BWild |
February 28, 2013
Mobile commerce growing in the East
PayPal has been making a strong push into the mobile commerce arena recently. The company has long been involved in the world of online payments, but the proliferation of mobile technology has opened up new forms of commerce that PayPal is eager to take advantage of. The company has announced plans to begin expanding its reach across the global mobile commerce market and has set its sights to the East, showing a strong interest in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong sees major activity in mobile commerce sector
Hong Kong is one of the largest economic hubs in the Asian market. Companies with a strong focus on the online world have seen major progress in Hong Kong over the years and companies native to the region have seen aggressive growth in the Philippines, Argentina, South Korea, Sweden, and Russia. PayPal’s Hong Kong division notes that more consumers are relying on their mobile devices to make payments and research products, giving the company an ample opportunity to provide services to these consumers and the businesses of the region.
PayPal expected to increase activity in Hong Kong
Kerry Wong, managing director for PayPal’s operations in Hong Kong, claims that businesses in the region that use the company’s services experienced more growth than their competitors. These companies grew more than the industry average throughout the last 12 months, and many of these businesses have helped increase the regions exports by 2% thanks to the borderless nature of online trading and sales. PayPal expects that companies using its services will continue to see remarkable growth as they begin to embrace mobile commerce more aggressively.
Estimated $20 billion in mobile payments to be processed in 2013
PayPal has high expectations when it comes to online payments in 2013. The company, which boasts of more than 123 million active users worldwide, estimates that it will process over $20 billion in mobile payments globally this year. This is higher than the $14 billion in mobile payments the company processed in 2012.
Visa making moves to expand mobile commerce
Visa has taken a strong interest in mobile commerce recently. The company has been working to broaden its horizons as the world of commerce evolves due to the proliferation of mobile technology. More consumers are relying on their smart phones and tablets to make purchases online as well as manage their various bank accounts. Some businesses, especially those in the retail sector, have found it difficult to keep up with consumers in the realm of mobile commerce, leading Visa to take steps to expand the availability of tools these businesses have to accommodate the needs of consumers.
Visa and ROAM team to make acceptance of mobile commerce easier for businesses
Visa has announced that it has entered into an agreement with ROAM, a leading mobile commerce provider. Through this new partnership, the two companies aims to expanding the reach of mobile commerce into new merchant categories. Visa plans to make adopting mobile commerce easier for businesses through making secure mobile payment acceptance solutions more available to them. ROAM is a leader in mobile payment acceptance technology and the company’s solutions are expected to be put to good use by Visa.
Commerce beginning to shift
Visa has an overarching goal of displacing cash payments. Traditional forms of currency have been the dominating force in commerce for as long as commerce has existed, but the advent of technology is beginning to cause a shift in the way people pay for products. Computers opened up the way for electronic purchases, something that Visa claims is significantly more secure and efficient for consumers. The popularity of mobile devices is accelerating this shift away from traditional forms of commerce, and Visa is positioning itself to ensure that mobile commerce becomes a very dominant economic force.
New partnership may help businesses accommodate consumer demand
Businesses have shown extreme interest in adopting mobile commerce services, largely spurred by demand coming from consumers all over the world. It has been difficult for these businesses to accommodate this demand, however, due to the relatively few mobile commerce point-of-sale platforms available to them. The new partnership between Visa and ROAM may help solve this problem.
