Author: Stephen

Mobile payments show promise in Asia

| August 13, 2013

Visa has high hopes for mobile payments in Asia

Visa has been showing a great deal of attention to the emerging mobile payments scene in Asia. The region has become one of the most active places in the world when it comes to mobile commerce, largely due to the aggressive steps that retailers are taking and the growing proliferation of smartphones and tablets. Visa is one among several financial service firms that have been working to establish a strong presence in the mobile payments sector of Asia and the company sees a great deal of promise in several of the markets located within this region.

Asian Pacific sees a great deal of mobile commerce activity

According to Visa, mobile payments are likely to thrive in markets where card payments are already very common. The company anticipates that mobile payments will see the most aggressive growth in Australia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, which are quickly establishing themselves as hubs for ambitious mobile commerce projects located in the Asian Pacific. The company notes that Japan is also a likely place to see strong growth in mobile payments, due to the fact that many consumers in the country already use their mobile devices to purchase transit tickets.

Visa mobile payments in AsiaSecurity remains a problematic issue

Consumers that regularly use their mobile devices have shown a great deal of comfort when it comes to mobile commerce. These people have been able to acclimate to the idea of mobile payments more easily than those that do not use their smartphones and tablets on a regular basis. There are universal concerns that exist within this sector, of course, the most prominent of which happens to be security. The threat of financial information being stolen and exploited has proven to be a prohibitive issue to many consumers throughout the world.

Asia could present lucrative opportunities to mobile commerce firms

Visa is not solely focused on Asia with its mobile payments endeavors. The company is currently involved in various projects that are taking place around the world. Visa’s primary interest is to make consumers comfortable with mobile payments, but notes that there is a great deal of promise in Asian markets that could prove lucrative to those that manage to provide comprehensive mobile commerce services to the consumers that are demanding them.

Clutch raises $5.3 million to support mobile commerce development

| August 8, 2013

Firm raises funds to help power mobile commerce expansion

Mobile commerce firm Clutch has raised $5.3 million during its Series B funding initiative. The company focuses on providing innovative mobile commerce services through the combination of electronic gifting, loyalty programs, and merchant rewards. The firm’s services have become relatively popular throughout the mobile commerce sector, especially among businesses that are interested in engaging consumers with smartphones and tablets. Part of the appeal of Clutch has to do with the company’s ability to combine several services into a singular platform, making mobile commerce somewhat more approachable.

Funding to help Clutch add new features and perfect those that already exist

Safeguard Scientifics, a capital and operational support provider for health care and technology companies, contributed the majority share of Clutch’s latest round of funding. The funds raised will be used to make progress in the development of Clutch’s mobile commerce platform. New business-to-business features will be introduced into the platform to make it more accommodating of the needs that businesses have when it comes to mobile commerce.

Mobile Commerce fundingClutch acquires loyalty program provider ProfitPoint

Clutch is not only raising money to support its mobile commerce platform, of course, as the company recently announced its acquisition of ProfitPoint, a provider of loyalty and gift programs. The acquisition is expected to help Clutch further develop its own loyalty programs and make them more valuable to businesses. Clutch has also acquired Sqoot, an aggregator of deals being offered by Goupon, Living Social, and Yelp.

Loyalty programs becoming more important as mobile commerce grows

According to Clutch, retailers that utilize loyalty programs experience a 46% increase in purchases coming from consumers. With more consumers beginning to show serious interest in mobile commerce, loyalty programs are becoming more important for retailers. These programs provide retailers with a way to ensure consumers continue purchasing products from them rather than their competitors. While mobile commerce allows consumers to be very flexible in their shopping, those using their smartphones and tablets to purchase products have shown a tendency to stick to a single retailer or a small group of retailers that can provide everything they need.