Tag: mobile payments

Rakuten launches new global investment fund managed by Rakuten Ventures

Rakuten, one of Japan’s largest e-commerce organizations, has launched a new global investment fund that will focus on the development of startups in Israel, the United States, and in the Asian Pacific region. The new fund will be based in Singapore, but will be managed by Rakuten Ventures and has more than $100 million at its disposal. The fund will seek to invest in startups that have ambitious goals in the mobile space, particularly those interested in mobile commerce.

Rakuten’s investments in Asia may continue to favor mobile companies

Rakuten has not yet announced which companies it is seeking to invest in but may do so in the near future. The fund is not meant to focus specifically on companies involved in the mobile commerce space, but Rakuten’s investments in Southeast Asia have favored these companies in the past. Mobile commerce has become quite prominent throughout Asia, largely due to the growing adoption of mobile technology. Consumers are becoming mobile-centric and, as such, the demand for mobile services has begun to rise dramatically throughout the region.

Company aims to compete with Amazon and others as it begins to expand

Over the past few years, Rakuten has been positioning itself to compete on a global level. The company has found major success in Japan, but intends to enter into other markets in order to take advantage of the growing popularity of mobile and e-commerce. As Rakuten begins expanding, it will have to compete with larger, well established companies, like Amazon and eBay. In order to compete effectively, Rakuten has been making strategic acquisition throughout the mobile space, hoping to bolster its tools and provide better services to new consumers.

Mobile commerce continues to grow among consumers

Mobile commerce is becoming one of the primary ways for people to shop online for products that they are interested in. People are also beginning to use their mobile devices to manage their finances more effectively, taking advantage of new mobile applications being offered by their banks. Companies like Rakuten see a great deal of promise in mobile commerce because of its convenient nature and how it appeals to consumers.

The web based Hive Wallet was first announced in March but has now been released.

Although the Hive mobile wallet was still seeking developers and was little more than a well thought out concept, four months ago, since that time they have not only managed to find the skilled individuals that they needed, but they have also reached the point that they have now released the product.

The entire concept of paying over smartphones and tablets is still a new one that is slowly catching on with consumers.

This mobile wallet is unique in that it is based on HTML5, available on the web instead of requiring an app download. By visiting the URL for the first time, the user is given the choice to either create a new wallet or to open an existing one. Similar to brainwallet, Hive Wallet requires a twelve word passphrase in order to create a new one. Moreover, security is then taken an additional step further by requiring the user to assign a PIN.

Once the mobile wallet has been created, it can be used with a sleek, minimalist design.

This is key because the user will need to be able to access all of its elements rapidly in order to use it to complete transactions. There are three options clearly laid out for users of the site, including the receipt of bitcoin, sending that digital currency, and viewing their transaction history.

This service supports digital currencies (also known as cryptocurrencies) such as Bitcoin and Litecoin and it is looking to add Dogecoin in the near future. Over the long term, the company is hoping to be able to add a range of different digital currencies from which the wallet users can choose.

One feature that is already being applauded is called “waggle”, which broadcasts a user’s public key to other users of the wallet who are located nearby. By doing this, in person transactions can be completed seamlessly, without the requirement for NFC tag taps or QR code scans. That said, because this mobile wallet is based on HTML5, it should be noted that it is not compatible with iBeacon.