Author: Lucy

The MasterCard service is now going to add in-application purchases to its offerings.

MasterCard has just announced that its MasterPass mobile payments wallet will be available for making in-app purchases as well as the already existent option for merchants to embed the transaction type into their e- and mcommerce websites.

This announcement was made by the credit card giant in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress.

Among the very first to use this new in-app mobile payments opportunity from MasterCard are Major League Baseball and Starbucks Australia. By bringing the smartphone wallet to applications, the company is acknowledging that consumers are shopping with their favorite retailers through branded retail apps on an increasing basis. This is the case whether those shoppers are on the go or actually within the store, itself.

As MasterCard recognized this trend, it only made sense to ensure that its mobile payments were compatible with it.

The senior vice president and group head, U.S. emerging payments lead at MasterCard, Purchase, New York, Mario Shiliashki, explained that as a growing number of consumers shop at retailer locations by way of mobile apps or with applications and browsers combined, it has been very important for the company’s offerings to adapt. He added that it is common for smartphone using consumers to find the experience from a dedicated app to be more appealing.

Therefore, by allowing MasterPass transactions to be available in stores, on websites, and in apps, Shiliashki feels that it will help to enhance the complete shopping experience. Providing compatibility with its mobile wallet in applications means that consumers will be able to choose the experience that they feel is the most appealing, relevant, and appropriate for their own needs. He also stated that it has allowed the company to bring the online and in store experience closer together.

The appeal for consumers to choose mobile payments through MasterPass instead of paying with credit cards and other means through each individual retail application is that it allows a transaction to be securely completed from one wallet, without having to provide payment data with numerous different merchant application providers.

The CEO of the struggling Canadian handset maker is upset with the carrier for its latest efforts.

Although aggressive traditional and mobile marketing is nothing new for T-Mobile, its latest strategy has caused a great deal of tension between it and BlackBerry.

The cellular service provider sent all of its BlackBerry using customers an email encouraging a switch to iPhone 5S.

This mobile marketing campaign didn’t take long to reach BlackBerry, where the news was far from welcome. Even its CEO, John Chen, was displeased, causing him to send a personal response to the promotion. He stated that “I can only guess that T-Mobile thought its ‘great offer for BlackBerry customers’ would be well received. T-Mobile could not have been more wrong”, in a post that he uploaded onto his blog.

Chen wasn’t the only one who was put off by T-Mobile’s mobile marketing strategy.

Despite the fact that the number of BlackBerry customers have been rapidly shrinking, to the point that they are barely a fraction of what they formerly were when they lead the market, its core loyal customer group is a very vocal one.

In response to the outcry, the Chief Marketing Officer at T-Mobile, Mike Sievert, expressed that “The passion we’ve seen from the BlackBerry Loyal over the past couple days has been amazing. I want you to know we’ve heard you.”

Chen added in his blog that he assured the disappointed and frustrated customers that they weren’t the only ones who were feeling outraged by T-Mobile’s strategy. He also pointed out that he was confused by the fact that T-Mobile didn’t even bother to speak with BlackBerry before going ahead and launching a promotion that was “clearly inappropriate and ill-conceived.”

T-Mobile has since attempted to make amends for its decision, offering a $200 credit for any customer who would trace in a working BlackBerry device, which will be bumped up to $250 if that credit is to be used against the purchase of a new BlackBerry Q10 or Z10 device. Clearly, this has greatly changed the tone of this mobile marketing promotion when it comes to that particular brand of mobile devices.