Tag: mobile payments

PayPal launches rebranding campaign in response to competition in mobile payments space

| May 2, 2014

PayPal to undergo a major rebrand in order to beat out the competition it is facing from other companies

PayPal is about to undergo a massive and somewhat unexpected rebranding. The eBay-owned company has been operating for several years and has managed to avoid making any serious brand changes for the majority of its existence. Now, however, PayPal is seeing competition in the mobile payments market rise to new heights, which has the company somewhat worried about its ability to continue standing out to consumers from amongst its competitors.

Campaign to focus primarily on the North American and European markets

The rebranding campaign will be a global effort and will involve the adoption of a new logo and a new slogan, which will be “powering the people economy.” Australia is expected to be the first market to see the changes being made to PayPal. The associated marketing campaign for the rebranding initiative will focus primarily on the North American and European market after launching in Australia. PayPal currently boasts of one of the strongest mobile commerce presences in these two markets.

PayPal aims to beat back competition coming from large companies

PayPal - Mobile PaymentsPayPal has managed to establish a strong foothold in the mobile space because it was one of the first to begin engaging mobile consumers aggressively. Over the past few years, however, other companies have been growing more mobile-centric, taking note of the growing number of consumers that are taking part in mobile shopping and payments. Large companies like Apple and Google have been making a move to break into the mobile commerce space, and they could potentially replace PayPal as one of the most powerful names in the mobile field.

Competition continues to benefit consumers, but be harmful to some companies

The large number of companies, both old and new, beginning to participate in the mobile commerce space has created a very competitive atmosphere within the sector. An abundance of competition has been a benefit for consumers, as it has given them access to a wide range of mobile commerce platforms to choose from, but this competition has also made it difficult for companies to establish themselves as leaders in the mobile field.

Lack of interest in wallet platforms is impacting mobile payments

| May 1, 2014

Consumers have little interest in mobile wallets, seeing them as relatively useless

In the U.S., consumers are finding the concept of mobile wallets difficult to understand. For several years, people have been using their smartphones and tablets for a variety of activities, including hailing cabs, purchasing products online, and reviewing products and services that they are interested in. For the most part, mobile wallets are never used for such activity, which has left many people wondering why these platforms are being so heavily promoted by companies participating in the mobile commerce space.

Wallets may not offer consumers the services that they are interested in using on a daily basis

Mobile wallets are quite straightforward in their purpose. These platforms are meant to serve as digital counterparts to physical wallets. As such, they store the financial information of their users as well as a wide variety of other digital content. All of this information can be easily accessed by users of mobile devices, but this convenience has done little to wind over the hearts of consumers. Those finding mobile wallets unnecessary are not able to see what these platforms offer than traditional wallets do not.

Falling support for wallet platforms may have a negative impact on mobile commerce

lack of interest negatively impacts mobile paymentsThe relative malaise that people seem to have with mobile wallets has had an impact on mobile payments. Many companies specializing in mobile commerce have placed their hopes on mobile wallets. If these platforms are not being used, consumers are not likely to be making mobile payments. There are mobile commerce services that are not associated with wallet platforms, but many of the largest companies working in this sector are pushing for consumers to embrace the concept of mobile wallets.

Merchants are showing relatively low interest in mobile wallet platforms

Consumers are not the only ones that are showing disinterest in mobile wallets, of course. Merchants also have yet to be won over by the capabilities of wallet platforms. Many of these merchants are somewhat interested in mobile payments, but are not willing to support wallet platforms in order to accommodate mobile consumers.