In today's world the value of people talking about your product is sometimes higher than the money you would get for it. ‘Pay with a Tweet’ is the first social payment system, where people pay with the value of their social network.
It’s simple, every time somebody pays with a tweet or post on Facebook, he or she tells all their friends about the product. Boom.
THE RESULTS
We launched Pay with a Tweet with the release of our book "Oh My God What Happened And What Should I Do?". Thanks to Pay with a Tweet we got:
* 13.000+ Downloads & Tweets in the first 72 hours * 170.000+ Downloads & Tweets in just 6 months
The system is free to use for every content creator out there. So what we created turned out not just to be a campaign for our book, but a whole new way to trade content online.
THE RESULTS ALL TOGETHER
* 400.000+ people paid for something with a Tweet or Facebook post in just 6 months * 10.000+ Pay with a Tweet buttons have been created
The day when near field communication (NFC) will help replace plastic credit cards, coupons and loyalty program cards with a wave of a phone at a payment terminal has been long anticipated.
Wireless NFC technology enables devices, including mobile phones and payment terminals, to communicate with one another or read special tags. Its short-range signal, convenience and built-in security make NFC an apt choice for mobile payments. Its efficacy persuaded companies like MasterCard, American Express, and Visa to join the NFC Forum in 2004 shortly after it was founded to advance the use of the technology. Today, the possibility that this technology could replace a wallet full of plastic seems not only likely, but imminent.
Samsung’s Nexus S, the first NFC-enabled Android phone, will be on sale at Best Buy starting December 16; Nokia has announced that all of its Smartphones starting in 2011 will support NFC; and Apple recently hired an NFC expert. Jeff Miles, the director of mobile transactions worldwide at NXP Semiconductors, which co-invented NFC with Sony in 2002, says he expects more than 70 million NFC-capable handsets to be manufactured in 2011.
“As far as what will happen with it, who owns the keys and all of that, none of that has really been determined,” Miles says. PayPal and Bling nation
While mobile phone networks and credit card companies are trying to turn your cell phone into a type of credit card, PayPal is trying to use NFC to make its online-only system viable in the physical world.
The company has partnered with Bling Nation, a Palo Alto startup that has been installing contactless payment terminals at local merchants since 2008. When users attached an NFC-enabled sticker to their phone, they could swipe to make payments and receive rewards. Previously, Bling Nation users were paying from accounts at partner banks. Since this summer, they’ve also had the option to pay using their PayPal accounts.
Boku, a company that makes online purchases easier by allowing customers to use their mobile phone numbers at checkout, has also expressed interest in entering the physical world as a payment option. In Boku’s case, online purchases are currently charged to the customer’s phone bill. How exactly the addition of physical payments would take place remains unannounced.
Other companies are focusing not only on payment, but on replacing the loyalty program cards, coupons and other cards most people carry in their wallets. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Google purchased Zetawire, a startup that held a patent application for “mobile banking, advertising, identity management, credit card and mobile coupon transaction processing,” and little else.
Startups like Placepop, AisleBuyer and Coupious have taken less comprehensive approaches to trying to replace your wallet.
Still, companies like Boku increasingly see your wallet as unnecessary. As Boku’s co-founder Ron Hirson says: “I think us carrying around a wallet full of plastic will absolutely go away, and I think that billing methods will live inside the phone.”
For full story visit http://mashable.com/2010/12/15/smartphone-wallet/ Image courtesy of iStockphoto, photo_smart
Contactless payments have been getting a bit of attention in the last few days. The idea that consumers could pay for something simply by swiping their mobile phones against an in-store device sounds enticing, and mobile phone operators are certainly keen to push ahead with the technology.
Everything Everywhere, the company formed when Orange and T-Mobile merged, has recently announced the launch of a smartphone with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology embedded in it, due this summer. And there are rumours circulating that Apple’s iPhone 5 – to be launched this year – will also be capable of paying for small purchases by swiping it against a reader, in the same way that Oyster cards are used for travel on London public transport.
The phone releases might be high profile, but if retailers don’t invest in the devices to read NFC it won’t take off. There are concerns - NFC has a limit of £15 per transaction, making it less useful for any retailer whose average purchase is bigger than that. Plus there are big initial costs, with the devices being expensive, and big running costs, with bank charges for NFC transactions currently high. Steve Thomas, CTO at BT Expedite, says there are also cheaper alternatives that do the same job. Maybe the momentum from phone manufacturers will be enough to carry it, but it seems unlikely if retailers can’t be convinced.
With over 16 years of advertising experience in both the UK and Australia, Helen has worked across a multitude of accounts including Disney, Virgin, Hyundai, Optus and Ikea.
Having developed a passion for retail (not just Jimmy Choos) Helen chose to specialise in this field and in 2001 joined BMF advertising. She subsequently built up a retail department strengthening the offer of brands such as ALDI, P&O, Ella Baché, Budget Eyewear, MLA and OPSM. Her work has been recognised through a number of Australian Awards including ADMA and the Australian Catalogue Awards.
In early 2011, Helen became a founder of Rhubarb&Custard, a specialist retail and digital advertising agency focused on future-proofing retail brands. Their clients include Rebel Sport, Amart All Sports, Ella Baché, Tourism NSW, PlayStation, FurnitureMate and On-The-Run convenience stores.
Her passion is inspiring retail ideas using emerging technologies, creating retail environments and in-store brand experiences, but most of all she just loves to start a conversation.
