Mobile Commerce

India Coupon Reward Bill Pay Company Banks $80M In Funding
February 09, 2015

FreeCharge, an India-based bill paying program that rewards users with emailed coupons has just completed an $80 million Series C fundraising round as the company prepares to expand its transactional advertising program, according to TechCrunch. This follows a $33 million Series B fundraising round back in...

Alibaba’s Smart Phone Play
February 09, 2015

Alibaba is taking a $590 million stake in a Chinese smartphone maker, Meizu Technology Co, that is virtually unknown internationally as the megafirm continues to explore ways to expand its mobile reach in a tightly competitive market. Get the Full Story Complete the form to...

Loyalty & Rewards
Wendy’s Serves Up New Mobile Payments System
February 09, 2015

Wendy’s is looking to payments as a way to pull customers in and keep them returning. The fast-food chain is installing a standardized point-of-sale system in more than 2,600 locations to use as a mobile marketing platform, Mobile Commerce Daily reported. Get the Full Story...

Alibaba’s Even Larger Global Stake In Mobile Payments
February 06, 2015

Ant Financial, an affiliate of the Alibaba Group, announced Feb. 5 that it will take a 25 percent stake in Indian mobile payments company One97, according to TechCrunch. This move appears to line up with Jack Ma’s vision of getting Alibaba more involved in India, which...

Shazam Gives Cardholders Quicker Access To Cash
February 06, 2015

Shazam, a four-decade old financial services company, released a new feature yesterday (Feb. 5) to its Shazam Bolts app that gives debit card users access to person-to-person money transfers, as well as a GPS function that enables U.S. cardholders to find fee-free ATMs. Get the Full Story...

Russia Search Giant Launches Moscow Parking App
February 06, 2015

Dubbed the Google of Russia, Yandex has recently tried to expand its core search business into other fields in a way similar to what Google has done outside of Russia. After acquiring a low-powered geo-mobile startup called KitLocate last March, and expanding its PayPal-like payment...

Loyalty & Rewards
Wanna Shop Everywhere At Once? HeartThis Is The One App Solution
February 06, 2015

HeartThis wants to make shopping across multiple retailers easy with a smartphone. Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required. yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today. By...

Merchant Innovation
GrubHub’s Delivery Play
February 06, 2015

The food on-demand delivery wars currently being waged between Google, Amazon and a host of start-up players had just gotten a new entrant: GrubHub.  The company – which currently helps users connect to restaurants that deliver – is now starting to experiment with actually delivering the...

Is Real-Time Engagement Essential To The Future Of Financial Institutions?
February 06, 2015

As merchants increasingly explore the realm of mobile payments, they are starting to explore ways to steer consumers toward certain purchase decisions, including which payment tender to use. And while those solutions are today being brought to market by innovators, that doesn’t mean financial institutions...