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Mobile payments firm embraces Bitcoin

Square has announced its support for Bitcoin payments through the Square Market platform

Last week, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service classified Bitcoin as a property subject to tax regulation. This sent ripples through the Bitcoin community, largely due to the fact that the digital currency has existed without any significant regulation for the majority of its existence. Now, popular payments processor Square has announced that merchants using its Square Market platform will be able to accept Bitcoin payments. Square is currently only of the most prolific organizations in the mobile commerce space and one of the few that has shown any serious support for Bitcoin.

Fees on Bitcoin payments through the Square Market have not yet been announced

Using the Square Market, a merchant can list items on their websites and pay Square a 2.75% fee on every sale. Square has not yet announced whether or not any kind of fee will be tied to sales made using Bitcoin. Embracing Bitcoin may make Square significantly more popular among the digital currency’s legion of supporters. This popularity is also likely to extend to retailers accepting Bitcoin payments through the Square market.

Square continues to show dominance in the mobile commerce space through its powerful partnerships

Mobile Payments - BitcoinIn 2013, Square processed more than $20 billion in mobile payments. The company has established a strong foothold in the mobile commerce space through its partnerships with companies like Starbucks that have a strong interest in engaging mobile consumers. As people become more mobile-centric, they are beginning to use their smartphones to shop for and purchase products more regularly. Many of those participating in the mobile commerce space have shown interest in Bitcoin and other types of digital currency.

Accepting Bitcoin may have a positive impact on Square’s forthcoming IPO

Square has plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) within the coming months. The Square Market is currently valued at over $5 billion ahead of this IPO and its acceptance of Bitcoin may have a positive impact on that valuation. Bitcoin does have detractors, however, many of whom criticize the unregulated nature of the digital currency and its attraction to hackers.

Mobile marketing services at Adobe receive an iBeacon boost

The support of this technology coincides with an effort to make apps easier to manage.

Adobe has taken a larger step into the mobile marketing sphere as it revealed a set of rejuvenated services that are designed to help companies to be able to create, manage, and provide a customized real time app experience to their customers.

This entire opportunity will be available through the Adobe Marketing Cloud platform.

There is quite a list of services that have been added to what Adobe is now offering, with its entry into the mobile marketing channel. Along with its support of Apple’s iBeacon, it is also offering a number of different ways to reach consumers, personalize the experience, provide incentives for taking action, and offering ways for merchants to be able to measure results.

The goal is to provide a very well rounded and complete mobile marketing opportunity.

Among the new Adobe Mobile Services 2.0 offerings are:Mobile Marketing - Adobe

• Adobe Experience Manager apps for marketers, as well as the PhoneGap Enterprise for mobile app development firms.
• Measurements for campaigns, including for which campaigns are producing results and user behavior measurements to enhance engagement, launch events, and encourage content sharing, in addition to product purchasing.
• Apple iBeacon support, giving marketers location based data so that properly timed notifications can be delivered based on where the user is.
• Customer re-engagement features across mobile apps, giving companies the ability to deliver the latest news, report on credit balance details, and others.

Among Adobe’s primary goals has been in enhancing and increasing its offerings for its Marketing Cloud when it comes to mobile. Near the close of last year, that company released its SDK for Mobile Services, which included the ability to use location based technology for geotargetting users, as well as for the analysis of consumer data, optimizing the performance of the app, monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs), and even conducting certain forms of A/B testing.

It is clear that their focus continues to be a drive forward into mobile marketing, and this release that includes iBeacon indicates that geolocation technology will be playing an important role in that effort.