Tag: nfc technology

Mobile payments are growing globally

| January 27, 2014

New report highlights the growth of mobile commerce across 13 countries

MEF, a global trade association focused on the mobile space, has release the first report in its Global Consumer Insights Series on Mobile Money. The report highlights the growing popularity of mobile payments across 13 countries. Mobile commerce has been making strong growth in many of the world’s most prominent markets. Much of this growth is being driven by the growing number of people that have smartphones and tablets and how much they are beginning to use these devices in their daily lives.Mobile Payments - Global Growth

Report shows 15% of device users have made a mobile purchase in 2013

According to the report, some 15% of device users throughout 2013 made some form of mobile payment from their smartphones or tablets. The majority of these people made a purchase using some kind of mobile wallet application. These applications primarily leverage NFC technology, which allows digital information to be transmitted over short distances. Mobile wallets that do not make use of NFC technology are becoming more popular, however, as NFC-enabled mobile devices are still somewhat rare.

Mobile money users are becoming more important to businesses around the world

The report shows that mobile money users tend to spend more on individual purchases than others. The report notes that mobile money users are 10% less likely to make low-value payments and 14% more likely to make mid-value payments.  These particular consumers are becoming an important demographic for businesses that wish to engage the mobile audience, especially because these consumers are more likely to participate in mobile-centric initiatives, particularly those that leverage some kind of engagement technology, such as QR codes.

Mobile-only culture is beginning to emerge in developing countries

MEF’s report suggests that a “mobile-only” culture is beginning to emerge in developing countries. This involves people becoming more dependent on their mobile devices and making use of services that are only available through mobile platforms. Mobile banking, for instance, is becoming quite popular and a growing number of consumers are beginning to manage their finances solely through these mobile platforms. Mobile banking is expected to become much more popular than it already is as more financial institutions begin targeting mobile consumers.

Report predicts promising year for mobile commerce platforms

| January 22, 2014

Mobile commerce may find growth in 2014

Ovum, a leading market research firm, has released a new report concerning the potential growth of mobile commerce in 2014. Over the past few years, consumers and businesses alike have become quite serious when it comes to mobile shopping and payments in general. The past year has shown that retailers are becoming quite aggressive when it comes to engaging mobile consumers and consumers and becoming much more reliant on their smartphones and tablets than they were in the past. This has created a great deal of promise for 2014 in terms of mobile commerce.

Report highlights consumer support of platforms coming from banks

According to the firm’s report, consumers are becoming more likely to trust mobile commerce platforms that are associated with a financial institution. Banks and credit firms that release such platform tend to apply their own security standards to these services, thereby alleviating some o f the security concerns that consumers have regarding their financial information. According to Ovum, 43% of consumers prefer banks as their mobile payment service provider, with 13% favoring credit card companies.

2014 may be a big year for NFC technology

Mobile Commerce Platforms - Mobile ReportOvum’s report predicts that 2014 will be the year where NFC technology finally becomes mainstream. This technology has made up the backbone of many mobile commerce platforms, but has been losing popularity due to security concerns. NFC is quickly becoming a powerful marketing, entertainment, and data sharing tool, but Ovum suggests that its place in mobile commerce will begin to become more pronounced throughout the year as more NFC-enabled devices become available to consumers.

Bluetooth and location-based technologies may become more prominent in 2014

Apart from NFC, Bluetooth is expected to find its way to more mobile commerce platforms in the coming year. Many companies that have invested in the mobile commerce sector have opted to support Bluetooth as an alternative to NFC. Bluetooth has allowed more consumers to participate in mobile commerce because it is far more available to a wider range of mobile devices. Ovum’s report also suggests that location-based technologies will begin to play a much larger role in 2014 than they had in the past.