Tag: mobile wallet applications

O2 to shut down mobile wallet service and continue work on mobile commerce platform

| January 21, 2014

O2 Wallet is shutting down in March

O2, a prominent communications company in Europe, has announced that its mobile wallet service will be shut down at the end of March this year. Mobile wallets have been growing in popularity, but the market is currently saturated with a wide variety of these mobile applications, making it difficult for any one service to stand out. Continued focus on a mobile wallet platform that is, essentially, identical to others is becoming an increasing dangerous trap for companies are heavily investing themselves int he world of mobile commerce.

Wallet applications are becoming more plentiful

While O2 is shutting down its mobile wallet service, the company is not expected to pull out of mobile commerce entirely. The O2 Wallet was launched approximately 18 months ago and was considered one of the first wallet applications from a large company. The app was meant to provide consumers with a way to manage their money and other financial information and received a strong following. Over the past year, however, much about the mobile commerce market has changed, leading O2 to believe that its wallet is no longer viable for consumers.

O2 begins focusing more heavily on Weve platform

O2 shut down mobile commerce platformO2 is now looking for ways to help people manage their money more effectively. Currently, O2 is involved in a joint venture with mobile network operators EE and Vodafone. Through this venture, the companies are working to develop a new mobile commerce platform called Weve. The platform is set to launch in spring of this year and promises to provide consumers with a variety of features that makes managing their financial information and shopping online with a mobile device easier.

Weve attracts strong support

Weve has already won the support of several major banks in the United Kingdom, including Barclays, HSBC, and Lloyds. The mobile commerce platform has also managed to overcome some legal issues concerning Europe’s competition laws. Whether or not O2 will devote the majority of its focus to the mobile commerce platform or decide to develop a new mobile wallet has yet to be seen.

Report predicts the future of mobile wallets

| December 19, 2013

Report sheds light on wallet applications

Allied Market Research has released a new report that focuses on the growing value of mobile wallets. Mobile commerce has taken hold in many countries around the world, which has exposed consumers to mobile wallets. These tend to be simple applications that are designed to store a consumer’s financial information as well as digital information being provided by retailers and merchants in general. This information typically takes the form of loyalty rewards, but mobile wallets can also be used to store digital versions of tickets to events and travel passes.

Consumers may be growing more interested in wallet apps

While mobile commerce has helped boost the popularity of mobile wallet applications, the growing reliance that many people are forming on their smartphones and tablets has ensured that these applications have a strong future. Even those that are uninterested in mobile commerce can make use of these wallet applications, using them as a convenient form of storage.

Mobile wallet market to hit $50 billion by 2020

mobile wallet reportsThe report from Allied Market Research predicts that the global mobile wallet market will reach $50 billion by the end of 2020, experiencing a compound annual growth rate of 127% from 2013 to 2020. The report suggests that the majority of consumers that embrace wallet applications will use these platforms to participate in mobile commerce in some manner. Notably, the report predicts that the number of NFC-based mobile wallets will increase in the coming years despite the dropping popularity of NFC in the mobile commerce field.

Caution concerning NFC remains strong

NFC devices are becoming more abundant as device makers and mobile operators work to expose consumers to new technology. NFC had been quite popular in mobile commerce in the past, but security concerns have lead to something of an exodus away from this technology. Despite these security concerns, however, NFC devices are still finding their way to consumers, many of whom are using NFC technology simply to share digital information rather than participate in mobile commerce.