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Project Oscar rebranded as Weve

| October 29, 2012

Weve emerges from floundering consortium

Mobile commerce is on the rise in the United Kingdom, but the consortium that would have established itself as a unified platform for the various NFC efforts that were taking root in the country has gone through a turbulent rebranding stage. The consortium, formerly known as Project Oscar, was comprised of mobile operators, financial institutions, and some technology companies, all of which had big hopes for NFC technology and mobile commerce. This consortium has been rebranded as Weve and has adopted a new focus that is very different from what the vision had been in the past.

 

Consortium was meant to provide platform for NFC applications

In the past, when Weve was still Project Oscar, the purpose of the consortium was to provide a standard platform for all companies interested in mobile commerce. These companies could import their NFC-based applications onto the platform, which would enable them to reach consumers across several mobile networks. The idea was that the companies that participated in the consortium would get a cut of the profits made through fees imposed on each transaction made through the NFC applications it supported. This quickly became unpopular when companies like Visa and MasterCard suggested they had no intention of sharing their profits.

WEVE Project Oscar

Weve shifts focus toward mobile marketing

The newly branded Weve is shifting its focus away from NFC technology and toward mobile marketing. The consortium has seen its ability to promote mobile commerce through NFC technology flounder and is looking for a way to provide a unified platform for businesses that is not entirely focused on a niche technology. Thus, the consortium will serve as a platform for various mobile commerce initiatives and those concerned with marketing to mobile consumers. Weve will not abandon NFC technology, but the technology with not be its sole focus going forward.

Mobile marketing may be a turbulent sector for Weve

Weve is keen to push the concept of mobile advertisements amongst businesses, but these advertisements have not been performing well for some of their largest proponents. Both Google and Facebook have invested heavily into mobile marketing and have found that mobile advertisements are not faring well with many consumers.

INSIDE Secure introduces VaultSecure platform

| October 29, 2012

VaultSecure aims to transform mobile commerce

INSIDE Secure, a  mobile security firm, has launched a new platform called VaultSecure that will help consumers manage multiple mobile wallet applications on their smart phone or tablet. The company believes that the VaultSecure platform will help transform the mobile commerce industry. INSIDE Secure suggests that this will be the first time that smart phone makers, network operators, and others in the telecommunications industry will be able to share a secure element on a single mobile device.

Days of clashing mobile commerce applications may be history

Before VaultSecure, smart phones were only capable of supporting a single mobile commerce application without trouble. Multiple applications on a single device would often cause problems due to the clashing security features they have in place. In some cases, multiple mobile commerce applications could actually make financial information more vulnerable, thus leading many mobile network operators to favor a particular platform over others. This has led to severe fragmentation within the mobile commerce market.

Platform allows various appliVaultSecure Mobile Securitycations to coexist on a single device

This fragmentation can be seen all over the world. In the U.S., Google, Isis, and the newly formed Merchant Customer Exchange, are all vying for the affection of consumers and businesses interested in mobile commerce. Through SecureVault, the applications coming from these groups can coexist on a single mobile device, each able to access a consumer’s financial information independently. The platform will also encrypt this information for each of the mobile commerce applications, adding an extra layer of protection against malicious attacks.

Competition may prove to fierce for VaultSecure to find traction

INSIDE Secure will be selling VaultSecure to makers of smart phones and tablets. These companies will then have to work with the various companies involved in mobile commerce to incorporate the platform. Given the highly competitive nature of the burgeoning mobile commerce industry, it may be difficult to convince companies that having their platform exist alongside that of their competitors as a sound business move.