The mobile payment network LevelUp has released a new software development kit meant to help developers easily integrate mobile payments into their own applications. The company said the LevelUp SDK is part of its ongoing strategy to create an open platform for mobile payments, with easy access for merchants, consumers and developers.

The kit is a set of tools that lets developers build on a specific platform or integrate some desirable functionality built by other developers, according to a news release. SDKs can be broad, the company said, enabling the creation of entirely new apps (such as Apple's iOS SDK) or more specific, letting developers integrate existing functionality into their own apps (for example, Facebook's social SDK).

According to the release, LevelUp's SDK is more similar to Facebook's than Apple's; developers can now add mobile payment-specific functionality to their new or existing applications.

Among the kit's core tools:

• Log-in/Registration: Log-in to a LevelUp account or create one on the spot within an existing app.
• Display Payment Code: Display a user's payment QR Code right within the app. QR codes are secure tokens that easily can be changed at any time.
• Receipts: Register an app with LevelUp and receive push receipts directly within the app after a transaction takes place.
• Transaction History: Access (with permission) a user's past transactions.
• Campaign Claiming: Scan QR Codes to unlock credit from within an app.
• Places: Pull up locations for a specific business or display all places nearby.
• Securely Add/Manage Cards: Easily manage card preferences in the app.

The SDK is only available to select beta partners thus far, the company said, but more than 50 apps are being developed with more coming on-board each day.

Learn more about in-app payments.