Mobile Wallet Media is a news media, analyst, marketing and consulting firm focused on the future of mobile: payments, marketing, loyalty commerce, security, prepaid, virtual currency, daily deals and the convergence of them all with social and local. The Chief Editor, Randy Smith, was the primary founder, inventor and former CEO of MobilePayUSA, a TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Alley Winner.
The 'Disruptive Innovation Meteor' named MOBILE has struck the world's of retail payments, banking and marketing. Firms wanting to survive, compete and win in this new environment must adapt by embracing disruptive innovation or risk becoming irrelevant or extinct. Read story
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Key Takeaways from 6th Mobile Commerce & Payment Innovations Summit
First off, znap unveiled a mobile payment solution it is soon to launch in the US market. The mobile payment app may be used to pay bills, pay in retail and ecommerce. Of course I'm a retail hound dog, so I stay focused there. The app works through using a mobile phone to scan a 2D/QR bar code at POS, on screen via mobile or online or any print ad. The solution requires no new hardware and integrating new software is optional for merchants using tablets at POS. While a fully integrated solution will be available, with a tablet in use at POS and no integration, payment confirmations are delivered in real-time to the point of sale as pop-up messages. Integrated within the app are loyalty, coupons and offers. With no NFC reader or bar code scanner needed by merchants to enable mobile payments, this solution has a chance to capture some mobile market share.
The znap solution is similar to one my former company, MobilePayUSA, planned on launching in 2011. If znap employed my 'Mobile Payment Card Initiation' invention, previously revealed a few weeks back, it could expand it's potential merchant base. This would expand their ability to any merchant accepting credit cards, all without any new software at any POS terminal or cash register. Kind of a game-changer, no? There's no question about the potential for the technology just described to flourish. The question is will this startup be able to withstand the onslaught of payments power houses such PayPal, MCX, any of the payment networks, processors or banks should they decide to implement a solution similar to theirs or one paired with one of my solutions?
Just last week I published an overview of their innovative services and interview with one of their all-star mobile payments team. I will add here they have been there done that and know very well what merchants want and expect. They also understand the hurdles faced in this ever-competitive and expanding space. Look for big things from this small startup.
Yes, State Farm Bank, may enter the mobile wallet space. They built a mobile wallet and ran a limited private pilot at their corporate headquarters. State Farm Bank VP Andrea E. O'Conner shared "We had no concrete business use case for a mobile wallet app and will not move forward until we do."
Just think of the possibilities. Tens of millions of Americans are insured by State Farm and only a small percentage of those customers have a bank or credit card with their bank. It seems to me the cross/upsell of internal services and cross-marketing opportunities with 3rd parties would be huge.
They could deepen their relationship with their customers, of which they have very limited interaction with, to more than just billing or to times customers must call upon the company to provide their insurance coverage. Either of those interactions are not necessarily a pleasant experience for customers. What if they engaged merchants and product brands to create something like BankAmeriDeals? Card-linked savings and offers, plus their 1% cash back on all purchases, and maybe a one-time up front gift from merchant partners would make for a strong play in the marketplace to add banking customers, revenues and enhance customer loyalty.