Who Needs a Wallet When You Have a Smartphone?
Can't find your wallet as you are running to the store? Soon, this will be no problem, as long as you can find your smartphone. Google will soon be launching "Google Wallet," an application that turns Smartphones (starting only with certain Android powered phones) into mobile payment systems. The technology will use NFC (near field communication) technology to allow consumers to pay for purchases, receive special offers, and administer loyalty and rewards programs. So does this new technology bring online customers offline, or offline customers online...let us know what you think! For more information on the l
aunch of Google Wallet, click here.
Why Mobile & Virtual Gift Cards are Becoming a Way of Life
Mobile technology is heating up, especially within the gift card industry. GiftCard Partners' marketing team outlines how mobile technology integrates gift cards into our always on the go, mobile lifestyles.
Mobile Payment Predictions
The predictions around mobile payment are pretty robust. eMarketer states that mobile transactions will total nearly $1 trillion by 2014.
Yankee Group predicts the worldwide transaction value of mobile payments will move from $162 billion last year to $984 billion by 2014. This includes transactions from mobile banking, international & domestic remittances, contactless cards, mobile coupons and near-field communications. eCerts & mobile gift cards is a sliver of this transactions pie, but the trend towards paying with mobile will surely make gift cards more accessible and it will open up a new delivery method for the worldwide corporations and remote companies involved in B2B gift cards. It will become even easier to reward that sales person who primarily works overseas and it will be even easier for them to locate their gift card retailer on their device…and to then redeem their gift cards with their devices. Read the full eMarketer article
here.
www.giftcardpartners.com
Food for Thought: Interesting Gift Card Question
The Mercator Group referenced in our last post presented at the PrePaid Congress and posed an interesting question. We don't have the answer yet because the survey is ongoing but what do you think the answers could be? In 2015 (five years) what percentage split of the total gift card market for prepaid closed loop gift cards will be? Plastic ___% Virtual ___% Mobile Wallet ____% Leave comments and let us know what you think.
Prepaid Congress Debrief: E-Certs
GiftCard Partners attended the 2nd annual Prepaid Congress this week, so over the coming week or so we will be posting information from the Congress. E-certifications, are an emerging closed loop gift card technology within the incentive industry that allow retailers to instantly deliver incentives to their customers through either cell phone technology, or online. According to the Mercator Group 33% of retailers in the U.S. currently offer e-certification incentives. E-certifications can save incentive companies fulfillment charges, and provide instant gratification to the customers receiving the incentives. E-certifications are opening up new markets for retailers who are able to participate because e-certifications are opening up new avenues to contact customers and deliver marketing messages. Some studies even suggest that e-certs are more effective at delivering memorable long lasting marketing messages than physical gift cards.
