This new form of transaction comes as a result of the use of the Way2ride app from VeriFone.
VeriFone, one of the two organizations through which New York City taxis process credit card transactions to pay for rider fares (the other being Creative Media Technologies), has just launched a mobile payments app that will allow passengers to use their smartphones instead of a plastic card.
The application is free and will be available for use on both Android and iOS based smartphones.
The VeriFone mobile payments app is called Way2ride. It is designed to allow smartphone users to use their smartphone instead of a credit card, after having registered their card data in their phone. This is unique from the other mobile commerce projects that are currently being tested by the taxis in New York City because the three e-hail apps in those pilot projects are for calling cabs and not paying for them.
This makes the Way2ride app completely unique in its mobile payments features for the city.
The implementation of the Way2ride mobile payments app and system in New York City is meant to be only the start of a worldwide rollout for VeriFone. It said that it intends to offer the service in all of its network of 70,000 enabled cabs around the globe.
Mobile payments and apps are becoming an increasingly important and mainstream part of taxi service. Just recently, new legislation was released in Washington D.C. that gave the district’s area taxi companies the chance to add smartphones to their lists of acceptable forms of transactions. This has lead to a number of partnerships in that area, in order to make it possible for cabbies to take advantage of this new law.
Among them, some of the most notable new mobile payments partnerships in D.C. were airsMobile and USA Cabs. They created the TaxiRadar app, which allows the customer to hail a cab and, through the use of a smart meter (which complies with the latest taxi commission regulations in the district), can complete the transaction and pay for their fare at the end of the ride, as well.
Mobile commerce service launched by CloudZync
CloudZync, a mobile commerce startup based in the United Kingdom, has announced the launch of a new mobile wallet application. CloudZync’s wallet is the latest to come to the UK mobile wallet scene and will face significant competition from the myriad wallets that exist therein. The company currently has some 280 merchants signed up to support its mobile wallet. These merchants have expressed strong interest in mobile commerce and its growing popularity among consumers.
CloudZync wallet supported by 280 merchants
The mobile wallet is currently available for iOS and Windows devices. CloudZync has plans to release the wallet to the Android platform at a later date. The wallet can be linked to an existing bank account and can store funds digitally. Users will be able to make payments through the mobile wallet and these payments will be supported by the 280 merchants that have signed up to support CloudZync’s mobile commerce services. The wallet does have an interesting security feature that makes use of QR codes.
QR codes used to provide added layer of security
QR codes are not typically considered to be a mobile security tool, but the codes do have some ability to verify the identity of consumers and prevent malicious mobile commerce activities. When a consumer makes use of the CloudZync wallet to make a payment, a unique QR code is generated. This code can then be scanned by merchants in order to verify a customer’s identity. The wallet will also store various rewards from loyalty programs, allowing consumers efficient access to these rewards.
Mobile commerce continues to grow in the UK
Mobile commerce has established a foothold in the United Kingdom, but no mobile wallet platform has yet established a lead over any other. The market is currently inundated with these platforms, each seeking to offer some comprehensive mobile commerce service to consumers. The expansive availability of these mobile wallets has given consumers the opportunity to move from platform to platform without being restricted to a single wallet.
