Firm raises funds to support global expansion

Citrus Payments, a payment technology firm based in India, has announced that it has raised $5.5 million in funding from its group of investors. The funding comes at an ideal time when mobile payments are becoming more popular among consumers throughout India. Smartphones and tablets are becoming more common among consumers and these devices are exposing many to the concept of mobile commerce. Consumers are showing strong interest in mobile commerce because of the convenience that it represents.

US and European markets prove attractive

Citrus Payments intends to use its new funding to further expand its presence around the world. The firm has produced some popular mobile payments services in the past that have been used by large companies in Asia and elsewhere. The firm expects to find significant success in markets beyond Asia as mobile commerce continues to grow in popularity around the world. Notably, demand for new payment technologies has been on the rise in Europe and the U.S., where mobile device ownership is quite high.

Competition is fierce in the mobile commerce field

Mobile commerce is a competitive field, so Citrus Payments may have a lot of fighting to do before it can establish a strong foothold in new markets. Large companies, such as Square, Google, and PayPal, already boast of a dominating presence in popular markets. A multitude of startups are also vying for the attention of consumers around the world, making it difficult for any single company to stand out, regardless of how much backing it may have from investors.

Security may be a major challenge

Companies that aim to do well in mobile commerce have numerous challenges that they must overcome. Many consumers cite security as the main reason they are not interested in the concept of mobile payments. Addressing this specific issue has been quite problematic, given the nature of technology and security. Citrus Payments has shown that it can overcome some of the challenges it has experienced in the past, but new challenges are emerging at a rapid pace that may test the firm’s flexibility and ability to adapt.

Google and Facebook are leading the group from the tech industry that is seeking changes to government spying.

A group of the largest and most powerful tech companies in the world have come together in an effort to improve mobile surveillance security for their users, who now know that they are being watched by certain government agencies, particularly in the United States.

These industry leaders are seeking to encourage wide scale changes to the American government’s Big Brother activities.

The companies have called themselves the Reform Government Surveillance group. They are seeking to make massive mobile surveillance security changes to the way that the American government has been watching people in the country and around the world. Much of this action is the result of the revelations made by whistleblower Edward Snowden, who revealed – among other things – that the NSA has been watching millions upon millions of people every day, around the globe, gathering information such as location data from their mobile devices.

The group has said that it should be possible for individuals and businesses to have greater mobile surveillance security.

The Reform Government Surveillance group is made up of Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Twitter, AOL, and LinkedIn. This alliance was created in order to move ahead their communal belief that “it is time for the world’s governments to address the practices and laws regulating government surveillance of individuals and access to their information.”

The organization has placed its backing behind widespread new reforms that federal politicians have proposed. The group’s website has suggested five different core elements that require changes. They are:

• Accountability and oversight
• A limit to the authority of the government for user data collection
• Government demand transparency
• Avoidance of government related conflicts
• Respecting a more free flow of information

An open letter from the group to the American government has urged them to “take the lead and make reforms that ensure that government surveillance efforts are clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent and subject to independent oversight.” The goal is to boost mobile surveillance security and privacy for users of the standard and mobile web.