The business will be a rival, and was just opened under the name Affirm.
Co-founder of PayPal, Max Levchin, has just announced the launch of a business that will be a direct rival to the mobile payments segment of the company, which will be called Affirm.
This new company will add itself to the rapidly growing and highly competitive smartphone based marketplace.
The technology that is being offered through Affirm is meant to assist shoppers in completing mobile payments more quickly and easily when making purchases online by way of their devices such as smartphones and tablets, says the official website of the company. At the moment, eBay’s PayPal is the online payment leader, but it is facing growing competition from startups that are making their way into the mcommerce space.
Affirm is concentrating on streamlining mobile payments for a far faster checkout process.
The goal of the company is to help to decrease the amount of information that needs to be typed in when making a purchase over a small device such as a smartphone. Entering credit card numbers, shipping addresses, and other data can be time consuming and frustrating when using a very small screen or a touchscreen typing pad.
Affirm has claimed to have reduced the process of making a purchase online so that it involves two simply taps on the screen of a smartphone. The first is to actually choose Affirm on the website of the participating merchant, and the second is to actually confirm the order itself. At the moment, the identity of the user is confirmed through Facebook. Therefore, there will be a third step that must be taken for first time users, which involves having to log in to their Facebook accounts and then giving permission to use the Affirm app.
Levchin was one of PayPal’s two cofounders (Peter Thiel being the other), and held the position of Chief Technology Officer for four years. After that point, the online and mobile payments company was acquired by eBay. It was Levchin who created and constructed the unique and state of the art fraud prevention and online security systems for PayPal.
Online sales expected to jump as Christmas draws near, according to eCommerce Websites
Online sales are expected to see a significant jump in the days leading up to Christmas, according to research from eCommerce Websites, an e-commerce website development firm. The firm notes that it has been seeing a spike in the number of consumers that are using online mediums to purchase products. eCommerce Website draws on information from a recent PayPal study that shows that online sales throughout the world accounted for more than $1.2 trillion during 2012.
Consumers show interest in online shopping
eCommerce Websites suggests that businesses, both large and small, prepare to see higher online traffic as the holidays draw closer. While many consumers have finished their holiday shopping, taking advantage of the major deals that were offered by retailers during the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, many more tend to wait until the very last minute in order to purchase gifts for their loved ones. Online mediums are perfectly suited to meet the needs of these consumers by providing them a way to get through the last of their holiday shopping without having to compete with crowds.
E-commerce platforms must be bolstered to meet consumer demands
In order to better accommodate consumers, eCommerce Websites suggests that businesses bolster their e-commerce sites. During the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, many e-commerce sites from some of the world’s largest retailers experienced problems because of the massive level of traffic they experienced. This traffic caused slow-downs on several e-commerce platforms, leading to complaints from consumers who were keen on buying products that they were interested in. eCommerce Websites notes that having a capable e-commerce platform is necessary for businesses to take advantage of the growing number of mobile consumers.
Mobile commerce may see further growth during Christmas
The holiday season is still in full swing and that could be good news for mobile commerce. Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday have all proven to be popular holidays for mobile commerce. Christmas is expected to see similar results, with a huge number of consumers expected to use their mobile devices to purchase gifts for themselves and for loved ones.
