Tag: o2

O2 to shut down mobile wallet service and continue work on mobile commerce platform

| January 21, 2014

O2 Wallet is shutting down in March

O2, a prominent communications company in Europe, has announced that its mobile wallet service will be shut down at the end of March this year. Mobile wallets have been growing in popularity, but the market is currently saturated with a wide variety of these mobile applications, making it difficult for any one service to stand out. Continued focus on a mobile wallet platform that is, essentially, identical to others is becoming an increasing dangerous trap for companies are heavily investing themselves int he world of mobile commerce.

Wallet applications are becoming more plentiful

While O2 is shutting down its mobile wallet service, the company is not expected to pull out of mobile commerce entirely. The O2 Wallet was launched approximately 18 months ago and was considered one of the first wallet applications from a large company. The app was meant to provide consumers with a way to manage their money and other financial information and received a strong following. Over the past year, however, much about the mobile commerce market has changed, leading O2 to believe that its wallet is no longer viable for consumers.

O2 begins focusing more heavily on Weve platform

O2 shut down mobile commerce platformO2 is now looking for ways to help people manage their money more effectively. Currently, O2 is involved in a joint venture with mobile network operators EE and Vodafone. Through this venture, the companies are working to develop a new mobile commerce platform called Weve. The platform is set to launch in spring of this year and promises to provide consumers with a variety of features that makes managing their financial information and shopping online with a mobile device easier.

Weve attracts strong support

Weve has already won the support of several major banks in the United Kingdom, including Barclays, HSBC, and Lloyds. The mobile commerce platform has also managed to overcome some legal issues concerning Europe’s competition laws. Whether or not O2 will devote the majority of its focus to the mobile commerce platform or decide to develop a new mobile wallet has yet to be seen.

Mobile marketing to heat up in the UK

| June 12, 2013

Mobile marketing expected to reach new heights during the summer

Mobile marketing is expected to go into high gear in the United Kingdom in the coming months. Some 17 million consumers throughout the country will be receiving targeting advertisements throughout their mobile devices as major retailers and telecommunications operators begin working together over the summer. Vodafone, EE, and O2 are the country’s largest telecommunications companies and each has been working with large retail brands to launch new mobile marketing campaigns.

Weve to lead massive mobile marketing push

These three companies have pooled a great deal of data into a single platform that they are calling Weve. This joint venture organization is meant to leverage this consumer data in order to deliver very direct advertisements to very specific demographics. The data used by Weve is comprised of age, gender, mobile device details, and other such information that could determine the type of advertisements a consumer sees.

UK mobile marketing shows promise for summerWeve to bid for mobile advertising space

During the summer, Weve will be bidding on mobile advertising space. The organization is eager to purchase space on various mobile applications and websites, but has a keen interest in mobile games. These games are enjoyed by a vast number of consumers throughout the United Kingdom and constant exposure to these games means constant exposure to mobile marketing. Mobile games may be the best avenue for the organizations marketing endeavors, but they do not encompass Weve’s overall interests in mobile marketing.

Weve receives regulatory approval from EU

Because Weve makes use of data collected from consumers, there have been concerns regarding privacy and how this data is being used or shared with others. In November of last year, the European Union granted regulatory approval to Weve, suggesting that the organization is not using consumer data in any way that could be considered malicious. Moreover, the data collected by Weve is entirely anonymous, with no personal details, apart from age and gender, being accessed by the organization.