mobile payments growing

What’s happening in mobile payments and mobile technology? We’ve got the latest global news to keep you current and make you mobile-savvy. According to Business Insider, in-store mobile payments will reach $503 billion by 2020. The number of in-store mobile payment users in the US will reach 150 million by the end of 2020 or 56% of consumers reports Mobile Payments World.

McDonald’s introduces mobile food orders and mobile pay and is determined not to make the same mistakes as Starbucks when its popular new mobile app created long lineups and annoyed customers. Because of a supplier failure, Disney Resorts introduced new payment machines to handle their popular payments by Disney wrist bands.  App-only startup bank Monzo suffered a weekend service failure due to a payments supplier problem affecting it’s 120,000 customers.

Android PayGoogle Pay launched in Belgium, its tenth market and with more than 85,000 payment locations. A new Pizza Hut promotion awards a limited number of Bluetooth-enabled sneakers, named “Pie Tops” which allow pizza orders to be placed wirelessly by pressing a button on the tongue of the running shoe.

Samsung Pay launched in India after one month of testing and is working with Paytm and other major services in India. Alibaba’s Ant Financial, owner of Alipay, continues its acquisitions, new market entries and partnerships in order to reach its goal of the largest global payments company.

22 Mind-Blowing Mobile Payment Statistics

https://home.bluesnap.com/snap-center/blog/22-mind-blowing-mobile-payment-statistics/It’s true: The Girl Scouts actually sold more cookies when they began to take mobile payments. It makes perfect sense—you never know when or where you’re going to bump into a sidewalk table filled with Thin Mints and Tagalongs, and you might not be prepared. But the lack of cash is no longer an obstacle to taking a few boxes of that tasty goodness home, as long as you have your phone handy.

Whether they’re prepared to spend money or not, an increasing number of consumers are embracing the idea of using a mobile device to pay for goods and services. It’s faster, more convenient, and often linked to valuable rewards and discounts. But don’t take our word for it. We dug around for some mobile payment statistics that paint a picture of where things are headed and how far the industry has come. It seems the mobile payment market has a bright future, as will forward-thinking retailers with an eye toward continually improving the customer experience. Via home.bluesnap.com

McDonald’s plan for mobile pay: Avoid Starbucks’ mistakes

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-mcdonalds-mobile-future-0305-biz-20170303-story.htmlThe world’s largest burger chain wants to avoid the long lines and wait times that plagued the world’s largest coffee chain by using technology and alternatives like curbside pickup to better prepare for the expected demand its new system could generate. It plans to roll out mobile pay to all U.S. restaurants by fall. The timing means McDonald’s is far behind many of its biggest competitors, but CEO Steve Easterbrook said Wednesday he’d rather be late and get it right.

The world’s largest burger chain wants to avoid the long lines and wait times that plagued the world’s largest coffee chain by using technology and alternatives like curbside pickup to better prepare for the expected demand its new system could generate. It plans to roll out mobile pay to all U.S. restaurants by fall. The timing means McDonald’s is far behind many of its biggest competitors, but CEO Steve Easterbrook said Wednesday he’d rather be late and get it right.

Getting it right means, in McDonald’s eyes, a lot of changes — many that customers won’t see. In order to allow customers to seamlessly order and pay with a few clicks on an app, McDonald’s is making adjustments in its kitchens, dining rooms and parking lots. Via chicagotribune.com

New Payment Devices Brought Into Disney World Resorts and Retailers

http://www.chipandco.com/new-payment-devices-brought-disney-world-resorts-retailers-261545/It would appear that the cute little mouse head touch points that guests used at Walt Disney World front desks and retailers to charge items to their MagicBands may be a thing of the past.

Guests started reporting this week that these have been swapped out in favor of a more industry standard model (see pictured).  The new devices still work with MagicBands when touched to the flat area that you see above and take other RFID cashless payment options as well.  The new kiosk also offers a chip reader for credit cards.

New news yet as to whether this is just a prototype or if Disney will be customizing future versions to be more in keeping with the original MagicBand theme. Via chipandco.com

App-only startup bank Monzo is down

http://www.businessinsider.com/monzo-is-down-2017-3LONDON — App-only startup bank Monzo went down on Sunday — and normal service was not expected to be resumed until 6 p.m. Monzo notified users that it was having issues with a supplier that may not be resolved until “nightfall.” The company is providing regular updates on its website.

The problems, Monzo said, were affecting card payments, top ups, and sending money. Some 120,000 people have a funded account with the company, according to an investment deck seen by Business Insider this week.

Monzo has told its investors it wants to reach one billion customers worldwide. It is currently running a crowdfunding campaign to raise £2.5 million, alongside £19.5 million raised from institutional investors. Via businessinsider.com

Pizza hut turns to sneakers to boost mobile sales

http://www.businessinsider.com/pizza-hut-turns-to-sneakers-to-boost-mobile-sales-2017-3Pizza Hut is launching a limited number of Bluetooth-enabled sneakers, named “Pie Tops,” that will enable users to order a large pizza by pushing a button in the shoe’s tongue, according to Engadget.

The shoes, which are part of promotion for the NCAA March Madness tournament, will be linked to an app to set ordering and button push preferences. Initially, just 64 pairs will be available, but a “handful” of will reportedly be released to the public later, if people are interested. The move follows two promotions that discounted orders via mobile app and Amazon Alexa.

Pizza shoes aren’t going to become a thing, but they could be an effective promotion tool as Pizza Hut looks to bolster its mobile strategy. Pizza Hut’s mobile business is growing — the firm sees 50% of takeout and delivery orders via digital channels, and 70% of its online sales come from mobile. Ensuring that number stays high is important to keep up with competition – Domino’s, for example, has over 15 digital ordering options — and could also help grow sales, since the average order value of app-based orders tends to be higher than traditional channels. Using a gimmick like Pie Tops could be an effective way to promote digital ordering by reminding customers that digital channels are an option. Via businessinsider.co

Google Pay Launches In its Tenth Country, Belgium

https://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/03/android-pay-launches-tenth-country-belgium.htmlToday Google has announced the launch of Android Pay in Belgium, which has now become the tenth country where the company’s mobile payment solution has been made available thus far. Starting today, Android smartphone users in Belgium can make in-store payments using their devices at more than 85,000 retail locations throughout the country, including shops like McDonald’s, Carrefour, Media Markt, Medi-Market, H&M, and Quick.

At the moment, Android Pay in Belgium is compatible with MasterCard and VISA credit cards issued by BNP Paribas Fortis, Fintro, and Hello bank. However, Google claims that support for debit cards from the aforementioned card issuers as well as banks including CBC/KGC “will be coming soon”. In order to ensure wider compatibility with Android Pay in the country, Google teamed up with a handful of leading payment platforms, tech providers, and processors, including Braintree, Stripe, First Data, and CyberSource.

Eligible Android smartphone users in Belgium can make use of the new service by downloading the Android Pay application from the Google Play Store on their phone, and link an eligible MasterCard and/or Visa credit card from the aforementioned banks/credit card issuers. Android Pay not only gives users in Belgium the possibility to pay contactless at over 85,000 point-of-sale terminals but also allows customers to purchase online via supporting applications including Deliveroo, TransferWise, Fancy, Vueling, Hotel Tonight, Sit, Uber, s, and Showroomprive.com, with the list of supporting apps continuing to expand. Via androidheadlines.com

Samsung Pay goes live in India, works with Paytm wallet too

https://www.sammobile.com:443/2017/03/06/samsung-pay-goes-live-in-india-works-with-paytm-wallet-too/After teasing the launch of Samsung Pay in India last month and then letting users sign up for an early access program last week, Samsung has launched its mobile payment service in the country today. If you signed up for the early access program, you should now be able to set up your Samsung Pay account and start using it for payments.

The company has collaborated with Axis, HDFC, ICICI, SBI, and Standard Chartered banks (MasterCard and VISA debit and credit cards) for the service. Users can also add their Paytm wallet accounts in the Samsung Pay app. Samsung will soon start supporting cards from Citibank as well. There were rumors that Samsung would collaborate with American Express, but there’s still no sign of any such partnership.

Samsung Pay works with the Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 edge , Galaxy A5 (2016), and the Galaxy A7 (2016) in India. Via sammobile.com:443

The largest payments company in the world most people have never heard of

https://thenextweb.com/asia/2017/03/06/largest-payments-company-world-people-never-heard/Last month Ant announced a $3 billion debt financing deal to expand their investment portfolio and, interestingly, moved into the US markets by acquiring MoneyGram for $880 million. This was followed by a strategic investment into Korean messaging service Kakao that offers Kakao Pay and, just last week, an increase in their stake in Paytm, such that Ant Financial is now the majority owner of the service.

Meantime, apart from heading for inclusiveness, Ant has also expanded into the USA and Europe, not just through MoneyGram. At the end of 2015, the company signed a deal with Wirecard to give them access to Europe for merchant checkout using their wallet for Chinese tourists. This was followed with a partnership with Ingenico to further enhance their European presence and then a deal with First Data to give them a similar coverage of North America.

The media positions the Wirecard, Ingenico and First Data moves as being a pure provision of service for Chinese tourists. Don’t believe it. This is a fast-moving company that is expanding non-stop in its mission to be the dominant global mobile wallet. Via thenextweb.com

That’s it for our mobile payments news roundup. We’re back on Friday with more payments industry intelligence.