Category: Apps

CEO of MasterCard sees mobile payments eating into cash use

| June 10, 2015

While half of all American retail transactions are still completed in cash, smartphones may soon change that.

When it comes to retail purchases in-store in the United States, about 50 percent are still being completed with cash, but according to Ajay Banga, the CEO of MasterCard, mobile payments will start to change that, and it won’t be long before it happens.

Banga spoke of his opinion on mobile solutions at the Deutsche Bank Global Financial Services Investor Conference.

He explained that the area in which mobile payments will make the most striking impact is in the percentage of transactions that it will be taking from cash as opposed to plastic cards. He said that he feels that smartphone based transactions are the way ahead, pointing out that in the United States, we feel as though credit and debit cards are essentially ubiquitous, but when it all comes down to it, half of all purchases are made with cash.

Both mobile payments and cash are being used primarily for smaller ticket purchases.

Mobile Pyaments - MasterCardWhile smartphones may not be making much of a dent into larger purchases, people do seem willing to buy with their mobile devices with the total is a smaller one. That also happens to be the area in which people are most likely to pay with cash. Therefore, what Banga is predicting is that it will be cash, not necessarily plastic cards, that will start to be replaced by the use of these devices at the checkout counter.

Therefore, for items like a cup of coffee, picking up a container of milk at the supermarket on the way home from work, or picking up a pack of gum at the convenience store, a rising number of transactions will be completed through the use of m-payments instead of cash. This may also start to have an impact in other areas that have been traditionally based on cash transactions, such as taxi fares, which are still relatively new to the credit card scene.

Mobile payments are still trying to find their place when it comes to adoption and regular use and, if MasterCard’s CEO is right, it isn’t the credit card transactions that will be taken over by this technology, but the cash ones.

Mobile tracking in latest Uber privacy update to boost accuracy

| June 8, 2015

The ride share service mobile app has just confirmed that its update includes critical changes to its privacy policy.

The leading company in ride share services, Uber, has now announced that it has updated the privacy policy of its app in order to improve the mobile tracking that it is capable of achieving and, therefore, enhance its accuracy.

There are a number of strong changes that have taken place to make the service more efficient and enjoyable.

According to the announcement from Uber, these mobile tracking improvements should benefit both the drivers and the passengers, alike. According to a blog posted by the company in advance of the changes, “Our riders and driver partners will start receiving e-mails in the next few days about the new Privacy Statements.” It did go on to say that it will be going to great lengths to ensure that it is guaranteeing the privacy of its users. That said, it pointed out that geolocation will become central to the service.

Mobile tracking through geolocation technology is the largest change being made to the Uber platform.

Mobile Tracking - Privacy Policy UpdateThe announcement by Uber explained that the mobile app would request access to the location of the rider while the app is open in the background on the device. That way, it will make it possible for drivers to be able to locate their customers more quickly and conveniently. Overall, using geolocation technology as a part of the Uber app means that drivers will spend less time trying to find riders, and riders will spend less time waiting for their cars to pick them up.

The company also added that “In addition, these changes would allow Uber to launch new promotional features that use contacts — for example the ability to send special offers to riders’ friends or family. In either case, users will be in control: they will be able to choose whether to share the data with Uber.”

The changes to the mobile tracking portion of the privacy policy and geolocation features of the app will become effective on July 15th, said the announcement. What has yet to be seen is how many people will be interested in using the feature.