Only 18% of marketers are aware that out-of-home (OOH) advertising campaigns can make use of NFC and QR codes, survey data from Clear Channel UK reveals, despite them citing ‘innovation’ as one of their top buying considerations when under pressure to find new ways to reach mass audiences. More
Lloyds Bank is to start sending push notifications about special deals with selected retailers to customers’ smartwatches and smartphones... More
Strex, the mobile payments joint venture between Norwegian carriers Telenor, TeliaSonera and Tele2, has selected software and services provider Amdocs’ Mobile Financial Services solution to “consolidate the operators’ multiple SMS-based payment systems into one” mobile wallet... More
Mobile messaging provider Outspoken has added support for Google Wallet to its digital wallet delivery solution, enabling marketers to distribute offers to a user’s mobile wallet via a text message... More
EcoCash, Africa’s second largest mobile money provider with 3.7m users, is to offer customers in Zimbawe a MasterCard debit card linked to their EcoCash wallet... More
Korean internet and messaging giant Daum Kakao has launched BankWalletKakao, a mobile wallet service provided in partnership with 16 Korean banks and Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearing Institute (KFTC)... More
Paris area transport authority RATP has begun installing NFC tags at bus and tram stops in the Ile-de-France region to deliver real-time information and route maps to passengers’ smartphones... More
Kotak Mahindra Bank has launched a bank-agnostic payment service for Facebook that will enable 250 million Indian bank account holders to transfer money by choosing a recipient’s name from their friends list... More
Singapore carrier Singtel is taking carrier billing into the physical goods world with a pilot test of a service that lets customers order Angry Birds plush toys for delivery to their home address and charge the cost to their phone bill... More
Payments startup Square has expanded its Square Cash service, which lets US consumers send money to a contact via email, to include support for sending funds via an SMS text message... More
UK convenience store chain One Stop is introducing Eagle Eye’s AIR technology in all of its 700-plus stores to issue real-time, personalised offers to customers via SMS and email that can be redeemed in-store on a mobile device... More
“Square Register’s sales, refund and settlement data can now all be used as triggers for IFTTT recipes,” GigaOm reports... More
Out-of-home advertising giant Clear Channel’s Connect interactive advertising platform is now available in 29 US and Canadian markets... More
An instant customer feedback platform developed by DropThought has been added to POS maker Clover’s app market, enabling customers to interact with merchants via their digital or printed receipt... More
Businesses across the London district of Brixton are to be equipped with Bluetooth beacons that will allow residents to make mobile payments using the Brixton Pound, a local currency designed to encourage consumers to spend their money in independent local businesses. More
The retail giant is introducing a digital receipt service across its 4,200 US stores, enabling shoppers to store a digital version of their receipt in a mobile app by scanning a QR code on their paper receipt or by entering their mobile number at the point of sale. Customers will then be able to use the receipts to create a shopping list on their device, making the in-store experience “easier and more convenient”. More
Standard Bank, one of South Africa’s largest financial services groups, has launched a service that allows small merchants to accept mobile payments by simply placing a QR code at their point of sale, with no POS terminal required... More
Australian telecommunications provider Telstra is now applying NFC tags to all its broadband modems, enabling customers to access personalised help, information and support recommendations by tapping the tag with their NFC phone... More
Sports venue display provider Access Sports Media is to use Blue Bite’s mTag platform to add NFC, QR, SMS and geofencing capabilities to its more than 20,000 displays in 200 US sports venues... More
Kenyan mobile network operator Safaricom has now signed up 122,000 merchants for Lipa na M-Pesa, a service launched in June 2013 that enables Kenyan consumers to use the funds stored in their M-Pesa mobile money account to pay for goods in stores... More