Mobile Payment Magazine

Google Moves Even Stronger Into Mobile Marketing and Payments with Acquisition of Zetawire

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Back in November, Google’s Eric Schmidt teased the crowd at Web 2.0 about Google’s plans for NFC mobile payments using the Android OS, and introduced the Samsung Nexus S running Gingerbread and an NFC chip by NXP. It turns out that as early as August, according to the 451 Group, a technology industry Analyst company, Google  also had purchased Canadian stealth startup Zetawire, which likely has a product built around a payment, identity management and advertising system, based on Zetawire’s open patent application.

Google is moving quickly into the mobile payment arena, but with Google, it’s a lot more than just payments. The company has also been active around location-based and mobile marketing and advertising with the launch of the more robust Google Places and its new Hotspot service. Now, with Near Field Communication (NFC) coming closer to reality (led by Google’s Android OS Nexus S smartphone), the company is increasingly well-positioned to capitalize on the coming boom in mobile payments:

  • Android smartphones (Nexus S), with built-in Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities
  • Google Places and Hotspot, a fast-growing directory of businesses, along with a Marketing/Advertising platform (remember, Google controls online search results also, which often display Google Places company listings)
  • Mobile marketing
  • Google Checkout

Now covering the spectrum of actions from the search, to the ad or merchant listing, to the click, to the promotion coupon to the payment, Google has a lot of touch-points to profit from, and to track ROI.

While some of Google’s previous efforts to branch out its offering of services have withered (Social Networking, for example), the company caught a huge break while Apple’s iPhone was stuck at ATT by launching the very successful Android OS for a generation of smartphones running on alternate networks such as Verizon’s.  By August of this year, Nielsen reported that new smartphone subscribers choosing Android phones were at 27 percent, surpassing Apple iPhone’s 23% share.

References: TechCrunch; Mashable

Kaizen Communications Partners with Billing Tree for Mobile Payments

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Kaizen Communications, a mobile tech firm specializing in mobile payments, distribution of mobile content and mobile campaign management, has announced a partnership on-demand payment processor, Billing Tree. Kaizen was recently acquired by Sunset Brands, Inc.

Billing Tree offers a suite of payment solutions ranging from web payments to check conversions, and is currently processing over 3.4 million transactions per month. The company provides every available option for accepting payments without the need for additional software.

Kaizen’s mobile payment and billing reminder software, Kpay, currently allows customers the ability to pay bills, send and receive funds, and execute point of sale transactions from any mobile phone.

“Integrating with Billing Tree will enable Kaizen to bring mobile bill presentment and payments to a mass audience, allowing simplified mobile payments to become a reality for customers using their SMS enabled mobile device,” says Kaizen’s CTO, Curtis Keith.

Sunset Brand’s U.S. Financial Assets CEO, J. Bert Watson, Sr., adds, “This is a major breakthrough for USFA. Our comprehensive payment solution is patent pending and part of a payment revolution that offers users a more convenient option to pay over traditional methods. Kaizen is currently in negotiations and expecting to sign this week other third party billers which will represent over 15 million bills per month. The impact this has on revenues for USFA moving forward is tremendous.”

US Financial Assets, Inc. is a Financial Services firm with a focus on the strategic acquisition and investment in federally insured banks, mortgage companies, SBA, insurance, mortgage title companies, management and capital consultative services, REIT and distressed real estate holdings primarily in the Southeast Region of the U.S.A. The firm recently acquired Kaizen Communications, implementing several applications within a nationwide launch of mobile payment solutions.