Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba has invested an undisclosed sum in Israeli start-up Visualead, developer of the “visual” QR code technology adopted by Chinese social media site RenRen in May last year... More
Social media
Softcard picks Muppet mascot for online advertising campaign
US carrier mobile payments venture Softcard has unveiled Tappy, a mascot designed by the company behind The Muppets that will be used initially in an online advertising blitz reported to be valued at US$1.5m. More
Kotak launches P2P payments for Facebook
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
Facebook picks Stripe for buy button
Stripe “is the sole Facebook payments partner” for its ‘buy’ button trial, Re/code reports... More
JD Sports adds BLE beacons
UK sports fashion chain JD has installed Bluetooth beacons at its new concept store in Manchester’s Trafford Centre, letting customers who have downloaded the JD app “access exclusive store content and shop from the app before paying in-store.” The store also features eight multi-channel kiosks and a social media wall, and staff have been equipped with iPads “to assist with customers’ enquiries.”... More
Twitter to add payments?
Twitter is to launch a new service in collaboration with Stripe later this year that will let users make purchases from inside a tweet, Re/code reports... More
Hilton to let guests unlock their doors with smartphones
Hotel chain Hilton Worldwide has announced a plan to enable guests to use their smartphones as keys at the majority of its properties around the world... More
Facebook tests buy button
Facebook is testing a ‘buy’ button which allows consumers to purchase products through the social media platform... More
Clear Channel launches NFC advertising in the US and Canada
Out-of-home advertising giant Clear Channel’s Connect interactive advertising platform is now available in 29 US and Canadian markets... More
Twitter tests ‘buy now’ button
A ‘buy now’ button has been seen on Twitter, leading to speculation the social media giant is trialling a new ‘in-tweet’ ecommerce service, Re/code says... More
LevelUp offers restaurants real-time customer feedback
LevelUp has added in-app surveys to its mobile payments platform, enabling restaurant owners to collect feedback from customers and respond straight away to any complaints... More
PayPal CEO joins Facebook as head of messaging products
PayPal CEO David Marcus is leaving the online payments provider at the end of June to take up a new role at Facebook, as vice president of messaging products — prompting speculation that he will oversee building ecommerce and payments capabilities into the social network... More
Affirm updates credit scoring
PayPal co-founder Max Levchin has raised US$45m for Affirm, a startup that lets retailers offer a credit option to online shoppers... More
Groupon lets merchants redeem vouchers via BLE
Prepaid voucher provider Groupon has launched an iPad-based point-of-sale terminal that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to let merchants “instantly recognize their Groupon customers as they enter their business, seamlessly redeem Groupons and save time and money.”... More
RenRen lets social media users make friends with animated QR codes
Chinese social media site RenRen is giving users the ability to create a personal, animated QR code for their profile page, which they can use to let contacts add them quickly to their friends list... More
Bank sends money to Facebook friends
Customers of Singapore’s OCBC Bank can now send up to S$100 a day to any of their Facebook friends from their phone, using a new Pay Anyone feature in the bank’s mobile app... More
CaixaBank integrates bank accounts with Facebook
Spain’s CaixaBank has become the first bank in Europe to launch a Facebook application that allows users to view their bank accounts and perform transactions via the social network... More
Warner Music distributes NFC guitar picks to fans
Fans attending gigs by Warner Music act The Wild Feathers have been provided with guitar picks containing an NFC tag... More
Mobispot to offer multifunction NFC wristband platform
Singapore-based Mobispot Social Systems has introduced a platform that enables “modern city residents” to access a variety of services — including payments, transportation, ticketing, access control, discounts, membership and information sharing — via NFC wristbands... More
Clear Channel to take NFC advertising global
Clear Channel Outdoor is to equip 75,000 out-of-home advertising sites in 23 countries around the world with its Connect mobile advertising platform, allowing consumers to interact with brands via NFC tags, QR codes and, in Latin America, via SMS... More