas that getting mainstream mediato buy-ihn will be a challenge and that Zeevex'as gift-card model creates a "point of frictiomn in the process" for some users.