Mobile Payment Magazine

ING Direct Launches Mobile Banking App for BlackBerry PlayBook

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ING Direct Canada has announced the launch of a BlackBerry PlayBook App to its suite of mobile banking applications. According to the company, ING Direct was the first bank in Canada to offer a BlackBerry App, iPhone App and mobile website simultaneously last year, and has since added iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7 Apps.

The company’s new PlayBook App, released today, will let Canadian consumers bank from their BlackBerry PlayBook devices. The App allows clients to check their account balances, review transactions, transfer funds, buy and sell The Streetwise Funds, and get directions and hours of operation for the ING Direct Cafés.

“We know that mobile banking today represents what the ABM did in the 1980’s – the future of banking,” said Peter Aceto, President and CEO of ING Direct. “Mobile banking Apps give people the ability to have their own personal branch in their pocket. This is the future of banking and our PlayBook App is another example of ING DIRECT leading the industry in mobile banking and helping Canadians stay closer to their money, something we’ve been advocating for 14 years.”

Source: ING Direct

Global Mobile Software Market to Reach $79.7 Billion by 2017

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Proliferation of mobile computing devices, such as, mobile phones, laptops, palm computers, and the rise in the number of supporting platforms, such as, Android, has resulted in the development of several killer mobile software and applications revolving around device customization, internet connectivity, and other mobile computer related activities.

With mobile computing devices quickly transforming from an emerging niche market to a mainstream force, changing not only the way people conduct business, but arguably the consumer electronics and telecommunication industry as a whole, the global market for mobile software, a key enabler of these mobile devices continues to remain promising.

Growing popularity of mobile communication applications such as email, IM, mobile video, on device portals, Internet browsers, Internet web, and social network clients, multimedia applications such as presentation viewers, video players, audio players, graphics/image viewers, word processors, and spreadsheets, among others provides tremendous opportunities for global mobile software market.

Growing use of smartphones especially opens up the channel for development of innovative software and consumer applications, driving demand for next-generation mobile software. Top consumer mobile applications for upcoming years, including Location-Based Services, Money Transfer, Mobile Browsing, Mobile Health Monitoring, Mobile Search, Near Field Communication Services, Mobile Payment, Mobile Instant Messaging, Mobile Advertising and Mobile Music are all expected to drive present substantial market opportunities for mobile software market in the years to come. Location based services such as Location Enabled Search and Location based Social Network Services in particular are expected to increase in popularity over the next few years, thereby driving gains into the market.

The Asia-Pacific region is the most prominent regional market for mobile software. Growth in the Asia-Pacific mobile software market is particularly driven by growing craze for smartphones and other mobile devices in emerging markets such as China and India. Increased demand for mobile email and other Internet enabled services within the burgeoning corporate sector in these countries also augurs well for the market. User Interface (UI) and Applications represent the largest product segment, while Mobile Device Management (MDM) market represents the fastest growing product segment, waxing at a CAGR of more than 23% over the analysis period.

Major players in the marketplace include ACCESS Co. Ltd., Apple Inc., Electronic Arts Inc., Google Inc., InnoPath Software Inc., Microsoft Corporation, MFormation Technologies Inc., Nokia Corporation, Red Bend Software Inc., Research In Motion Limited, Smith Micro Software Inc., Sybase Inc., The Symbian Foundation, among others.

A new research report entitled “Mobile Software: A Global Strategic Business Report” has been released by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.,  The report provides a comprehensive review of market trends, issues, drivers, company profiles, and key strategic industry activities.

Market estimates and projections are presented for major geographic markets including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of World. Product segments analyzed include – User Interface (UI) and Applications, Application Execution Environment (AEE) and Operating System (OS) Software.

More information: Mobile Software: A Global Strategic Business Report

Source: PR Web

Apple and Square to Partner for iPhone 5 Mobile Payments?

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One of the most common iPhone 5 rumours is about Near Field Communication (NFC), the technology that allows mobile payments with a wave or “tap” of a device. Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter and mobile payment company Square, is now officially available in the iPhone store.

Radu Tyrsina at IT Pro Portal, “Square seems to be a pretty comfortable way to perform mobile payments. The device that one uses to perform the card credit swipe is a small square-shaped object that can be attached to an iPhone, iPad or other smart device to perform the transaction. This throws into doubt whether the iPhone 5 will come with NFC technology after all.”

via ITProPortal.com.

American Express and Payfone Partner for Global Mobile Checkout

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American Express  and Payfone  today announced a strategic alliance to create and power a new global mobile checkout service. As part of the agreement, Payfone will combine its advanced mobile authorization and payment services with American Express’ recently launched digital payments platform, Serve.

Working together, Serve and Payfone will provide consumers with the ability to make purchases from online merchants using their mobile phone number at checkout. Consumers will be able to link their mobile numbers to a variety of payment methods including their pre-or-postpaid mobile operator account, as well as via a customer’s Serve account.

“This alliance brings together Serve’s unified online, mobile and real-world functionality with Payfone’s advanced mobile authorization and payment services to deliver a seamless payment solution,” said Dan Schulman, Group President, Enterprise Growth, American Express. “The alliance is an important next step for the international roll out of Serve. We look forward to working with Payfone as we evolve the Serve platform to provide the most advanced payment solutions for buyers and sellers, while setting new standards in security, simplicity and reliability.”

Payfone can leverage the existing assets of mobile operators, such as the global SS7 signaling network for directly connected payment authorization and processing. This approach distinguishes Payfone from other competitors.

Payfone’s IP focuses on driving merchant’s sales conversion and revenue yield while managing fraud using new factors of authentication that are inherent in the mobile operator networks. For consumers, it means greater choice in payment methods and the most frictionless user experience, across any device.

“This relationship will be a defining force in the industry. By teaming up with American Express’ new digital payments platform, Serve, we are not only delivering greater choice to consumers and merchants, with one of the most comprehensive and advanced e-wallets in the industry, we are also enabling mobile operators to participate in the transaction flow and benefit from an entirely new revenue source,” said Rodger Desai, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Payfone. “Over 5 billion people worldwide currently have mobile phones, however less than 2 billion have credit cards. It’s our goal to make the mobile phone number the new accepted way to pay. We look forward to working with American Express and our mobile operator partners in defining and driving the mobile payments industry.

Source: Business Wire

TelChina and China Mobile to Build Mobile Payment Solution With .TEL Extension

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TelChina and China Mobile have entered into a strategic relationship to develop Mobile-Pay services on the .tel platform, according to Telnic Limited, the registry operator for the .tel top level domain (TLD).

“As .tel combines advantages of both the Internet and telecommunications, it will be able to provide an efficient and integrated communications platform for customers of China Mobile in the future. The engagement levels of .tel owners will also bring new vitality to Mobile-Pay, attracting more people to use their mobile phones in making payments, which in turn will increase revenues for operators,” said Lucy Wang, CEO of TelChina.

Telnic announced that project development will be divided into several phases. The first phase is expected to be live in early May, 2011, which will enable China Mobile customers to purchase and renew their .tel names via a Mobile-Pay portal using their mobile devices.

Following the implementation of the mobile payment solution, users will also be able to use their China Mobile credits to pay in part or full for their .tel names later this year.

According to Xie Gang, China Mobile’s Mobile-Pay spokesperson, “Mobile-Pay is migrating from its 1.0 era, which is mainly based on SMS, to its 2.0 era, which is based on WAP and sensor-based terminals. This collaboration with TelChina will not only help customers simplify the payment process, but also provide an optimized platform for China Mobile services. On this platform, users will not have to log on to various websites for payment, but accomplish it through the clicking of a Mobile-Pay link on a .tel page.”

China Mobile will also create a dedicated channel for .tel users to  pay for online purchases and other services such as  utility bills and cable TV subscriptions.

Using China Mobile’s PSTN and IP network, through web, SMS, WAP and IVR interfaces, customers will be also  able to fulfill e-commerce operations such as opening an account, checking their balance, submitting payments and withdrawing cash.

Source: PR Newswire

Ingenico NFC payments technology certified by GIE Cartes Bancaires

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Ingenico, a provider of payment solutions, was just awarded by Groupement des Cartes Bancaires the first certification for the acceptation of contactless payment by card or mobile phone, delivered in France to a provider of terminals and payment solutions.

Groupement des Cartes Bancaires issued Bulletin no. 12 V2 concerning the “deployment of contactless acceptation.” The bulletin takes account of the specifications used in the mobile payment experiments “Payez Mobile” in the cities of Caen and Strasbourg and those of “Nice, contactless city”. All registered “digital cities” (currently Bordeaux, Caen, Lille, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse) will base themselves on those specifications, thereby speeding up the development of contactless payment in France.

According to Frédéric Leclef, Managing Director of Ingenico France, The principle of contactless payment is well known in France. Users are willing to change terminals to take advantage of this new technology”.

Right from the start, Ingenico adopted NFC for transport applications, then payment. This certification is a new and decisive asset for the propagation of contactless technology.

Source: Ingenico

BilltoMobile Announces More Merchant Sign-ups

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BilltoMobile, a  mobile payments company that provides direct carrier billing, has chalked up several new merchant agreements.

BilltoMobile is the only mobile payments processor that has been contracted to provide direct carrier billing at all of the top three U.S. mobile operators, and BilltoMobile’s reach and rates provide digital merchants tools for  mobile billing.

The newly announced partnerships include Aeria Games, one of the fastest growing publishers of free-to-play online games in the world; Flirtomatic, a fast-rising mobile dating site; Gala-Net, a leading free-to-play online games market; Lavalife.com, a North American dating site; and Xtranormal, a  movie making site where, “If you can type, you can make movies.”

BilltoMobile’s new partners provided the following insights for using direct carrier payments:

  • “Lavalife.com offers a safe, simple way for singles to meet. With their easy payment mechanism and secure connection to top wireless carriers, BilltoMobile was the clear choice.” — Balraj Dhillon, director of business development, Lavalife.com
  • “BilltoMobile has been great to work with. Integration was easy and their transaction model is a natural fit for our business.” — Graham Sharp, CEO, Xtranormal
  • “Flirtomatic brings together a rapidly growing community of very mobile-centric users, so offering direct carrier billing through BilltoMobile just made sense.” — Gary Cohen, vice president and general manager, Flirtomatic North America
  • “We understand the importance of mobile payments and look forward to growing this segment of our business with BilltoMobile.” — Jikhan Jung, CEO, Gala-Net

These newly announced relationships come on the heels of several major U.S. carrier integration agreements and reseller partnerships that BilltoMobile has announced over the past year, making way for more than 240 million consumers nationwide to charge online purchases to their post-paid wireless bill with convenience and security. On a growing number of participating merchant sites, mobile subscribers now have instant access to BilltoMobile’s web purchase option, which offers consumers a fast, simple, secure payment option. BilltoMobile requires no registration, no need to set or remember any username or passwords, no downloads or apps — and items are directly billed to the consumer’s mobile phone account. Purchases are completed in seconds using a two-step authentication process supported by BilltoMobile’s direct connections with U.S. carriers’ billing platforms, and customers don’t have to expose any sensitive account information while using the service.

“Consumers appreciate the added convenience, flexibility and security for their online purchases,” said Steve Klebe, vice president of business development, BilltoMobile. “BilltoMobile is the only mobile payments gateway that can provide online merchants the financial grade technology infrastructure and broad consumer reach necessary to provide their customers with a viable mobile payment option. We’re pleased to work with these leading digital merchants to make our service even more widely available to consumers.”

Through BilltoMobile, merchants and authorized resellers receive lower processing fees and dispute rates than previously available via the legacy approach to carrier billing. BilltoMobile’s Direct Mobile Billing (DMB) platform involves real-time direct connections with the carrier’s billing system, advanced carrier-direct authentication systems and a direct real-time connection between the BilltoMobile service and the carrier’s customer care systems.

Source: MarketWire

Motorola Employees Credit Union to Offer Mobile Banking

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Card Services for Credit Unions (CSCU) recently announced that Motorola Employees Credit Union (MECU) is now offering its members a full suite of mobile banking services, including Downloadable Apps for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, SMS Text Banking and a universal Mobile Browser App, through a partnership with CSCU and MShift, Inc.

“Just as technology is rapidly expanding, so are our members’ financial services needs,” stated John Fiore, President/CEO of MECU. “We’re very pleased to be able to deliver this mobile banking solution and provide members the information they need anytime, anywhere.”

“CSCU is committed to providing more than 3,000 member credit unions with the latest industry trends and services that keep them on the leading edge,” said Robert Hackney, president of CSCU. “As a part of that commitment, CSCU has partnered with MShift to leverage their exclusive patented technology to bring member credit unions a holistic solution that’s carrier and content agnostic. In addition, by leveraging this new strategic partnership and CSCU’s pooled volumes, member credit unions are eligible for significant savings and superior value.”

“MShift is committed to providing CSCU members comprehensive mobile solutions that can be integrated — quickly, inexpensively and flexibly,” stated Scott Moeller, CEO of MShift.

CSCU/MShift Mobile Banking line up is expanding to add Mobile Deposit. Mobile Deposit will be available soon to all CSCU members that have CSCU/MShift Downloadable Apps for the iPhone and/or Android.

Source: PR-USA

Amazon Exploring NFC Payment Service for Brick and Mortar Stores

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Amazon.com Inc. is considering the introduction of a service that would let consumers pay for goods in brick-and-mortar stores using their mobile phones, according to two people with knowledge of the project.

The company’s Amazon Payments unit is exploring whether to start a service based on so-called near-field-communication technology, said the people, who asked not to be named because the project isn’t public.

via Businessweek.

Visa and Samsung Partner to Offer NFC Mobile Payments

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Samsung and Visa have announced plans to bring NFC payment technology to the market as part of their sponsorships of London 2012, enabling consumers to make mobile payments using the Samsung Olympic and Paralympic Games mobile handset.

Samsung Electronics Visa are combining their sponsorship assets and technologies to ensure that the Olympic and Paralympic Games mobile handset available to the general public will be equipped with technology that enables mobile payments, Near Field Communications (NFC) and Visa’s contactless payment technology. To make payments, customers simply select the Visa mobile contactless application, select pay and hold the phone in front of a contactless reader at the point of purchase.

Visa is working with banks and retailers worldwide to roll-out acceptance for Visa contactless cards, as well as mobile phones, as part of an industry wide roll-out of contactless technology. In London there are already more than 60,000 locations where contactless payments are accepted and contactless and electronic card payments will be available in the run-up to and during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. With the momentum to commercialize mobile payments globally, consumers will be able to make mobile contactless payments in the run up to and during the Games in many countries around the world.

Samsung and Visa will work together to provide the contactless enabled Olympics handset to Visa and Samsung sponsored athletes as part of this initiative. Samsung and Visa also plan to make the handset available for consumers to purchase through mobile network operators and other distributors. A Visa-enabled SIM card will be required for use with the device in order to make purchases at retailers who have the contactless payment system.

“Visa, like Samsung, shares the vision of leveraging our Olympic and Paralympic Games sponsorship to leave a lasting legacy in the market for banks, retailers, mobile operators and consumers. We are not only breaking new ground for Olympic partnerships, we are committed to enabling consumers to connect with mobile and contactless payments technology for 2012 and beyond,” said Peter Ayliffe, CEO of Visa Europe. “We look forward to working with financial institutions and mobile operators alongside Samsung to make this initiative a success.”

“Innovation is a key business driver for Visa and mobile payments are one of the main areas we’re focusing on. The Olympic and Paralympic Games enables us to accelerate our business goals and this partnership plays a large role in achieving them,” said Mariano Dima, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Payment Solutions at Visa Europe.

“As a pioneer in mobile technology, Samsung is striving for long term change in the way we use mobile payments. In London next year, we regard the greatest show on earth as the perfect opportunity to showcase how this technology can make a positive difference to people’s lives – enabling them to feel closer to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This mobile payment device will be available in the UK initially, and we plan to expand the service to other countries in Europe and around the world where contactless payment facilities are available in the near future,” said Seokpil Kim, President & CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe.

Gyehyun Kwon, Vice President & Head of Worldwide Sports Marketing, Samsung Electronics added, “This marks the very first partnership between two Worldwide Olympic Partners of the London 2012 Games. We are delighted to be joining forces with Visa to make the Olympic Games more accessible and convenient for everyone. This fits extremely well with our ambition to enable more people to participate in the Games through our smart technology.”

Visa and Samsung will work with mobile network operators, financial institutions and retailers around the world to bring the convenience, security and reliability of Visa’s contactless technology to mobile users worldwide. Currently, Visa mobile payments are being rolled out in countries across the globe including Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Brazil, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the United States.

Source: BusinessWire