Written by Stephen Vagus

Author: Stephen

US Bank teams with Monitise to make a move on mobile payments

Stephen | October 15, 2013

Mobile payments platform planned through new partnership

Mobile payments firm Monitise has announced its partnership with U.S. Bank, one of the leading financial service firms in the United States. Together, the two organizations will launch a new mobile payments platform and encourage consumers to become more accepting of mobile commerce. Consumers have been growing more interested in mobile payments, but relatively few people are comfortable with managing money on their mobile devices, largely due to the security concerns they have regarding their financial information.

Companies plan to engage consumers through the mobile space

U.S. Bank is no stranger to the concept of mobile payments. The bank has been working to grow more accommodating to mobile commerce in recent years in order to better serve the needs of its customers. The bank has introduced many services that allow customers to manage their accounts from their mobile devices, but its new partnership with Monitise is expected to take its mobile commerce endeavors to a new level. Monitise has extensive experience when it comes to mobile payments and may be able to help U.S. Bank establish a more formidable presence in the mobile space.

Project to receive support from Nellymoser and Digimarc

Specific details concerning the platform Monitise is developing for U.S. bank have not yet been released. The platform is expected to cover product discovery, selection, and instant checkouts, however. The project will also receive support from Digimarc, a digital identification specialist, and Nellymoser, which specializes in mobile marketing and digital media. Backed by such strong support, the mobile payments platform is expected to garner a significant amount of attention from consumers.

Bank intends to be a leader in mobile payments

U.S. Bank has a strong interest in establishing itself as a leader in the mobile payments space. The bank will have to compete in a crowded arena, however, filled with companies that have already established a strong foothold in the sector. Monitise is well versed in this competition, of course, and may be able to help U.S. Bank achieve its goals in the mobile commerce field.

Facebook draws more attention to mobile games

Stephen | October 10, 2013

Campaign helps rekindle interest in old mobile games

Social networking giant Facebook recently launched a new campaign concerning mobile ads and consumer engagement. The campaign was meant to expose mobile users to advertisements while also reminding them to use applications that they have downloaded in the past. The campaign has been somewhat successful, leading to higher engagement for businesses and helping consumers discover, or re-discover, applications through the social platform. Game developer Arkadium held a study in the wake of the campaign in order to discover what impact it had on mobile games.

Study aims to shed light on consumer engagement

Facebook remains one of the most popular platforms for mobile games there is. The social network supports a wide range of these games, many of which are downloaded by the network’s massive user base. While many Facebook users download these mobile games, the majority of the games are played for a short period of time before being forgotten or replaced by other games. The study from Arkadium aims to shed some light on whether consumers are actually spending money on these games while they are playing them.

40% of people spend money on in-game purchases

According to the study, some 40% of consumers have made an in-game purchase, with 38% of these people making an in-game purchase through games on Facebook. The study also shows that 56% of people play more than 3 Facebook mobile games every week. Consumers tend to be very fluid when it comes to the games they play, moving from one game to the next relatively quickly. This leaves smartphones and tablets cluttered with a variety of mobile games that go unused generally because they are simply forgotten.

Consumers unlikely to remain fixated on single game for long

Reminding consumers to make use of their old applications could lead to a boost in mobile games engagement. It may also help people discover new applications from their favorite developers. Consumers are not likely to become fixated on one mobile game for long, however, especially as new mobile games are being released at a rapid pace.