Tag: mobile transactions

Mobile payments firm gains momentum through Series B funding

Mobile payments firm Flint has managed to fly below the radar through much of this year, but the company has begun attracting significant attention as it makes progress with its mobile commerce endeavors. The firm recently announced support for the Android platform in order to expand the reach of its mobile payments services. This week, Flint announced that it has raised more than $6 million in Series B funding, led by the Digicel Group and SVG Partners. Funding from the Digicel Group may provide some insight on the future of Flint.

Digicel leads Series B funding for Flint

The Digicel Group is not a well known name in the U.S., but is quite prominent in the Caribbean and the South Pacific. The organization operates within the mobile sector and has a strong interest in mobile payments and providing wireless services to consumers. The Digicel Group has, to some extent, become a popular alternative to more conventional telecommunications companies. Both Flint and Digicel share a lot in common, as both companies look to bring new life to the mobile space.

Flint aims to make mobile payments easier for merchants

Flint was launched in May of 2012 and aims to make it easier for new entrepreneurs to enter into the mobile space and embrace mobile payments. The firm offers services that allow businesses to process mobile payments in a convenient manner and without the need for a dedicated point-of-sale system. Using the Flint application, merchants can scan a consumer’s credit or debit card and process a payment quickly, using a fingerprint to authorize transactions. Flint also offers competitive rates when compared to services offered by similar companies.

Funds will help company expand

The funding that Flint has risen will help the company to improve its various mobile payments technologies. It will also help the company expand its team of developers, which is currently 16 people strong. Much of the company’s future plans are kept secretive, however, which may be a good thing considering the aggressive competition that is common in the mobile payments sector.

According to industry leaders, the technology is now starting a wave in the country.

According to some of the latest data out of Canada, mobile payments, such as money transfers, are starting to pick up quite quickly, as the industry reaches the close of its second year within the country.

Contactless transactions, specifically, are starting to take hold inside that country.

Though the case on the other side of the world, in India, is showing a massive hesitation to adopt mobile payments technology, the exact opposite appears to be happening in Canada. The true strength in this part of the industry appears to be in contactless technology – NFC technology. Tap and go is catching on and Canadians are starting to become accustomed to it.

MasterCard has now ranked Canada as the second most prepared country for mobile payments.

The ranking from MasterCard placed only Singapore ahead of Canada in terms of being prepared for the widespread adoption of mobile payments. It assigned a score of 0 to 100. Canada scored a 42, whereas Singapore received a score of 45.6. The global average was 33.2.

That said, despite the widespread adoption of smartphones in India and its tremendous population, it is still lagging behind the world at a score of only 31.5. This ranking was the result of the data accumulated by MasterCard in a survey that involved the participation of mobile networks, banks, and governments. It revealed that in the Mobile Commerce Clusters score, Canada has fared very well.

At the same time, aside from mobile payments, the survey also identified a number of other trends. For example, credit and debit cards are continuing to grow their share of the overall industry over other methods such as cash and checks. Approximately one in three total transactions are done by cash, and card transactions are picking up considerably within the sound financial system of that country.

Smartphone penetration is also considerable in Canada. That, along with the cooperation of the government, mobile networks, and banks, has meant that this market is increasingly prepared to take part in mobile payments on a mainstream scale.