Tag: vodafone

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.

Security continues to be a major issue for mobile commerce

| November 18, 2013

Focus on mobile identity is growing due to popularity of mobile commerce

Mobile identity is becoming more important to businesses, especially as more consumers around the world begin to rely on smartphones, tablets, and other devices in their daily lives. Market research firm ResearchMOZ has released a new report concerning the growing importance of mobile identity and how businesses are beginning to invest more heavily in biometrics and other such technologies. The report cites the growth of mobile interactions and mobile commerce as the influence behind higher investments in mobile identity.

Companies begin taking security more seriously

Mobile identity is an aspect of security that has become quite important in the world of business as more companies around the world begin to participate in mobile commerce and offer mobile-centric services. Companies are beginning to invest heavily in mobile identity infrastructure as it is being seen as an efficient and economic form of fraud detection and prevention. Mobile identity largely relies on the use of biometric technology, such as fingerprint scanners, to make things like mobile commerce more secure for consumers.

Mobile commerce security too sparse for some consumers

Mobile Commerce and Security IssuesMobile commerce, in particular, could have a lot to gain from businesses focusing more heavily on mobile identity. Mobile commerce has struggled with security issues for much of its existence. Many consumers that have shown interest in shopping for and purchasing products with their mobile devices have expressed concerns regarding the security of their financial information. Mobile commerce has become a popular target for hackers, many of whom are finding it relatively easy to exploit the financial information of consumers. A lack of security can expose companies to significant liability issues, especially when financial information is involved.

Companies seek to make mobile commerce safer

The report notes that companies like Google, Groupon, and Vodafone have made mobile identity a top priority. This is due to the involvement that these companies have in mobile commerce. As businesses begin to invest more heavily in mobile identity, better security systems are expected to begin emerging. Many of these security systems are expected to leverage biometric technology in some way.