Tag: mobile payments

New mobile commerce platform launched in Singapore

| September 5, 2014

SingTel and Standard Chartered Bank launch new mobile platform called Dash

SingTel, a leading telecommunications company in Singapore, has partnered with Standard Chartered Bank in order to launch a new mobile commerce platform. The platform is comprised of three services that are offered by SingTel and Standard Chartered Bank. These services are designed specifically for smartphones and cover money transfers, retail payments, mobile travel insurance, and loan applications. Those with smartphones will be able to use the new platform, which is called Dash, and the platform will not be exclusive to SingTel customers.

Dash could be supported by more than 20,000 merchants throughout Singapore by year’s end

There are already several thousand retail groups that support Dash and SingTel expects that some 20,000 merchants throughout Singapore will be working with the platform by the end of this year. Money transfers between consumers is expected to be the most popular use of the platform, as the demand for money transfer services has become quite high in Singapore. Dash is the latest in a large number of similar platforms that have been launched in the country in the past few months.

Singapore continues to prove itself as an attractive mobile commerce market

Mobile Commerce - SingaporeSingapore has become a very attractive mobile commerce market, but there were very few mobile-centric platforms available to consumers until this year. These services are becoming more common as more retailers, banks, and telecommunications companies begin to involve themselves in the mobile commerce space. The recent flood of mobile services has created a great deal of competition for the attention and support of consumers and no single platform has yet managed to establish itself as the absolute favorite among any significant number of people.

Retailers could add further momentum to the growth of mobile shopping and payments as they become more involved in this burgeoning sector

As retailers become more involved in the mobile space, consumers are likely to become more exposed to the idea of mobile commerce. Banks and telecommunications companies have already been exposing consumers to mobile commerce, but the retail environment is especially influential when it comes to encouraging consumer behavior.

NFC may play a role in Apple’s future with mobile payments

| September 4, 2014

Apple could finally embrace NFC technology in the near future

Investment firm Morgan Stanley believes that Apple will finally embrace NFC technology through a platform called “iWallet.” This is not the first such prediction to be made concerning Apple and NFC, but past forecasts regarding the pairing have failed to live up to reality. Apple has avoided NFC largely because of its concerns regarding the technology’s security and capabilities, but this avoidance mostly involved Apple’s use of NFC in mobile payments.

NFC has come under fire in recent years due to technical problems and security issues

NFC currently forms the backbone of most mobile payments services throughout the world. The technology allows for digital information to be transmitted over short distances, making an ideal commerce tool. The technology does, however, have some security issues that have been exposed through high profile attacks on mobile services that make use of NFC. These security issues have made many consumers leery of mobile payments and has even lead some large companies, such as Google, to remove NFC support from some of their leading mobile initiatives.

Apple may be growing fonder of NFC technology

nfc mobile paymentsApple’s wireless endeavors have largely focused on iBeacon, which debuted last year and represents a sort of combination of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology. Morgan Stanley predicts, however, that Apple is growing more confident in the abilities of NFC and the company could include the technology in future devices. As NFC sees more use, it is becoming more advanced and secure, making it more attractive to companies that have opted to take a cautious approach to the mobile payments space.

Apple would focus on security if it does choose to integrate NFC into future mobile devices

If Apple does embrace NFC technology, Morgan Stanley predicts that the company will focus on security. The company may choose to incorporate an NFC chip into future devices that works alongside a secure element that will store consumer financial information. The NFC chip would transmit this information when a payment is authorized by the device’s owner, using a fingerprint or other biometric information to authenticate the owner.