Category: Featured News

SumUp teams with Diffusion to promote mobile commerce

| October 28, 2012

SumUp looks to engage businesses in the UK

SumUp, a mobile payments startup based in the United Kingdom, has been working to help promote mobile commerce within Great Britain and Ireland. In August of this year, SumUp raised more than $20 million for its efforts. Now, the company is looking to put that money to good use and believes that Diffusion, a PR and social media communications agency. Together, the two plan to help boost the adoption of mobile commerce throughout the UK by focusing on businesses within the country.

Diffusion to handle social media efforts and traditional marketing for Sum Up

Diffusion will be handling SumUp’s social media efforts and will be operating traditional marketing campaigns, which will be targeted at businesses that have shown interest in mobile commerce in some way. Diffusion notes that there may be a serious opportunity for growth in the UK and Irish markets, claiming that the number of people with smart phones in these regions is on the rise. Businesses throughout the UK are beginning to feel the pressure to be more accommodating to consumers that want to make purchases using their mobile devices, thus creating more opportunity for SumUp.

Card reader could be a big hit with businesses

SumUp has developed a card reader that can be connected to smart phones and facilitate mobile payments. SumUp believes that the card reader could be a boon for small businesses who see traditional point of sale terminals as expensive investments. The card reader would enable these businesses to process purchases made using a credit card using a simple mobile device rather than a static payment terminal.

Growth of mobile commerce presents powerful opportunity for SumUp

SumUp has chosen Diffusion for this initiative because the agency has extensive experience in the various markets within the UK. Mobile commerce is on the rise throughout the country, and SumUp is keen to establish powerful ties to companies that can help it reach a new generation of mobile consumer. The company will have to face down some strong competition coming from Square, Orange, and even Google, if it wants to find success in this expanding industry.

FloJack from Flomio seeks support through crowd funding

| October 28, 2012

FloJack campaign launched to bring NFC to iOS platform

Flomio, an ambitious NFC-based mobile commerce startup, is looking to bring NFC technology to the iOS platform. Apple caught a lot of flak for shunning NFC technology with the latest edition of the iPhone, and the company has been adamant in its position that NFC technology is not yet ready for its plans for mobile commerce. That means that, for the time being, iPhone users will largely be left out of any mobile commerce initiative or service that emerges within the next few years until Apple decides on a suitable alternative to the technology. Flomio is hoping to solve that problem with FloJack.

FloJack seeks to be funded through Kickstarter

The startup has launched a Kickstarter campaign for its FloJack device. Kickstarter is a crowd funding platform that has been remarkably successful for ambitious projects. The FloJack device is designed to connect to any iOS device and give that device NFC capabilities. The FloJack is equipped with an NFC chip that can enable an iOS device to conduct mobile transactions, engage in NFC-based marketing campaigns, or facilitate wireless data sharing.

FloJack not likely the ultimate NFC solution for iOS

The FloJack campaign was launched late last week through Kickstarter. Flomio is looking to raise $80,000 in funding for the project. The developers are well aware that the FloJack will not have an indefinite lifespan, especially as Apple works to find an alternative to NFC technology. Flomio co-founder Tim Ronan notes that the FloJack is meant to get iOS fans prepared for the day when NFC technology, or something very similar, makes its way to the iPhone, iPad, and iPod.

Similar devices aim to expand mobile commerce accessibility

FloJack is not the first of its kind. The UK’s Square has a similar device that is designed to allow consumers without NFC-enabled devices to conduct mobile transactions. These devices are addressing an issue that currently exists in the mobile commerce industry. That issue is the lack of NFC-enabled devices. Without these devices, consumers cannot participate in mobile commerce in an effective manner.