Twitter has acquired card-linked offers platform Cardspring for an undisclosed sum... More
Offers
PayPal offers loyalty rewards
PayPal has introduced a rewards program for “our most active and enthusiastic customers who use PayPal online, in store, or on mobile devices”... More
Australian supermarket chain launches mobile wallet that works with NFC stickers
Australian supermarket chain Coles has launched the Coles Mobile Wallet, an iOS and Android app that works in conjunction with an NFC sticker to provide customers with a way to make mobile payments, manage their spending, collect loyalty points and access special offers... More
Marriott to deliver rewards to guests via BLE
Hotel chain Marriott is adding support for Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons and special offers to its rewards program, enabling guests to access deals provided by Marriott hotels and other businesses during their stay... More
French shopping centre uses BLE beacons to help retailers attract customers
Les Terrasses du Port, a new 480-hectare shopping centre in the French city of Marseille, has installed Europe’s largest network of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, enabling retailers such as Zara and H&M to deliver promotional offers and information straight to shoppers’ smartphones... More
Two thirds of UK smartphone owners open to the idea of mobile wallets
Two thirds of UK smartphone owners are open to the idea of using a mobile wallet, according to a survey conducted by Marketing Sciences — but most consumers want to use a mobile wallet to collect loyalty points and offers rather than for making payments... More
Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association reports NFC pilot results
Participants in The Hungarian Mobile Wallet Association’s MobilTarca NFC pilot made 41,000 payments valued at more than 120 million HUF (US$525,000) during the first 12 months of the trial, the association has revealed... More
Boots delivers personalised offers to shoppers via new mobile app
UK pharmacy and retail chain Boots has launched a new mobile app that tailors offers to a customer’s shopping habits... More
Walgreens tests augmented reality offers in stores
US pharmacy chain Walgreens is piloting a shopper marketing platform that uses Google’s Project Tango 3D augmented reality technology to let shoppers locate a particular product, get directions to the correct aisle and earn rewards as they shop... More
BBVA launches NFC payments based on Visa HCE specifications
BBVA has become the first bank to launch a commercial NFC payments service that makes use of Visa’s cloud-based payments specifications... More
Samsung launches VIP program for NFC phone owners
Samsung is providing Galaxy NFC device owners with a range of exclusive rewards and incentives via a new service that offers access to VIP lounges and suites, seat upgrades and vouchers for concessions and merchandise at 41 AEG venues across the US... More
Denny’s tests mobile rewards
US family restaurant chain Denny’s is piloting a mobile rewards program that lets diners use an iOS or Android app to collect a point for every dollar they spend... More
InMarket reports positive consumer response to Bluetooth beacons
Shoppers who receive marketing messages via inMarket’s Mobile to Mortar (M2M) iBeacon platform interact more with advertised products, increase their in-store app usage and are more likely to keep an app on their phone, a survey of 25,000 US consumers has found... More
AT&T to introduce its own NFC platform for merchant offers, access control and more
US telecoms firm AT&T is to use technology from CorFire to power NFC Connect, a new platform that will enable it to offer a wide range of NFC services outside of the Isis mobile commerce venture it co-owns with Verizon and T-Mobile... More
LevelUp to build BLE into payments terminals
US mobile payments service LevelUp is to provide its merchants with the ability to push offers to shoppers via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons built into the next version of its POS device... More
Spanish banks and carrier launch mobile offers platform that links discounts to bank cards
Yaap, a joint venture between Spanish banks CaixaBank and Banco Santander and mobile network operator Telefonica, has launched a mobile commerce platform that lets consumers access merchant offers on their mobile device and then redeem them automatically by simply paying for a purchase with a pre-linked debit or credit card... More
Barclaycard to introduce contactless payment wristbands
Barclaycard is to make contactless payment wristbands available to anyone with a UK bank account or credit card next year... More
Top London shopping street installs beacons in 100 stores
One hundred retailers with stores on London’s upmarket Regent Street, one of the city’s busiest shopping locations, have installed Bluetooth Low Energy beacons that trigger personalized offers and communications for shoppers who have downloaded a mobile app developed by landowner The Crown Estate... More
GE lets retailers send offers to shoppers via LED lighting
GE Lighting and US startup Bytelight have unveiled a marketing platform that lets merchants use LED lighting installed in and around their stores to send offers, directions to particular products and information services to shoppers, based on their precise location within a retail store... More
Silicon Craft unveils NFC smart poster with multiple touchpoints
Thailand-based technology provider Silicon Craft Technology (SCT) has shown off a low-cost interactive poster that contains multiple touchpoints, enabling one NFC interface to be used to provide consumers with a range of content, coupons and offers from a variety of different promoters... More