Vendors of the publication can now accept transactions over a smartphone or tablet.
iZettle, a Swedish company that provides social and mobile payments services, has now entered into a partnership with the magazine called Situation Sthlm, which is a publication that is sold in Stockholm by homeless people as a part of a program that provides them with the opportunity to earn money.
The transaction business is now working with the magazine company to help to make those sales easier.
iZettle announced that it will be working with the magazine by providing the sellers of the publication with smartphones and card readers. This will allow those sellers to be able to use mobile payments technology to accept payments on the spot, from the buyer’s credit or debit cards. No matter where the seller may be, as long as he or she has a cell phone signal, it will be possible to accept these digital transactions, instead of having to rely wholly on cash.
This agreement is the result of a successful mobile payments trial program that has now been completed.
The trial using the mobile payments services ran for a full month through five sellers who were provided with smartphones and a card reader from iZettle. This gave them the ability to expand the acceptable transactions from cash to credit and debit, as well. To use the service, vendors simply plug the card reader into the smartphone. The customers could then swipe their cards and either sign on the device screen or use a PIN to be able to complete the purchase.
The smartphones that are used for the mobile payments program are collected – along with the card readers – from the central offices every day at the same time that the sellers obtain the magazines that they sell.
iZettle provides both the hardware and the mobile payments software in this agreement so that the sellers would be able to convert their tablets or smartphones into a type of credit and debit card terminal that works on the go. They also provide their services to other merchants and are compliant with EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and VISA) standards in addition to the PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards).
Retailer aims to bolster presence in mobile commerce
Prominent online retailer eBay is poised to expand its presence in the mobile space, according to the company’s new chief product officer, RJ Pittman. The newly hired Pittman recently left a position with Apple in order to pursue new opportunities. Pittman garnered acclaim in his field for developing Apple’s popular storefront and may be a powerful addition to eBay’s staff. The retailer has been working to bolster its presence in the mobile space in order to hold more sway over mobile commerce.
The mobile space has become a priority for eBay
Mobile commerce has become a major focus for eBay due to its popularity with consumers. Many people favor mobile commerce over more traditional forms of commerce because it is more convenient for them to shop online rather than in person. Retailers like eBay offer comprehensive mobile infrastructures that make it easy for consumers to shop on their mobile devices, thereby making it more likely for them to purchase products online. While eBay currently boasts of a significant presence in the mobile field, the retailer is prepared to increase this presence significantly in the near future.
Pittman to focus on improving services
Pittman is currently working to improve eBay’s payment process in order to make it friendlier to mobile users. The retailer already has the backing of PayPal, which is an eBay subsidiary, and Pittman believes that the services offered by PayPal could be put to better use by its parent company. PayPal’s recent acquisition of mobile commerce pioneer Braintree may have some impact on Pittman’s plans as the acquisition provides PayPal, as well as eBay, access to powerful mobile commerce technology.
eBay aims to bring mobile commerce to physical stores
While eBay expects that mobile commerce will have an impact on online shopping, the retailer intends to leverage the power of the mobile space to make shopping in physical stores more engaging. Consumers may be growing more reliant on their mobile devices, but that does not mean they are abandoning physical stores. Ensuring that traditional retailers can accommodate the needs of mobile consumers by embracing mobile commerce has become a priority for eBay.
