Yoyo Launches Mobile Wallet In The U.S.

UK-based mobile wallet app Yoyo Wallet has quietly brought their mobile payment technology to the U.S. and has been stealthily rolling out services with select partners in a private beta.

The company is planning its official launch in the first quarter of 2016.

Beyond basic card payments, the Yoyo wallet provides loyalty programs and rewards offerings it can automatically deliver to customers based on buying patterns.

Vendors using Yoyo can also offer discounts to Yoyo wallet users to try and attract new business.

The U.S. expansion follows the company’s $10 million Series A round, which was raised from investors including: Taavet Hinrikus, one of the brains behind the runaway European fintech success story, TransferWise; and seed investor Imperial Innovations, the venture fund founded by the Imperial College of London for technology transfers.

In fact, Imperial College is where Yoyo first began hawking its new wallet technology in 2014. From there the company expanded to 15 other British universities and other sales centers (like office parks or cafeterias).

From those roots the company now processes 200,000  monthly transactions in the UK, making it the second most popular payment app after Starbucks.

Yoyo Wallet’s co-founder, Alain Falys argues that none of the large payment application providers like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or PayPal are offering additional point of sale or loyalty services, which is what differentiates his company from the pack.

Read More: http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/21/yoyo-launches-mobile-wallet-in-the-u-s/

Mobile payments ecosystem comes of age in India

Although being young with only a dozen mobile wallet players in the field, India's mobile payment ecosystem has witnessed steady growth and a rapid adoption of path-breaking innovations as people started realising the benefits of technology in online payments space in 2015 -- the most popular being the "mobile wallet".

Major economies across the world have been witnessing "cashless" transactions, with the industry, estimated to be around $300 billion in 2013, making inroads in many countries in the last five years. Companies such as Apple, Alipay, Google's Android Pay and Samsung Pay have already put their own solutions in place.

In India, there are around 12 mobile wallet players that include Paytm, MobiKwik, Oxigen, Citrus Pay, Freecharge, Zaakpay, ItzCash, Airtel Money, M-Pesa, and mRupee, and their combined customer base is said to be more than 125 million. Of this, Paytm alone has a lion's share of over 50 million.

According to a study by research and consultancy firm RNCOS, the current size of the mobile wallet market in India stands at about $53 million (350 crore Indian rupees) and is estimated to touch around $183 million (1,210 crore Indian rupees) by 2019. Cash transactions account for 38 percent, while recharge and bill payments account for 30 percent of the total market.

However, there are minor irritants such as failed transactions forcing the online shoppers to go through the tedious process of filling in details, and the lack of awareness among people. But leading payment gateway company PayUbiz has launched a new feature called Magic Retry, which enables the consumers to retry a failed transaction by simply picking up from the point where the last error message appeared.

Magic Retry is specifically designed for mobile online payment and is said to be first of its kind in the digital and electronic payments ecosystem in the country.

Head of Business at PayUbiz Rahul Kothari said that though most of the online shopping was taking place over mobile devices, online transactions through mobile phones were still susceptible to payment failure due to network signal loss or a random error. "With the launch of our new feature, the usual hassles which have been traditionally associated with mobile payments are things of past," he added.

Read More: http://www.zdnet.com/article/mobile-payments-ecosystem-comes-of-age-in-india/

Mobile wallet for government services will be a reality soon

If you think that it was only banks that are going the app way, the latest being SBI, you might be in for a happy surprise. If reports are to be believed, Indian government would soon be launching a mobile wallet service for government services.

As of now, most government payments and receipts are done either through cash or cheque. However, using this app, one would be able to electronically pay for all kind of government services. This is a step in the direction of Modi government's plan of creating a cashless, or less cash, economy and making India a digitally savvy country.

"Our endeavour through this project is to ensure that at least 90%, if not more, of all government payments happen through some or the other electronic mode, be it through credit card, RTGS, DBT or mobile," a senior official aware of the project called 'epayment' told ET.

A report of a Task Force on Aadhaar-Enabled Unified Payment Infrastructure which was released in 2012 came out stating that the cost of cash transactions is equivalent to 5-7% of GDP, which can be reduced by one-third if payments are done electronically. The report also recommended electronic payments for a sum more than Rs 1,000 by the government and government institutions.

Read More: http://www.businessinsider.in/Mobile-wallet-for-government-services-will-be-a-reality-soon/articleshow/50026480.cms

All you need to know about mobile wallets

Aiming towards a cashless society, mobile wallets are still a new but a rapidly growing concept. It will be a long time before traditional wallets reach the museums, since a major slice of our population still doesn't own credit cards, people who have turned to mobile wallets are increasingly happy with them. The reason for this is obvious: Mobile wallets have made payment process absolutely seamless.

If you are still new to the concept, here's what you need to know:

What is a mobile wallet?
To put it simply, a digital or a virtual wallet is to a traditional wallet what an email is to postcards. Most of these wallets work through apps that you can download on your smartphones, hence the term 'mobile wallet.'

Like Uber has made hailing a taxi just a few taps away, a mobile wallet makes payments as easy as few taps by the user on his smartphone. So even if you do not have cash and the thought of going to the ATM seems too time consuming, a mobile wallet will enable you to make transactions. Just make sure you have money in the wallet, which you can add through credit/debit card and netbanking.

Kinds of mobile wallets
There are four kinds of mobile wallets: Open, semi-open, semi-closed and closed.

With an open mobile wallet, you can pay for goods and services with your digital money, withdraw cash from ATMs and banks, and transfer money to other users of the wallet. These wallets also let you transfer money to mobile number bank accounts.

On the other hand, with a semi-open mobile wallet, you can pay for transactions with merchants who have a contract with the company. There is no option of withdrawing money.

Read More: http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/all-you-need-to-know-about-mobile-wallets/50072274

ANZ launches Android mobile wallet across the Tasman

ANZ Bank NZ has released a contactless payments service for Android smartphones with a zero liability protection against fraudulent debit and credit transactions.

Called goMoney Wallet, the new application is integrated into the bank's existing Android app, which allows customers to check balances, transfer money and make payments. It will be available from tomorrow.

ANZ Australia also intends to launch a mobile wallet early next year, a bank spokesperson told iTnews.

The Australian version will take a different approach to the Kiwi mobile wallet, however, and will operate as a standalone application that is not integrated with goMoney.

ANZ Australia launched the ePOS iPhone-based solution for merchants to accept credit card payments in 2010.

Liz Maguire, the bank's NZ head of digital channels and transformation, said the driver for developing the mobile wallet came from customers.

"A mobile wallet was the number one request from ANZ goMoney customers when they were surveyed this year," Maguire said.

She said the mobile wallet uses host card emulation technology via NFC supported on newer devices running Google's Android operating system, and at merchants with contactless payments terminals.

Payments can only be performed within two centimetres of the terminal and with the phone active and providing confirmation, as a precaution against accidental transactions.

ANZ said the goMoney app uses "high-grade encryption and sophisticated fraud monitoring systems". Card details are sent encrypted via NFC to the terminal, and the system meets Visa's security certification requirements, the bank said.

Read More: http://www.itnews.com.au/news/anz-launches-android-mobile-wallet-across-the-tasman-412740