Tag: mobile payments news

This represents a considerable increase in the amounts that banks were spending on this IT last year.

An Ovum report has just been released, in which its results have shown that retail banks around the world will be boosting their spending on technology by 3.4 percent, this year, which reflects a serious growth in the mobile payments sphere.

This will bring the total amount that banks intend to spend on IT up to $118.6 billion, worldwide.

The Ovum industry analysts released their forecasts that said that North America’s retail bank spending on mobile payments and other technologies will increase by 3.3 percent. Europe would be seeing a rise in its spending by 1.8 percent. It is Asia that will see the highest amount of spending growth, with an increase of 5.1 percent.

In the mobile payments and banking report Ovum stated that the importance of this channel is evident.

The business trends report indicated that mobile payments and banking would become a “clear IT investment priority in 2013” for retail banks. It also indicated that the amount of spending for all online channels would grow by 6.2 percent this year. That included smartphones, tablets, and PCs, alike.

Also included in the report, was the speculation that data privacy and credit risk management would be among the primary drivers of technology spending in terms of 2013’s mobile payments and online banking. It stated that the worldwide MIS investment would hit the $6.4 billion mark before the year is over. It also pointed out that banks in North America would be spending $2.3 billion in this domain, and this will represent 5.1 percent of the overall spending within that department.

Ovum’s release indicated that within that continent, the growth in the spending for technology was an indicator of increased efforts to reduce costs and to place more concentration on various digital channels and marketing efforts that would help those financial institutions to boost their revenue growth alongside customer satisfaction.

Ovum senior analyst for financial services technology, Jaroslaw Knapik, explained the predictions about mobile payments and technology spending by saying that “Whilst regulatory compliance has certainly fuelled a significant amount of the investment predicted in the forecast, it is by no means the sole driver,” adding that “The level of investment in digital channels gives a clear indication that banks are fully cognizant of the growing expectations of their customers, as well as the opportunities they present.”

The transaction system has already seen massive success through Starbucks and is moving to another coffee chain.

In 2012, Square mobile payments scored a tremendous deal in order to power the smartphone based credit card transactions at Starbucks, which was already known for its tremendous successes in this sphere.

Now, the company has announced that it is integrating with an additional coffee chain company.

Square will now be supplying the mobile payments at the point of sale at the boutique café chain, Blue Bottle Coffee. Its news release indicated that during the first wave, consumers at the Oakland, San Francisco Mint Plaza, and Brooklyn locations will be able to use the Square Wallet. However, over the next few months, the coffee chain intends to continue to roll out this option at its other locations.

Unlike Starbucks mobile payments, Blue Bottle will be using the Square Register as its complete POS system.

This will allow Blue Bottle to accept cash, credit card, and mobile payments, while it also tracks its store inventory, and is provided with reports on a daily basis so that it can monitor its progress. Consumers will be able to use the Square Wallet system to make a purchase by simply saying their names to authenticate the transaction.

According to the Blue Bottle Founder, James Freeman, in the news release, “We put a great deal of thought into every detail in each of our stores. We think about the right wood for our counters, the best beans, and how we can continue to serve our customers the perfect cup of coffee as we grow.” He also added that they felt that Square was the right mobile payments option for their business due to that company’s customer focus and “attention to detail.”

At the moment, there are 11 Blue Bottle locations in New York City and the San Francisco Bay area. It intends to continue its expansion and will bring its mobile payments along with it. It is one of several small chains that have joined with the Square Register, which is powered by iPad, over the last few months.