Author: BWild

PayPal seeks to expand mobile commerce in Hong Kong

| February 28, 2013

Hong Kong PayPal mobile commerceMobile commerce growing in the East

PayPal has been making a strong push into the mobile commerce arena recently. The company has long been involved in the world of online payments, but the proliferation of mobile technology has opened up new forms of commerce that PayPal is eager to take advantage of. The company has announced plans to begin expanding its reach across the global mobile commerce market and has set its sights to the East, showing a strong interest in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong sees major activity in mobile commerce sector

Hong Kong is one of the largest economic hubs in the Asian market. Companies with a strong focus on the online world have seen major progress in Hong Kong over the years and companies native to the region have seen aggressive growth in the Philippines, Argentina, South Korea, Sweden, and Russia. PayPal’s Hong Kong division notes that more consumers are relying on their mobile devices to make payments and research products, giving the company an ample opportunity to provide services to these consumers and the businesses of the region.

PayPal expected to increase activity in Hong Kong

Kerry Wong, managing director for PayPal’s operations in Hong Kong, claims that businesses in the region that use the company’s services experienced more growth than their competitors. These companies grew more than the industry average throughout the last 12 months, and many of these businesses have helped increase the regions exports by 2% thanks to the borderless nature of online trading and sales. PayPal expects that companies using its services will continue to see remarkable growth as they begin to embrace mobile commerce more aggressively.

Estimated $20 billion in mobile payments to be processed in 2013

PayPal has high expectations when it comes to online payments in 2013. The company, which boasts of more than 123 million active users worldwide, estimates that it will process over $20 billion in mobile payments globally this year. This is higher than the $14 billion in mobile payments the company processed in 2012.

QR codes used by Bancontact to facilitate mobile commerce

| February 27, 2013

qr codesNew application makes use of QR codes to make mobile payments easier for consumers

Bancontact, a Belgian electronic payments firm, has launched a new mobile application that will help introduce a new service into the realm of mobile commerce. Consumers around the world have shown strong interest in mobile commerce, which includes online shopping, banking, and payment transfers. In order to meet the demands coming from consumers regarding  comprehensive mobile commerce services, Bancontact has introduced a new application, which focuses on the use of QR codes.

Codes may be very useful for personal transactions

QR codes are most commonly used in mobile marketing and have excelled in this particular field. The codes allow consumers to access digital information from their smartphones and tablets. The codes have begun seeing use in the field of mobile commerce, with retailers like Tesco using them to facilitate electronic payments for products. Bancontact believes that the codes could be especially useful in helping consumers transfer funds to one another.

QR codes generated by the application can be used to initiate payments

The new application from Bancontact leverages QR codes to allow users to send money to each other.  The application could be particularly beneficial for those that operate their own businesses as it allows them to accept electronic payments for their goods and services more easily. The application can be used to generate a QR code that is associated with a certain amount of money. When this code is scanned by another person, they will be able to make a payment directly to the code’s owner.

Codes may soon become powerful mobile commerce tool

Currently, the application can only facilitate payments of up to $20. The application is available for the Android and iOS platforms and is available to Bancount’s 15 million cardholders. Bancount believes that the application will help draw more attention to QR codes and their use in mobile commerce. The codes are likely to remain a very powerful mobile marketing tool, but may soon become one of the most widely used mobile commerce tools.