Grupo Aval, Colombia’s largest financial services group, has launched a mobile payment and offers service that lets customers of its Av Villas, Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente and Banco Popular banks make in-store payments using a code generated on their mobile phone... More
Discounts
Pizza Hut installs Bluetooth beacons at 1,471 locations in China
Some 1,471 Pizza Hut restaurants in mainland China have installed Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons from Sensoro to send out coupons, WeChat movie ticket prizes, special offers and discounts directly to customers’ smartphones... More
MCX adds offers and discounts to CurrentC mobile wallet
US retailer-led consortium MCX has announced a partnership with promotions management and processing provider Inmar to bring digital promotions from US brands to its yet-to-launch mobile wallet platform CurrentC... More
London markets could go contactless
Londoners may soon be able to pay with their contactless cards at market stalls across the city as a result of the £20m London Regeneration Fund launched by mayor Boris Johnson... More
Alipay 9 launches with support for Koubei merchant payments and P2P transfers
Ant Financial has released a new version of its Alipay app for iOS and Android, adding new Friends and Merchants tabs that provide support for peer-to-peer payments and for Koubei, the US$1bn mobile commerce joint venture between Ant Financial and Alibaba that was announced last month. More
Wegmans to add loyalty card to Apple Pay
Wegmans will be among the first US supermarkets to offer customers the ability to redeem discounts while using Apple Pay... More
Italian zoo visitors walk on the wilder side with iBeacon network
Visitors to Zoom Torino Biopark in Cumiana, Italy will be able to unlock information and rewards on their smartphones thanks to a network of Bluetooth Low Energy beacons that send location-based messages to their devices... More
Seqr promotes mobile payments with cashback offers to users
Sweden-based mobile payments provider Seamless is offering users of its Seqr mobile payments service up to 3% cashback on their purchases, “valid on all purchases and effective on top of any other loyalty program or discount.” The offer is designed to persuade more consumers to adopt mobile payments, CEO Peter Fredell has told NFC World, and is financed via a mixture of revenue streams. More
Brazilian online fashion retailer installs Bluetooth Fashion Spots
Dafiti, Latin America’s largest online fashion retailer, is to place Bluetooth beacons in restaurants, bars and newsstands in the Brazilian city of São Paulo to send out promotional messages to shoppers’ smartphones... More
Latvian merchants and ski resorts adopt NFC loyalty platform
Latvian startup Walmoo has launched a mobile loyalty platform that uses standard NFC phones or tablets to provide customers with the ability to redeem coupons, discounts and offers... More
Google Wallet offers discounts
Google Wallet has announced availability of a variety of discounts to online shoppers who choose to Buy With Google this holiday season... More
LoyaltyGrid uses NFC tags to let luxury brands reward their customers at the point of sale
Dutch startup LoyaltyGrid has unveiled a solution that lets luxury brands use NFC tags embedded in product packaging to guarantee the authenticity of their products — and deliver rewards, discounts, exclusive content, invitations to special events and other incentives directly to their customers... More
Burger King to offer mobile orders and payments across the US
Burger King customers in the US will soon be able to order their meals ahead of arrival and pay for their orders using their mobile phone and a PayPal account... More
Fresh & Easy tests ATM rewards
Seventeen Fresh & Easy stores in Phoenix are piloting new machines from in-store ATM operator Cardtronics that offer customers discounts they can apply to store purchases by scanning a QR code on their cash withdrawal receipt using a smartphone running the company’s AllTM app... More
IPC Media promotes magazine sales via convenience store beacons
Publisher IPC Media is using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons installed in 740 One Stop convenience stores across the UK to offer discounted copies of its Chat, Pick Me Up, Woman and TV & Satellite Week magazines... More
Four in ten mobile wallet users choose mobile as primary mode of payment
While convincing consumers to make use of a mobile wallet remains an issue for many providers, shoppers that do convert to mobile payments make extensive use of the technology, Nielsen’s Q2 2014 Mobile Wallet Report has found... More
UK city to run NFC, QR and BLE shopper marketing pilot
Proximity commerce specialist Proxama has partnered with the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM) and Norwich Business Improvement District (BID) to run a shopper marketing pilot in the UK city of Norwich... 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
Android L to offer wide range of new features for mobile payments and commerce
The next generation of Android, unveiled at the Google I/O developer conference, will offer mobile payments, banking and commerce providers a wide range of new functions... More
Meadowhall shopping centre provides special offers via Bluetooth LE
Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield, UK is to use iBeacon technology to gamify a shopping event, with brands providing offers, discounts, pampering freebies and prize giveaways. Participating retailers include Krispy Kreme, Hotel Chocolat, Cath Kidston and House of Fraser. More