Category: Apps

The application is designed to change the way that customers pay for purchases in popular locations.

Downtown has now unveiled its mobile payments app in an attempt to provide consumers with a new method of ordering and paying for their food in Palo Alto, in popular meeting spots such as the Coupa Café.

The primary difference that the wallet app could make is in the way consumers are paying for their purchases.

While it has become relatively commonplace to be able to order a meal at many quick service restaurants – particularly when it comes to delivery or take-out – the way that consumers pay for what they buy when they are actually inside a restaurant has stayed somewhat the same. However, Downtown is hoping that its new mobile payments app, which has recently been launched for iOS devices, in-store orders and transactions will be able to be made directly from an iPhone.

Despite the fact that mobile payments services have been slow to take off, companies are still looking for the perfect angle.

Consumers have not been adopting smartphone payments services as quickly as many mobile wallet companies had expected, but many believe that this is simply because the right convenient offering has not yet made it appealing enough for these options to be used. Downtown is using iBeacon technology to allow the restaurant to be able to detect exactly where a customer is sitting, so that he or she can use a smartphone to order food and pay for it, and the restaurant staff will know exactly where that customer is sitting so that it can be delivered directly to him or her.

Although this geolocation based order placing technology is starting off at shops such as cafes, the co-founders of downtown, Xavier de Ryckel, Phillip Buckendorf, and Max Noelle, intend to expand the use of this tech into other areas, as well. They are already planning to move the use of the service into restaurants and even food trucks over the next few months. So far, the mobile payments app is designed to be ideal for small purchases being made in person at Palo Alto businesses.

Tim Hortons prepares to launch mobile payments initiative in US and Canada

Tim Hortons has announced that it will begin accepting mobile payments at all of its locations in Canada and the U.S. The famed company is set to launch a mobile payments pilot project in December of this year, which will test the capabilities of the TimmyMe application. The app allows consumers to make payments from their mobile devices and is available for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry platforms. Tim Hortons is the latest in a growing number of restaurant organizations that are embracing mobile commerce.

Mobile commerce continues to grow in popularity among North American consumers

Mobile commerce has become much more than a passing fancy in North America. Many consumers have begun to rely heavily on their mobile devices in daily life, and it was only a matter of time since the advent of smartphones that people became comfortable with the idea of spending money through these devices. As consumers become more interested in mobile commerce, they are beginning to demand that their favorite brands and retailers begin supporting mobile payments. Tim Hortons and other large companies have begun to accommodate this demand.

TimmyMe app to be used for Tim Hortons mobile commerce initiative

In order to make use of the TimmyMe application, users will have to register their Tim Hortons card to the app itself. They will also have to add funds to the card and these funds will be accessible through the application, allowing them to purchase products at Time Hortons locations with relative ease. The TimmyMe application is currently free on all supported platforms and also provides support for Apple’s Passbook.

Tim Hortons may manage to compete with Starbucks in the increasingly crowded mobile commerce field

Tim Hortons is considered to be a rival of Starbucks, which has also taken a strong liking to mobile commerce. Starbucks has managed to find significant success in engaging mobile consumers through its partnership with Square. Together, the two companies have established a very powerful position in the mobile commerce field in North America, and may prove to be overwhelming competition.