Chase Paymentech and Vantiv, two of the largest payment processors in the US, have signed up to distribute the former head of Google Wallet’s new Poynt POS terminal to their merchant bases... More
Beacons
Aislelabs compares beacons
Toronto-based in-store marketing specialist Aislelabs has published an online comparison examining Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon hardware from 16 different vendors including Estimote, Kontakt and Gimbal... More
SK Planet to roll out Bluetooth beacons to 10,000 stores across Korea
SK Planet has launched a new Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) service in Korea that offers customers reward points and benefits directly on their mobile device whenever they enter a participating retail location. The BLE beacon-based solution is expected to be installed in more than 10,000 stores by next month. More
Bedier unveils Poynt POS
The former head of Google Wallet has unveiled a payment terminal supporting mag stripe, EMV, NFC, QR codes and beacon technology with no add-ons or dongles needed... More
Football fans get BLE promos
UK Football League sponsor Sky Bet has installed Bluetooth beacons at Elland Road, Leeds and the New York Stadium, Rotherham to send offers to football fans as part of a pilot project that could be rolled out to other locations across the country... More
Swirl serves ads to shoppers inside stores
Proximity marketing specialist Swirl has unveiled an in-store programmatic ad exchange that enables retailers and brands to reach consumers with relevant content and offers on their smartphones while they shop at participating locations... More
Bookatable tests iBeacon at 119 restaurants
Europe’s largest online restaurant booking website is testing Apple’s iBeacon location technology to send offers and menus to potential diners toting iPhones as they pass by a participating location... More
Newspaper tests BLE beacons
Dutch newspaper publisher NDC Media is testing Bluetooth beacons with thirty shops in the town of Leeuwarden, Netherlands, to send offers to consumer smartphones running the Lightcurb mobile app... More
Shopkick drives $1bn in revenue
Location-based shopping app Shopkick reports that it has driven more than US$1bn in revenue for its partner retailers since its launch in 2010, more than half of which occurred in the past year... More
Welsh museum tests iBeacons
The National Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon, Wales, is using Bluetooth beacons to let visitors discover more about the collections on show on their mobile devices... More
Hong Kong carrier SmarTone rolls out Bluetooth marketing platform to retailers
Hong Kong mobile network operator SmarTone has introduced ST Beacon, a marketing service that lets retailers send promotional messages to customers with an Android or iOS device using Bluetooth... More
Hailo reports on BLE payments in taxis
Pay with Hailo, a service that uses Apple’s iBeacon technology to let users of the Hailo taxi hailing app pay drivers with their smartphone, is experiencing “steady growth”, Naoise Irwin, the company’s VP of strategic initiatives, has told NFC World+ — and Hailo now plans to roll out the service across its growing international network... More
US Tennis Association serves up Bluetooth beacons at Flushing Meadows
The US Tennis Association (USTA) has used a network of Bluetooth beacons placed around the US Open’s Flushing Meadows venue to tailor its mobile app to event attendees, learn how ticket holders moved around the location, and push messages to fans... More
Carlsberg rolls out NFC beer mats and beacons to 250 Danish pubs and bars
Brewer Carlsberg is distributing beer mats containing an NFC tag and a QR code and installing Bluetooth beacons at 250 pubs and bars across Denmark to support its Crowdit offers and venue discovery app. More
KLM uses Bluetooth beacons to help passengers navigate Schiphol Airport
Passengers travelling with KLM from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport can now use the airline’s app to get a map of the airport that shows the route they need to take to their gate and the time required to get to there... More
InMarket reports on attitudes to beacon messages
Sending customers more than one push notification from a beacon platform in the same store leads to a 313% decline in app usage, a study conducted by Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) marketing platform InMarket has found... More
John Lewis invests in BLE
Upmarket UK department store chain John Lewis has invested £100,000 in Localz, a startup that uses Bluetooth beacons to improve the in-store shopping experience and has won the retailer’s first JLAB incubator program... More
Korea’s SK Planet buys US BLE offers platform Shopkick
Mobile offers platform Shopkick, which is working with a number of high profile US retailers to roll out a network of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, has been acquired by SK Planet (SKP), operator of Korea’s largest shopper rewards program and part of the same group as carrier SK Telecom... More
Miami Airport provides airlines and retailers with open access to Bluetooth beacons
Miami International Airport has become the first in the world to use an open approach to deploying Bluetooth beacons across its footprint... More
Macy’s unveils mobile payments and customer marketing plans
Macy’s Inc, owner of the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department store chains, has unveiled plans to implement a range of new technologies designed to provide an omnichannel shopping service to its customers... More