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QR codes to be debuted in mobile payments program

Julie Campbell | April 12, 2013

Chungwa, a carrier from Taiwan, will be launching its service in the summer of 2013.

The latest technology news from Taiwan is that Chungwa Telecom Co., the largest mobile network operator in the country, will be launching a mobile payments program that will use QR codes to allow the transactions to be completed.

This could make a considerable difference in the adoption rate of mobile payments in Taiwan.

In order to use the program, consumers would use their smartphones to scan QR codes so that they can make payments to complete purchases of goods and services while in stores. This, according to a report that was released by the company, itself, announcing the upcoming mobile friendly service.

Pending regulatory approval from the QR codes could start to be used as early as June.

As of the launch of the QR codes based mobile payments service, the program is slated to become available to consumers as of June 2013. The report did not announce how many partner merchants have signed up to take part in the program, so far.

Chungwa is a company that is a part of a consortium that is made up of the biggest mobile carriers in Taiwan. This group has also been looking beyond QR codes and is investigating mobile wallet products that would use NFC technology. They believe that this could help to make mobile payments more appealing to individuals who are carrying enabled devices.

That initiative was launched earlier in 2013, but would not be ready until well after the service using the QR codes has already been implemented. Chungwa had actually launched a trial of an NFC technology based mobile payments service, last year, but the most recent report issued by the company didn’t mention whether that is for a program that would take over for the barcodes, or whether it would run the two types of payment services in tandem with one another.

At the moment, it will be the service using the QR codes that will first become available. Whether it will be temporary to draw attention to this type of smartphone-based payments or whether it will continue to run even if NFC technology is implemented, only time will tell.

Social media marketing spending over mobile set to take off

Julie Campbell | April 10, 2013

The size of budgets designated to reach smartphone and tablet users is expected to climb.

According to a recent survey, the percentage of overall advertising budgets that is expected to be designated for social media marketing, specifically with smartphone using consumers in mind, is expected to explode.

This was reported in the latest CMO Survey, which looked into the types of spending within the budgets.

The survey involved the participation of chief marketing officers of various firms, who reported that they are currently spending an average of 8.4 percent of their overall budgets toward social media marketing. However, within the next year, that number is expected to climb to 11.5 percent of the budgets.

In 5 years, social media marketing will make up 21.6 percent of the budgets, said the survey.

This shift in the way that the funds are being spent and in the importance of social media marketing is expected to become a primary topic in advertising and technology circles. According to the CMO Survey director, Christine Moorman, “Companies are searching for novel ways to interact with their customers that will drive the growth of their companies. Unfortunately, marketers are behind the curve with their current levels of social media expenditure, given the amount of time customers spend engaged with one another and with companies online.”

The research, said Moorman, involved the participation of 468 American marketing execs who identified social media marketing as one of the most important areas for increased spending. These results, she said, show that the importance of this channel is now being heavily recognized. She also pointed out that some of the largest spending increases in this area are expected to take place in some of the business-to-consumer sector giants, such as Coca-Cola and Proctor & Gamble.

The survey showed that among companies of this nature, social media marketing spending will rise from an average 9.6 percent of the budget at the moment, to 24.6 percent of the budget in five years from now.

In Moorman’s news release, she stated that companies are still trying to figure out how to be able to measure the efficacy of their social media marketing campaigns.