Tag: smartphone payments

Mobile banking reaching new heights

Mobile banking is taking hold in Australia. The Market Intelligence Strategy Center, a financial services consultancy, has released new information concerning the state of mobile banking and mobile commerce within the country. More consumers are finding it easier to manage their finances through their mobile devices. This includes paying for products, managing investments, and accessing their bank accounts. These are all aspects of mobile commerce, a phenomenon that is growing in popularity around the world.

Analysis shows mobile banking reaches 6 million users

According to the Market Intelligence Strategy Center, mobile banking in Australia has exceeded 6 million users. The firm notes that it took nearly four years for Internet banking to reach the same milestone, but mobile banking has reached it in just over three. This data is based off of figures released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which notes that the adult population using smart phones is at 8.7 million strong throughout the country.

Banks begin embracing mobile consumers

The nation’s banks have been embracing mobile technology aggressively. Over the past year, nearly all Australian banks have made changes to their services in order to be more accommodating of mobile consumers. Many of these banks have seen the majority of their traffic come from Android devices, with iOS devices coming close behind. These banks have also found the mobile technology is a great way to sell products to consumers, as they enjoy a nearly constant connection with customers through a variety of mobile banking applications.

Focus on mobile may be good for banks

Mobile banking is expected to become more popular as mobile Internet speeds increase. 4G connections are becoming more common, but have yet to become universally available to all consumers. As Internet speeds increase, consumers are more likely to increase their reliance on the mobile devices they have come to love. This may be good news for Australia’s banks, as well as the country’s various mobile commerce initiatives that are working to attract the interest of mobile consumers.

This allows card readers at a point of sale to be entirely replaced by the smartphone.

Flint, a mobile payment solutions company, has taken on massive competition, such as PayPal and Square, by releasing its new app that eliminates the need for magnetic card readers, in favor of a unique new system that uses the camera on iPhones for image recognition.

The Flint app applies new algorithms for reading the numbers right off the face of a card.

With the mobile payments data collected through the device camera, a transaction can be immediately completed. The CEO of Flint, Greg Goldfarb, explained that “It doesn’t take a picture of the card.” Instead, it uses the camera feature and “It just reads the numbers, and we do that to protect consumer privacy.”

The mobile payments system has been receiving a great deal of attention and applause, particularly for a newbie.

As a first time app developer, it is the recipient of a tremendous amount of positive attention. This is due to the unique tack that it has taken in the development of its mobile payments system and the marketing efforts that it has made to encourage adoption and use. For instance, it allows users to link an account to the Facebook page for their business. This gives customers who have made a purchase the opportunity to create testimonials that will be posted directly onto that page, as well as on their own social network wall.

At the moment, the app is exclusive only to iOS devices. Many in the mobile payments industry are keeping a close watch on this new addition to the marketplace, as they are keen to see how it stands up against a competition that is made up of some well established giants in the transaction domain.

So far, it is receiving positive attention due to its ability to quickly process mobile payments. Retailers like that a dongle is not required in order to make it work, and the free app allows them to begin accepting payments very soon after downloading. However, the primary drawback that has been pointed out is that it currently feels as though it is a step slower than the old fashioned method of swiping a card through a traditional reader.