Author: Lucy

The three leading wireless firms in the country will be launching the new system in the new year.

The three largest mobile phone companies in Hungary have announced that they are working together to be able to launch a payments system in 2014 that will be based on NFC technology.

The purpose of this alliance is to help to move the country upward toward the trends in global communication.

At the moment, the sector is fighting to manage the struggles that remain from the economic downturn as well as from certain sector-based taxes from the Hungarian government that have been applied to telecommunications companies in the effort to better the finances of the nation.

NFC technology will be central to this new mobile payments system that allows transactions at checkouts.

The mobile payment technique through NFC technology allows consumers to use their compatible smartphones at shopping checkouts in order to pay for their purchases. All that they need to do is wave their enabled devices close to a reader, or tap the device against the reader. This reduces the time that is needed to make a purchase, improving convenience for consumers and allowing stores to shorten the checkout process.

The NFC technology based payments system will also be used to replace the electronic smartcard ticket system that is already in place in some of the Hungarian transport systems. It is expected to eliminate the systems that are comparable to the Oyster card in London. This same technology is being used by certain security companies to function as identification that will provide employees access to buildings in the same way that they previously would have used electronic scan cards.

The Hungarian firms are aiming to create mobile payments applications that will work with NFC technology capable devices so that smartphones can be used as virtual wallets, containing all of the debit, credit, and loyalty card information that they wish to hold in one place. This suggests that the digital form of the wallet could one day result in a complete replacement of physical wallets and plastic cards, as well as cash transactions.

Institutions of higher education are becoming some of the most common early adopters of the channel.

Mobile marketing technology has a great deal to offer its users, but has still been surprisingly slow in its uptake – when compared with predictions – except among certain very specific early adopters, including universities.

This has surprised many because these institutions are inherently traditional in the majority of their procedures.

The fact is, however, that it is these traditional universities that are leading the way when it comes to mobile marketing. These institutions are working to take advantage of some of the many benefits that this channel has to offer, for example, being able to reach consumers no matter where they happen to be, in real time, as well as obtaining data rich profiles of the individuals and their buying habits.

These mobile marketing benefits provide users with the ability to conduct highly useful analyses of their campaigns.

The result is that they can make sure that their future mobile marketing campaigns will become increasingly targeted and, therefore, likely more effective, as well. Throughout the economic slump and slow recovery, sales have been very low. However, by using the right advertising techniques, companies have been able to experience better performance.

This has been especially true among those that have been using mobile marketing and other smartphone and tablet friendly techniques, as it has allowed them to rise above the competition in terms of interactions with consumers.

Still, many retailers have hesitated to embrace mobile marketing. It could be that they are waiting for NFC technology to take off, as has been promised for some time, or they may be waiting for the penetration of smartphones and tablets to be greater among their customers.

However, what some retailers are discovering, as are universities and colleges, is that there is no need to wait. In order to take advantage of what mobile marketing has to offer, the time is now, rather than later, as the competition is at its lowest, meaning that there is the highest potential for actually attracting the attention of the consumer, which could then lead to a conversion.