Opera sets sights on expanding into mobile commerce
Opera Software, a Norwegian software company, has announced its partnership with Naranya, Latin America’s leading mobile marketing and commerce company. Together, the two companies are looking to bring mobile commerce to Latin America through the Opera Mini mobile browser. This effort is encompassed in the Opera Payment Exchange, which is a mobile commerce platform that is available to the 191 million users of the Opera Mini application. Opera users will now be able to purchase goods and services through Naranya and its billing connections in 7 countries around the world.
Opera has a large audience to tap into
Opera is one of the world’s leading Internet browsers, on both mobile and static platforms. Opera Mobile has become one of Opera Software’s flagship platforms, with more than 270 million users worldwide. The Opera Mini application is based on this platform and has become a popular tool for those that like to browse the Internet from their smart phones and tablets. Many of these consumers have begun looking into mobile commerce, and Opera Software has been quick to respond to this interest.
Naranya boasts of well established presence in mobile commerce
Naranya boasts of more than 500 million users linked into its Monetization Platform. This platform has been used by numerous game developers, social networks, online media groups, and digital companies to monetize their goods to mobile consumers. The platform has become quite popular in Latin America, where advances in mobile technology are raising the demand for mobile commerce. By teaming with Opera, Naranya aims to further expand its mobile commerce platform into new markets.
Mobile commerce growth slightly delayed due to concerns over security
Mobile consumers are becoming enthralled with the concept of mobile commerce, but many are still wary due to concerns regarding security. Mobile commerce applications have, in the past, been hacked with relative ease, putting a consumer’s financial information at risk of theft and exploitation. Naranya has extensive experience in mobile commerce and has stringent security measures in place to mitigate the risks involved with mobile commerce. These security measures appear to have been enough to win the favor of Opera Software.
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 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.
