LEAPIN Digital Keys, a relatively new player in the security industry, entered the field with a vision: to ensure an easy and fast check-in experience at hotels and resorts via the digital key technology.
LEAPIN Digital Keys, a relatively new player in the security industry, entered the field with a vision: to ensure an easy and fast check-in experience at hotels and resorts via the digital key technology.
“We are offering a SDK to lock manufacturers to ‘make their locks smart.’ We’re also offering an API to property management system companies, booking engine companies, channel manager companies, and hotel wholesalers to offer complete smartphone self check-in,” said Steve Dunn, CEO and Co-Founder LEAPIN Digital Keys. “What is unique about our offering is that guests can book in exactly the same way they do now at online travel agencies (OTAs), such as Expedia or the hotel channels, and receive their time sensitive digital key on their smartphone which only works for the duration of their check-in.”
The company’s focus on digital key access stems from a disdain for traditional access technologies. “We were sick and tired during our travels of lockouts in hotels from mag-stripe key cards demagnetizing, from long queues to check-in, and for making complicated arrangements to pick up keys in smaller hotels, resorts, and B&B’s after hours,” Dunn said. “We offer the opportunity for guests to self check-in through the OTAs tailored for small to medium resorts and hotels, whereas we understand our larger competitor’s offering is only tailored to work for large hotel groups.”
The company has set out a clear strategy to achieve future growth. “Our company plans to partner with as many lock manufacturers as possible and with as many other companies in the hospitality industry,” he said. “We have already signed partnering deals with two existing large lock manufacturers and two large hospitality companies. Our strategy is directly targeting the companies that we believe will benefit the most from the value of our product offerings.”
He continued: “We intend to grow our lock manufacturer partners from two to six in addition to increasing our hospitality partners from a few to lots. We also expect to support our partners to help them roll out digital keys and smartphone self check-in to thousands of hotels/resorts across the globe. The trend to digital keys rollouts has now been set by the hotel chain leaders, such as Hilton, Starwood, and Accor hotels who have all announced plans and investments to roll-out digital keys in hundreds of thousands of rooms over the next couple of years.”
While LEAPIN is still young in the industry, it couldn’t have entered the market at a more opportune time, said Dunn. “We have found the security market is typically steeped in a ‘non-technical culture’ – that is software development, smartphone apps, and electronic engineering do not generally have a big presence, budgets, or R&D programs in the established lock manufacturers. Our company can fill these ‘tech’ gaps or ‘smart security solution’ gaps for lock manufacturers,” he said.
Product Adopted:Hospitality