Tag: mobile transactions

The retail chain has now rolled out their own version of the smartphone based transaction method.

The Kohl’s Pay mobile payments platform has launched, representing the latest in a growing retail trend. Large retailers are, to an increasing degree, stepping into the mobile wallet market. This is creating a market with even greater competition for Android Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Those tech giants have all been battling for dominance.

The Kohl’s Pay rollout has added another independent alternative to those wallet options.

The Kohl’s Pay mobile payments platform is available for customers to use within the department stores. This not only allows consumers to pay for their purchases, but it has also been integrated with their rewards and loyalty programs. In this way, the mobile app allows for collection and redemption of the reward and loyalty program benefits. At the same time, it works as a digital wallet for the payment method being used for the purchase itself.

The retailer announced that the Kohl’s Pay Mobile payments service is now available across the country.

Kohl’s Pay’s existence is not a surprise to many as the company had previously announced its intentions to expand its previous mobile wallet. The previous version had allowed consumers to collect rewards and promotions and save their payment data. This latest nationwide move has expanded the features and functions of the mobile payments app.

The new app comes at a time when many other large retailers are taking similar steps with mobile wallets and payments. For example, CVS and Walmart have both recently enhanced their smartphone applications to include comparable changes. These solutions are generating greater appeal among retailers seeking to draw customers who are increasingly comfortable in using smartphones for payments.

Moreover, by implementing their own proprietary mobile wallets, retailers may make themselves into the convenient choice for consumers who prefer this payment method.

What makes the Kohl’s Pay mobile payments platform different is that customers can’t add their credit cards and debit cards to their digital wallet. Instead, the Kohl’s Charge private label card is the only one that can be used in conjunction with the app.

While cash purchases are becoming less commonplace in Canada, it’s plastic, not smartphones leading the way.

A new Moneris report revealed that Canadian mobile payments enthusiasm is finally growing. The report’s prediction is that by 2013, only 10 percent of transactions in Canada will be made with cash. In 2014, that figure was still 35 percent.

Digital payment technologies such as mobile wallets will be greatly responsible for reducing cash use.

The 70 percent decline in cash purchases from 2014 through 2030 will be greatly the result of Canadian mobile payments adoption. The number of contactless transactions and mobile wallets in use will reduce the need to carry cash.

The report indicated that one in four Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 years old already prefer using a mobile wallet over cash or plastic. Comparatively, only 18 percent feel that way in the 45 to 54 year old age group. Among those from 55 to 64 years old, 10 percent prefer mobile wallets. For those aged 65 and over, only 6 percent would want to use their smartphones instead of cash or credit and debit cards.

That said, there remain some very specific barriers to Canadian mobile payments adoption.

Leger conducted a survey in which there were 1,516 Canadian participants. When asked why they would choose not to use a mobile wallet, 62 percent had their doubts about security. They said they would be more likely to use smartphones to make purchases if they felt confident in mobile security.

Moreover, 42 percent said they’d be interested in using mobile payments if there were more stores that accepted those transactions. Another 50 percent said they would be interested in using smartphone payments if it meant they could leave all their plastic loyalty cards at home.

The report also showed interest in some of the additional opportunities offered by Canadian mobile payments. For example 48 percent of those surveyed said they would use a mobile wallet if they were emailed a receipt. Furthermore, 46 percent said they would use it if all stores accepted the technology. Moreover, 41 percent said they would be interested in using them if they could also store their ID on their phones so they could leave their entire wallets behind. Another 35 percent said they would use mobile payments to pay for public transportation fare.