Tag: mobile payments

By the year 2018, there is going to be a considerable rise in the capabilities for these payments apps.

According to a new forecast that has now been published, by the year 2018, one fifth of all smartphones will have mobile wallet functionality, and one third of all of those payments apps will involve contactless capabilities such as NFC technology.

This report has indicated that there will be a considerable growth in the potential for these apps.

The study and report were created by Juniper Research. That firm determined that there will be two separate mobile wallet models that will define themselves between now and the close of 2018. Within the emerging markets, it will be the Store Value Accounts (SVAs) that will continue to take off. Those forms of app are catering to the massive number of unbanked individuals in Latin America, developing Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa by providing them with financial access for the first time.

In the Western world, the mobile wallet model that will become common will be different.

That model will likely be based on contactless technology such as near field communication (NFC). These launches are expected to occur throughout North America and Western Europe. That latter form appears to be facing the greatest level of challenge when compared to emerging markets, where these apps are taking off more quickly. For instance, Alipay, in China, has already managed to register 100 million users.

The so-called iWallet, Apple’s contribution to this market space, is expected to arrive at any time. This could be a defining addition to mobile payments as it could either represent the point from which these smartphone wallets start to take off in the West, or it could reveal that these apps really will be facing some massive struggles in being able to take off.

It is believed that the iWallet will be based on HCE (Host Card Emulation) NFC services. The use of HCE could prove to be a considerable threat to the role of mobile operators in the contactless payments market. It likely won’t be very long before a much better understanding of the direction of the mobile wallet will be formed.

Future of mobile shopping and payments may lie with messaging apps

Mobile messaging applications may be the future of mobile commerce. A growing number of these apps are being released and many of them are being designed with mobile payments in mind. In some cases, these apps are meant to make mobile shopping more social, allowing users to share their purchases with those they have on their contact lists. Most of these apps simply aim to satisfy the demand coming from consumers who want their applications to do more than one simple task, such as messaging.

Line is set to break into the Taiwanese market with the help of Uitox

A new messaging application from Japan is set to take mobile commerce to a new level in Taiwan. The app is called Line and it’s developer of the same name has partnered with Uitox, an e-commerce organization, to bring Line into the Taiwanese market. Uitox is set to launch a mobile payments pilot program on June 10 that will highlight the use of Line. Numerous brands are already slated to participate in the campaign, and Line will even sell its own branded merchandise through the pilot project.

Line boasts of 420 million registered users globally

Line currently boasts of more than 420 million registered users throughout the world. The application has managed to acquire a great deal of support through its focus on flash sales. Last year, Line started introducing its own brand of flash sales to Thailand, where it found promising success. Taiwan will be the second country in which Line introduces its flash sales.

Line will have to continue competing with more popular mobile commerce platforms in order to find higher levels of success

While Line has managed to generate a great deal of success, it will still need to compete with other applications that are forming a powerful position in the mobile commerce field. WeChat is currently one of the largest messaging applications that has successfully established itself as a mobile payments platform as well. Newly released applications also offer some competition as consumers are often on the lookout for new services that could offer refreshing experiences.