According to a new survey from Square, customers who pay using NFC tech are more likely to tip.

NFC mobile payments are fast and are virtually instantaneous. This may be one of the reasons why consumer who use this type of payment tend to tip more compared to those who pay using traditional methods like magstripe cards. According to a study conducted in Portland by California-based mobile payment firm Square, 73% of customers who used near field communications (NFC) payments at point of sale (POS) left tips compared to only 67% of customers who used magnetic stripe cards.

Square spent six weeks in Portland educating local businesses about contactless payments.

For more than two months, Square remained in Portland for its #PayFasterPortland campaign. During the campaign, an increasing number of Portlanders began using their mobile devices to pay at local businesses that upgraded to Square’s new contactless and chip reader device.

Thousands of Portland sellers implemented Square’s new chip card and NFC mobile payments reader.

Square’s chip card and NFC reader is a small pocket-sized device with a powerful battery. It wirelessly connects to Android or iOS mobile devices and is made for NFC and chip, accepting EVM chip cards and Apple Pay as well as other contactless payments. The mini device is also designed to work with the free POS Square app

According to the official Square blog, Portland now has the highest “tap-to-pay” rates in the United States.

“Even before #PayFasterPortland, the city was number one in the country for orders for our new contactless and chip reader. And now the rate of people in Portland paying on Square’s new reader with mobile wallets like Apple Pay is higher than the national average,” the blog noted.

Square began rolling out its first contactless readers in November of last year. In March 2016, the company’s CEO Jack Dorsey revealed that the reader received over 350,000 pre-orders.

Due to the ease and speed of NFC mobile payments and with more businesses implementing the necessary devices that enable them to offer this payment option, this tech is likely to grow among both businesses and consumers across the country. It will be interesting to see if the high tipping percentage continues among NFC users.

Pokémon Go gamers shouldn’t leave home without a portable battery charger.

The incredibly popular and newly released AR mobile game Pokémon Go, from Nintendo and Niantic Labs, is a battery killer. Android and iOS smartphone users who have been playing the game have complaining about the drain it’s had on their smartphone batteries. It seems that anyone who wants to play the game on the go might want to have a portable charger with them if they don’t want a dead phone battery.

The game’s drain on a smartphone battery isn’t a big surprise.

Pokémon Go heavily relies on the use of a smartphone’s GPS technology and camera. These are two features that use a lot of power. Furthermore, for the majority of today’s mobile devices, the manufacturing focus has been placed on design and available applications. This means the efficiency required to handle all the new technology and features with which these phones are equipped and their battery life have taken a backseat.

While this wouldn’t matter for many other types of mobile games – as players can shut off certain power-draining features when they’re not needed – Pokémon Go needs these features to function if the player wants the true Pokémon trainer experience. The game relies on the phone’s sensors, camera and location-based algorithms to place Pokémon in real-world locations. As a result, smartphone battery life suffers.

Players who want to “catch ‘em all” may want to invest in a portable charger.

As brutal as Pokémon Go may be on smartphone battery life, the fact remains that this augmented reality (AR) game is popular for a reason. It’s unique, engaging and a lot of fun. Players who want to enjoy this game on the go – as it was meant to be played – may require an external battery charger. A portable charger will not only ensure that players can enjoy the game for longer, but they also won’t have to worry about not having enough juice to make or receive calls, texts or use other applications.

Niantic says it is aware of the game’s battery-drain issue and is working on a solution. However, considering the power-sucking processes on which the game relies, it is not yet clear how the company will be able to address the issue. Until then, for Pokémon Go players, a portable charger seems to be the next best solution.