Tag: apple

Best Buy to support Apple’s mobile payments service

| April 30, 2015

Apple Pay will be accepted at Best Buy stores later this year

Apple’s mobile payments service, Apple Pay, has won another retail ally. Best Buy has announced that it will be accepting payments made through Apple Pay later this year. This may be a major shift for the retailer, as it is part of the Merchant Customer Exchange, a consortium of retailers that have an interested in mobile commerce. The Merchant Customer Exchange has its own mobile payments service, called CurrentC, which its member companies are meant to use exclusively.

Retailer breaks ranks with the Merchant Customer Exchange and CurrentC

CurrentC first attracted attention when retailers disabled some payment terminals so that they would not accept payments being made through Apple Pay. Instead, the Merchant Customer Exchange opted to release its own platform, which retailers had believed to be a more consumer friendly mobile payments solution. The platform is designed for convenience and ease-of-use, leveraging QR codes as a way to complete transactions. CurrentC has had trouble finding a place in the evolving retailer space, however, which is forcing some companies to look for better solutions.

Best Buy will continue to support CurrentC

Mobile Payments - Best Buy Supports Apple PayThough Best Buy is showing support for Apple Pay, it will still support the Merchant Customer Exchange and CurrentC. The company is concerned with providing its customers with options when it comes to mobile payments. In the past, consumers have shown favor for having the ability to choose how they pay for products and how they do their shopping. Lacking options can create a poor retail experience for some consumers, especially if they are becoming more reliant on mobile devices.

Apple continues to seek out retail partners for its mobile payments service

Apple Pay has emerged as a prominent mobile payments service, but it has not yet found mainstream success. Many consumers prefer to use a variety of services, while others simply purchase products from e-commerce sites directly and not through applications. Apple Pay has been working to acquire more retail partners in order to gain traction with consumers, but has only managed to find moderate success.

Report predicts the future of mobile payments

| April 24, 2015

Deloitte report highlights the potential success that mobile commerce will see this year

Deloitte has released its latest annual Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions report, which aims to shed some light on where mobile payments are headed this year. A large number of consumers have become enthralled with the concept of mobile commerce. They are beginning to use their smartphones and tablets to purchase products that they shop for online. This process is considered quite convenient, and new mobile payments services are making it easier for consumers to become involved in mobile commerce.

NFC-enabled mobile payments are growing quickly among consumers

According to the report from Deloitte, 5% of the world’s 650 million NFC-enabled mobile devices will be used at least once a month to make a mobile payment in a physical store. While 5% may not seem overwhelming, this is a significant increase over the number of NFC-enabled devices that were used to make payments in physical stores in 2014. Last year, approximately 0.5% of these devices were used to make an in-store mobile payment.

Forrester report predicts the US mobile payments market will reach $142 billion by 2019

Mobile Payments ReportA similar report from Forrester Research predicts that the mobile commerce market in the United States will reach $142 billion by the end of 2019. This growth will be powered by the growing popularity of mobile commerce services and increased smartphone penetration. Consumers are becoming more comfortable with the concept of mobile payments, especially as secure services are making this sector safer and easier to become involved in.

Large companies bring their customers to the mobile commerce space

Several prominent companies, such as Apple and Samsung, have begun entering into the mobile payments space. These companies have seen a significant rise in the demand for mobile payment support among consumers and are positioning themselves to accommodate this demand effectively. As more large companies enter into the space, the consumers that are loyal to these companies are expected to follow, making use of their mobile commerce platforms and shopping online with their smartphones as well as making payments with their devices in physical stores.