About Rebecca

Author: Rebecca

Mobile payments partnerships snatched up by Isis

Rebecca | August 19, 2013

The carrier backed digital wallet has just tied up a number of contracts to help its expansion across the nation.

Isis, the mobile payments wallet that is backed by three of the leading carriers in the country has recently announced that it will be going nationwide before the end of the year and it has just tied up a number of important contracts ahead of that rollout.

The announcement is following the pilot trials that have been held at Salt Lake City and in Austin.

The mobile payments wallet has partnered up with Amex, and Chase. The most recent partnership is with Chase, so that their Freedom, Sapphire, Slate, and JP Morgan Palladium cards will be supported by the service. Isis has already reached similar deals with both American Express as well as with Capital One. Once the cards have been loaded into the Isis app, they can be used for completing transactions at any retailers that accept this form of payment.

The mobile payments wallet from Isis is based on NFC technology.

Isis mobile payments This means that in order to make mobile payments through the app, the user simply has to tap the device against an NFC technology enabled point of sale terminal. That said, it has been acknowledged by many industry experts that the adoption of devices that feature this technology remains quite slow. Moreover, there is a great deal of confusion among consumers regarding which devices do and do not have NFC technology. Moreover, Apple has not yet adopted this tech at all in any of the devices that it has released.

It has been suggested that Isis may have a contingency plan that will help to boost its initial traction by holding off its primary focus as a mobile payments service and focusing on the other elements of the wallet app, such as loyalty rewards and smartphone friendly couponing. These have been important drivers in mobile commerce, so it could be that they can make all the difference in boosting the popularity of the app.

This most recent news of the mobile payments partnership with Chase has only managed to open more doors for Isis, as it grows the number of cards that it can support.

Mobile commerce is a growing preference for car shoppers

Rebecca | August 14, 2013

A growing number of people looking for a new vehicle are turning to apps to help them buy.

If you’re going to be shopping for a car in the near future, the odds are that if you have a smartphone or a tablet, you’ll consider using a mobile commerce app to help you to make your decision.

Though consumers have been comfortable with small purchases for a while, larger ones are making headway.

Consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable in using mobile commerce to shop for smaller items such as music and ebook downloads, clothing, and tickets, the bigger ticket purchases have been a tougher go. But it has now reached the point that consumers are using their devices for so many different daily tasks, that they are feeling quite natural in picking up their smartphones and tablets in order to look into more expensive items such as cars.

This willingness to consider mobile commerce for a purchase as big as a car is a massive step in this area.

Mobile commerce car shopping According to the High Gear Media vice president of product management, Jeff Birkeland, “There’s this huge upheaval in terms of mobile usage and mobile behavior.” Birkeland’s publication is responsible for The Car Connection website as well as its app. He added that “People are looking to not only research cars but actually take action and connect to a dealer and do some business on mobile.”

This indicates that people are now becoming comfortable enough with mobile commerce that they’re not just using it to surf around and find out what’s out there. They’re also using their devices to locate a dealer and complete a number of other actions, from comparing models to researching prices and seeking out deals.

Often, through the use of mobile commerce apps and sites, car shoppers are heading to the dealership already completely informed about what they want and how much it will cost. They are walking onto the sales floor armed with a great deal more information and are better prepared for what is likely to be a very large and potentially emotional purchase, enhancing their overall experience.