Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Blog Mentions of our Charity press release

Pocket Picks: Do your bit for charity by, er, buying stuff with your phone
Picked by Stuart August 7th, 2006 in News

Mobile payments company LUUP has launched a mobile donation system for Cystic Fibrosis charity CFUK. For every new user who signs up on the LUUP website, the firm will donate £2 to CFUK, while users can also donate up to £800 at a time to the charity from their account.

LUUP launched earlier this year, and is basically a mobile wallet, allowing you to use your phone to buy mobile content, and now donate to charity. It’s being pitched as an alternative to premium SMS. LUUP says donating using its system means charities like CFUK get more money than using premium SMS – although I’m not sure how many people are actually using that method already, compared to traditional donation methods like direct debits.

Still, if this means less people with clipboards jumping in front of me in the street, I’m all for it. Does this make me A Bad Person? Don’t answer that.


Text to Screen: LUUP launches mobile donations for Cystic Fibrosis charity

LUUP, the mobile payments service, have launched service for Cystic Fibrosis charity CFUK, to enable visitors to the CFUK shop to pay for items via their mobile handset. Now that’s pretty neat in itself, however of course, LUUP have also provided a donation facility too.

Now it makes a lot more sense to use LUUP to make your mobile donation that it does using premium rate SMS because the operators take flipping great wads of your cash before it ever gets to the recipient. As an example: On a £5 donation, CFUK gets at least 15% more of the proceeds than it would if you’d given £5 via premium SMS.

When you’re on the CFUK shop, you can see the payment options on the left — the usual credit card symbols, PayPal — and now LUUP!

I think I have a LUUP account. I need to use it more! […]

The same posting is over at SMS Text News.

LUUP in the News

Mobile Marketing Magazine

Mobile Payment Firm in Charity Initiative

Mobile payment company LUUP has launched an innovative mobile payment system that has enabled cystic fibrosis charity CFUK to introduce mobile shopping and donation services. As part of an introductory offer, LUUP is to donate £2 to CFUK each time a new user registers for a LUUP account through the CFUK website.
CFUK supporters are able to make donations to the charity by mobile phone, or pay for items in the online shop (www.cfuk.it) using their LUUP account. CFUK offers products such as ink cartridges, FairTrade tea and mineral water, plus telephone, broadband and mobile services.

LUUP is the first mobile payment provider to offer charities a mobile payment option that allows people to donate up to £800. Donations via Premium SMS (PSMS) have a limit of £5. People who use LUUP to donate money to cystic fibrosis will also ensure that the charity receives much more of the proceeds than by using PSMS. On a £5 donation, for example, CFUK receives at least 15% more of the proceeds via LUUP than it would via PSMS.

When using a LUUP account to donate or make purchases for CFUK, consumers are not required to give out their bank account or credit card details. Any money spent is debited from the customer’s LUUP account, which is fully integrated with the UK banking system, allowing funds to be accessed from credit or debit cards.

CFUK can receive donations via a simple text message, such as PAY CYSFIB 10 to the LUUP shortcode, 81100. Once signed up with a LUUP account, users can also use other features, including the ability to handle payments between individuals. LUUP users who want to send money to a friend or split a restaurant bill can do either with one SMS to anyone with a mobile phone. If the recipient is not a LUUP user, they will receive an SMS with the amount sent to them and an invitation to sign up for an account. Once the LUUP account has been credited the recipient can save their money in their account, use it for purchases, or transfer it to their bank account.
“This initiative with CFUK illustrates how LUUP offers an ideal payment and donation solution for charities who want to increase donations and boost retail revenue” says LUUP UK Director, Rob Perkins. “We anticipate that we will develop the number of charity partners considerably over the coming months. We believe there is great scope to help them to increase both the donations they receive and their effectiveness as online merchants.”
“Cystic Fibrosis UK is proud to be part of this new initiative from LUUP” adds Cystic Fibrosis UK CEO, Kevin Bruns. “The more ways we can collect donations from the public the better,” co “Utilising mobile technology in this way provides donors with a simple, safe and effective method of making donations to our charity.”
LUUP launched in the UK and Germany in May. More information on the LUUP website.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Lots of good stuff in today's Payments News

Japan: KDDI, JCB Collaborate On Credit Card Mobile Phone

Reuters reports that KDDI, Japan's second-largest mobile phone operator, is planning to cooperate with credit card issuer JCB to offer mobile phones that can be used as credit cards - apparently aiming to counter a service by NTT DoCoMo.

A Look At Remittances Out Of The UK

The British Government's Department for International Development has prepared a research report titled "BME Remittance Survey" (PDF) that provides a comprehensive look at the private money transfer habits of Britain’s Asian, African, Caribbean and Chinese communities.

The Banking Potential Of Remittance Recipients

Visa International, Latin America and Caribbean Region, has conducted a study that "revealed the banking potential of remittance recipients, as well as their interest in establishing more productive relationships with financial institutions. The remittance market reached US$52 billion in 2005, marking a 15 percent increase over the previous year."

Retailer Concerns About Google Checkout

Brian Smith blogs on Comparison Engines about comments made yesterday in a research note by Piper Jaffray's Safa Rashtchy regarding retailer concerns about "ceding customer ownership to Google" if they implement Google Checkout. Rashtchy's survey of retailers raised "concerns about disintermediation, lack of system flexibility and the perception that Checkout provides Google too much visibility into their business, especially relating to Google search driven conversion rates."

eBay Ban Against Google Checkout Is ‘Overplayed’

Digital Transactions reports on comments by a PayPal executive that eBay's action barring eBay auction sellers from using Google Checkout is "aimed at barring new payment techniques until they can prove they control fraud and otherwise protect users."

Latest E-Commerce Fraud Scheme

The 41st Parameter has announced it has identified an e-commerce fraud scheme in which fraudsters are coordinating their attacks against e-commerce merchants by using personal, digital and financial data that all appear legitimate to typical detection systems.

Innovision report on NFC

FIRST AUTHORITATIVE WHITE PAPER ON NEAR FIELD COMMUNICATION LAUNCHED BY INNOVISION RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY

Cirencester, UK; 15 August 2006 -

Now that international standards have been agreed and published for Near Field Communication (NFC) - the new short-range wireless connectivity technology - the market is set for widespread adoption across a whole range of applications. This is according to a new white paper launched by Innovision Research & Technology, a leading developer of NFC and short-range RFID solutions. The comprehensive 12-page document, called ‘NFC in the real world - turning the NFC promise into profitable everyday applications’, is the first authoritative white paper to address the use of NFC in a business context and focus on the three key areas for application: ‘Service initiation’ - where NFC is used to ‘unlock’ another service, such as opening another communication link for data transfer.

One type of application is the so-called ‘smart poster’ promoting a new service or product, and containing a specially created NFC tag. By touching a mobile device against the embedded tag, the user receives a URL for a web site that provides more information or the facility to book tickets for example.

‘Peer to peer’ - where NFC is used to enable communication between two devices, such as a mobile phone, laptop, printer, set top box, etc. One example is if someone takes a series of photos using a mobile phone or digital camera and wants to print them out - they simply touch the device against an NFC-enabled printer and a Bluetooth connection is established to transmit the photos from the device to the printer.

Payment and ticketing’ - where NFC will build on the emerging smart ticketing and electronic payment infrastructures. Many banks and mobile operators are interested in offering payment and ticketing applications on phones, and trials by the likes of Visa and MasterCard are already underway in Europe and the US.

According to Innovision Research & Technology, “initial mass market NFC applications are likely to build on existing communications infrastructure and user behaviour, where the user benefits are most compelling, the business case is the strongest and the commercial risks are the lowest. “This implies a need for low-cost NFC integrated circuits (IC) that can easily be applied to a broad range of uses cost-effectively and with less risk and in a way that is compatible with the broadest range of devices and reader infrastructure.”

Timed to coincide with growing interest in NFC, following the NFC Forum’s recent announcement about mandated tag formats for the NFC standard, the white paper provides an authoritative view of the technology, emerging NFC applications, the commercial drivers and markets, and describes how Innovision’s technology and IC development expertise will enable the company to compete successfully in this space.

In June, Innovision Research & Technology launched Topaz, its low-cost NFC platform for consumer electronics and mobile devices, which is now one of the four mandated NFC tag formats. Topaz is designed to make the NFC applications outlined in the white paper - such as service initiation and mobile payments & ticketing transactions - possible using NFC-enabled mobile devices.

This is the first in a series of white papers on the subject of IC solutions for NFC. A copy of the ‘NFC in the real world - turning the NFC promise into profitable everyday applications’ White Paper from Innovision Research & Technology is available from enquiries@innovision-group.com

What is NFC? NFC is a standards-based, short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables simple two-way interactions among electronic devices (such as digital cameras, mobile phones, PDAs and computers) allowing consumers to perform contactless transactions, access digital content and connect devices with a single touch. NFC also simplifies set-up of longer-range wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. NFC technology evolved from a combination of contactless identification and interconnection technologies. NFC operates in the 13.56 MHz frequency range, over a typical distance of a few centimetres. The underlying layers of NFC technology are ISO, ECMA, and ETSI standards. NFC technology is supported by the leading mobile device, infrastructure and technology manufacturers and by all major payment providers, and it is compatible with millions of contactless cards already in use worldwide.

According to ABI Research by 2009, 50 per cent of all mobile handsets will be NFC-enabled. About Innovision Research & Technology plc Innovision Research & Technology plc, is a leading NFC/RFID IC Design and solutions provider. At the heart of the emerging Near Field Communication (NFC) market, designing and developing solutions for the mobile handset and consumer device sectors the company also focuses on RFID and ultra low-cost Integrated Circuit (IC) and electronic design.

Innovision R&T develops innovative technologies and technology applications for commercialisation and then licenses the technology on to its customers who incorporate it into their own products. The company’s work with customers includes pre-engineering studies, building of prototypes and complete product development through to production, including full custom silicon chip design.

Innovision R&T products include Topaz, mandated by the NFC Forum as the NFC number one tag format, Jewel for mass transit ticketing applications, and “io”, the world’s smallest standards compatible near field RFID reader. Headquartered in the UK, the company was established in 1994 and is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: INN). For further media information, please contact: Topaz@innovision-group.com

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Today's MocoNews

mobileYouth 2006 -- It's Social, Stupid

The Wireless World Forum has released its 196-page mobileYouth report for 2006, with the press release trumpeting the statistic that children would spend almost $30,000 on mobile services over their lifetime, although there is a lot of interesting stuff in the report...this is some of it.
The figures (for future lifetime value of UK customers) break down as:
Aged 10 -- $27,996
Aged 15 -- $27,198
Aged 35 -- $13,368
Aged 50 -- $5,364
So someone who is 35 has a higher ARPU than a teenager, but has already spent half of what they are going to spend in their lifetime. I guess the lesson here is to get in early with the kids so they keep using your service as they grow older.

At one point the report claims that personified handsets (ie, those that have been named) are easier to market because "emotional branding associated with naming handsets makes a product range more appealing to mobileYouth than would a feature-branded handset". Rokr’s big secret to success may not have been the features but the fact that it was given a name rather than a product code.

The report decries the frenzied search for the "killer app" or "next big thing", claiming that "our energies will be inevitably exhausted by chasing trends". Instead the industry should be asking "What do mobileYouth love?" and "What role does the mobile phone play in the social universe of youth?" to produce better products and marketing (with a corresponding higher chance of success in the marketplace). So for example, mobile TV must "redefine the social, rather than viewing, experience". And for mobile music: "Music is a good example of how the opportunity is either overlooked or misread by its stakeholders. Instead of using the mobile channel to enhance existing behavioral patterns associated with music – i.e. sharing of opinion, collective shopping with peers, the role of the DJs and artists in informing the public – the music industry seeks to maximize revenues through using the medium as a sales channel."

Another interesting statement: "The quest to fill 'niche time’ is the preserve of an industry that has yet to fully understand its own potential value." Basically, the mobile content industry is saying that its product is so crap it can only compete with boredom. However, this isn’t the case, as a survey given in the report shows:

Mobile Content Usage, Home and Away

This is especially true for kids, since they don’t have control of their home. A decade ago if mum was watching TV, dad was on the phone and someone else was using the computer there wasn’t much a kid could do about it (I read books, but I hear that isn’t common). Now they have their own mobile phones, which they can use for entertainment and to communicate with friends. When they’re away from home they’re more likely to be doing something else...

Some final statistics..."538 million youth aged 5-24 owned a mobile phone in 2006. Emerging
markets fuel growth in the mobileYouth population. Annual ownership figures are rising by just
under 100 million. In 2004, Western Europe was the largest market in terms of mobileYouth.
However, Western Europe will grow only 11% between 2004 and 2007 with South Asia, by comparison, reporting rates of 694% for the same time period. By 2007, Western Europe will rank 4th, behind China region, Latin America and South East Asia Pacific...mobileYouth will spend $130 billion on mobile services in 2006, a rise of 11% on 2005 figures. Western Europe, North America and North East Asia account for 58% (or $75 billion) of the entire global market. Youth spending on mobile is rising by an average of 11% per annum. Asia and the Rest of World combined fuel a large proportion of the global growth, with growth rates in 2006 of 16% and 20% respectively. Europe provides the slowest annual growth rate of just over 4% annually, North America with 7%."

Mobile Users Want Streaming Music

In-Stat claims mobile users are beginning to accept video, although not as fast as they accept music...based on a survey of over 1,000 US mobile users. Interest in mobile video has increased over the last three years, and now 14.2% of respondents "could be considered likely adopters of mobile video". It’s not a large percentage, but it is a large user base...In-Stat goes on to forecast that revenue from mobile video for entertainment purposes could grow to over $6 billion per year by 201. Compare this to $5.6 billion by 2009 (Infonetics).

Also, "44% of respondents who own music-playing handsets have not added any music files to their phones", so 56% have, even if it’s only a ringtone. In-Stat claims streaming music is more popular that streaming video. Streaming music uses less data than video and has an easier time of copyright and DRM issues than downloaded music. "Streaming music, which could be marketed like satellite radio services, such as XM and Sirius, holds the most interest of all mobile multimedia for consumers, and it may be easier to deliver than video," said David Chamberlain, In-Stat analyst.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Today's Payments News

Contactless Smart Cards vs. EPC Gen 2 RFID Tags

The latest issue of Smart Card Talk, the newsletter of the Smart Card Alliance, has an article about the differences between the contactless smart cards being used for payment applicaitons and EPC Gen 2 RFID tags being used in supply chain management applications. "The RFID technologies that are used to add value in manufacturing, shipping and object-related tracking operate over long ranges (e.g., 25 feet), were designed for that purpose alone and have minimal built-in support for security and privacy. Contactless smart cards, on the other hand, use RF technology, but, by design, operate at a short range (less than 4 inches) and can support the equivalent security capabilities of a contact smart card chip."

More On PayMate India's Mobile Payment Solution

NewMedia@Work reports on PayMate India's collaboration with with Citibank and Euronet to launch a mobile payment solution based on premium SMS.

Contactless Payment To Change How We Shop

Andrew Bolger, Scotland Correspondent for the Financial Times, writes about contactless payments in Scotland saying contactless will be "the next significant change to sweep the retail and banking industries."

Monday, August 21, 2006

NFC news

iBreva - Use Your Mobile Phone For Groceries, Cashback

iBreva, a Palo Alto-based startup, has deployed its mobile phone-based payment system at Bianchini’s Market in Portola Valley, CA. I was shopping for groceries today when I noticed the terminal - a touchscreen device with a wide slot below into which you insert your mobile phone to complete the payment. Here's a press release announcing the new service from earlier this year. At registration time, you link your phone to your checking account and payments are made by ACH debit. Basically, iBreva appears to be a pre-NFC solution that requires (as does Pay by Touch for its fingerprint-based approach) deployment of new POS reader infrastructure - but avoids any requirement for consumers having to have new mobile phone handsets with NFC chips.

Friday, August 18, 2006

Levi drops Google Checkout

Levi.com Checks Out of Google Checkout

Part Of The Mobile Payments Debate

Card Technology writes about Turkey's Garanti Bank and bank management's thoughts on some of the issues associated with contactless/NFC payment deployment in mobile phones. In particular, concerns about using a shared SIM approach - with the mobile network operator. “At end the day, who owns the customer relationship? Who’s the customer going to call if something goes wrong?” Just last month, Garanti Bank became MasterCard's PayPass launch bank in Europe.

US Payments Rely On PINs, Not Coins

eMarketer's Lisa Phillips reviews several recent payments industry surveys. "More than half of all respondents said they prefer electronic payment methods so they do not have to carry cash, while 61% of the respondents ages 25 to 34 said they were interested in making purchases via their cellphones."

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Todays Payment News

A Reason To Prefer PayPal - Merchant Receipts

Dave Taylor blogs about the differences between the merchant receipts provided for purchases using PayPal vs. Google Checkout - and strongly favors PayPal's approach. According to Dave, "the key difference between the two is that the Google Checkout receipt is a geeky "transaction log" sort of style, while Paypal offers up a much more understandable information block about the buyer including the all-important "note" section that lets them communicate directly with me as if it were an attached comment." Over on his "Ask Dave Taylor" blog, he's got a great writeup about how to add Google Checkout "Buy Now" buttons to your website.


Mobile Banking Is Happening - In Nigeria

Sola Fanawopo reports for Nigeria's Daily Sun on the growth in mobile banking services in Nigeria. "Some of the transactions that can be conducted with Glo m-banking include, check balance, viewing of the amount of money in account at any time, account statement, viewing of the last five transactions on account, recharge and buying of airtime for any glo prepaid line using money in bank account. Also, Glo mobile subscribers can transfer money from one account to another within the same bank. According to the official of the mobile company, very soon Glo m-banking subscribers will be able to pay bills and other utility bills using Glo m-banking service."

PayPal Now Accepted At Barnes & Noble.com

Barnes & Noble has announced that Barnes & Noble.com now accepts PayPal.

"Adding PayPal as a payment option gives our customers more ways to shop with us, providing even more convenience, ease, and flexibility," said Marie Toulantis, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble.com. "We look forward to serving the millions of PayPal customers who can now shop for their books and other entertainment products at Barnes & Noble.com, with the convenience of using their PayPal accounts."

"We are pleased to add Barnes & Noble.com, one of the largest e-commerce sites, to the roster of merchants who accept PayPal," said Dana Stalder, senior vice president of PayPal. "Many of our customers already prefer to shop online at Barnes & Noble.com and are thrilled that they can now use their PayPal accounts to do so."

Barnes & Noble.com shoppers can now pay for purchases with their PayPal accounts, using a credit card, bank account or stored account balance. PayPal enables any individual or business with an e-mail address to send and receive payments online securely and easily. Privacy is an important part of the service. PayPal allows customers to shop online with confidence that their financial information will be kept private. PayPal has more than 114 million accounts and is available to users in 55 markets around the world. More information about the company can be found at https://www.paypal.com.


Tuesday, August 15, 2006

NFC News - MoCoNews

NFC Forum Issues First Four Specifications

The NFC Forum, a non-profit industry association advancing the use of near field communication (NFC) technology, has announced the publication of its first four specifications. The specifications are available to the public for download at no charge from the NFC Forum Web site, www.nfc-forum.org.

Monday, August 14, 2006

NPD Group Report on Mobile Music

Industry Eyes Mobile Music Content Sales

Rising consumer interest in music-enabled mobile phones has companies seeing dollar signs in over-the-air music sales

With the popularity of MP3 players, music download services and more mobile phones capable of over-the-air music downloads or transfers coming to market every month, mobile content, led by mobile music, could become an ever-larger revenue stream for smart carriers and content companies.

That is not to say this is a huge revenue generator for the industry – at least not yet. According to NPD’s Mobile Consumer Track data, only two percent of the mobile phone subscriber base said they listened to digital music on their handsets. In addition, only one percent of subscribers report downloading music to their mobile phones.

More and more music-enabled devices are coming to market every day (see related Wireless Bulletin) from SonyEricsson’s Walkman line and Nokia’s N Series phones, to Motorola’s iTunes-capable devices and LG’s Fusic and Chocolate phones. In addition, carriers are aggressively highlighting their music services and music capable devices to consumers at-large. While NPD data shows that only a very small number of subscribers are using their mobile phones as MP3 players, it is still interesting to see how these early adopters are actually loading music content onto their devices.

Among consumers who report using mobile music on their phones, 15 percent said they used Bluetooth or Infrared to move the music over-the-air (OTA) between their devices. By comparison, close to 30 percent reported using a cable connection and another 30 percent downloaded the music from their wireless carriers’ sites. The most popular method of loading music onto mobile phones was via removable memory, with 44 percent of active mobile music listeners using this method.

Obviously, the install base for music capable devices is still relatively small, but growing. In addition, while carriers would prefer consumers use OTA downloads, as it generates additional revenue, handset manufacturers are giving consumers more options by bringing to market additional mobile phones with removable memory, including those in the mid-tier segment.

NPD’s Mobile Phone Track data shows that the share of devices sold with some type of removable memory has grown from less than two percent in the second quarter of 2005 to close to six percent during the first quarter of 2006. While this share represents only a small fraction of the market, it does equate to more than five million units sold in the previous 12 months, which is sizable growth over just a few quarters.

So given an increasing number of music-enabled mobile devices entering the market and operators continuing to simplify the process of buying music, it means that if the market matures and continues on its current trajectory, we can expect mobile music content sales to grow into the prosperous adult the industry is banking on.

-- Charul Vyas, Senior Wireless Specialist

Sales of Music-Enabled Mobile Phones on the Rise

New evidence points to a clear rise in sales of music-enabled mobile phones.

Sales of mobile phones that are capable of downloading, storing and playing back full music tracks are on the rise, according to the latest data from NPD’s Mobile Phone Track service. On a quarterly basis, music-enabled mobile phone sales have risen from just over seven percent of new models sold in the second quarter of 2005 to 16 percent in the first quarter of this year. In unit volumes, music-enabled phone sales increased from just under two million to just over three million – a 100 percent increase in one year.

Welcome News
These numbers are welcome news to mobile phone manufacturers, carriers promoting music downloading services (see related Wireless Bulletin) and music labels hoping for a mobile bump – not to mention music fans looking for a convenient way to enjoy their tunes on a device they probably carry with them most of the time.

Availability
Several factors have contributed to the increase in sales for music-enabled phones. For one, manufacturers have begun introducing more models – currently there are approximately 67 phone models that play music now versus just 36 only a year ago.

Another factor is pricing. Prices for music-enabled mobile phones have declined from an average of $125 in May of 2005 to less than $93 in May of this year, which is a 26 percent decrease year-over-year. Music functionality is no longer reserved solely for high-end handsets. Customers in the mid-range can now easily afford a phone that doubles as a music player.

Carrier Music Stores
Leading carriers have been a factor in the increase as well. Their own mobile music stores, which offer over-the-air downloading capability, have helped stimulate the market. Sprint’s Music Store launched last fall and Verizon Wireless soon followed with the debut of its VCast Music download service in January of this year. Both carriers offer several mobile phone models capable of taking advantage of the service, and early adopters have helped generate revenue.

But this increase doesn’t necessarily mean the market is about to explode for music-enabled phones – at least not in the short term. After all, it took Apple several years of heavy and consistent marketing efforts before iPod sales really started to soar.

It will likely take a couple more years for the music-enabled phone market to really flourish, but the growth in the meantime should be steady. That’s enough time for mainstream consumers to give music-enabled phones a try, and for the trend to find its place.

The iPod Question
Many ask if these devices could become so-called “iPod killers.” Apple will certainly face new competition as these phones are increasingly adding storage capacity and better software for music management, making it easier for some consumers to ditch their iPods in favor of an all-in-one device. But well-received, stand-alone devices have a way of hanging around, despite threats from combination devices.

Apple, however, has other potential tricks up its sleeve. At this point, the company has an extremely comfortable lead in the digital portable-music-player market. Furthermore, it has been strongly rumored for some time that it’s quite possible Apple could enter the mobile phone business with a combination product of its own; one that keeps its brand and sales moving in step with competing mobile phones. Recently, Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer said, “we’re not sitting around doing nothing in this regard” – an oblique reference to a possible iPod phone coming down the pike.

Will Zune Join the Fray?
Microsoft has also not entered the music-enabled phone market, though that might not be far off either. While telephony was not part of Microsoft’s recent announcement for its Zune music device, it’s not hard to imagine a Zune product with a cellular radio embedded for voice (and data) in future versions, especially considering the years and money Microsoft has already invested in Windows Mobile handsets.

Bottom line: Music-enabled phones are here to stay, and the competition among traditional phone manufacturers – as well as the possibility of Apple and Microsoft joining the fray – will only enhance the market for end-users. Competition has a way of doing that, after all.

- Neil Strother, Research Director, Mobile Devices

Friday, August 11, 2006

LUUP hits the news!

LUUP Launches The First Mobile Donation System For Cystic Fibrosis Charity

Published 7th August 2006

First time consumers can donate up to £800 to a charity via their mobile handset...

London, UK - 7th August 2006:
An innovative mobile payment system allowing Cystic Fibrosis charity CFUK to introduce mobile shopping and donation services has been launched today by LUUP, the mobile payment system. As part of an introductory offer, LUUP is to donate £2 to CFUK each time a new user registers for a LUUP account through the CFUK website.

CFUK supporters are able to make donations to the charity by mobile phone or pay for items in the online shop (www.cfuk.it) using their LUUP account. CFUK offers products such as ink cartridges, FAIRTRADE tea and mineral water, plus telephone, broadband and mobile services.

LUUP is the first to offer charities a mobile payment option that allows people to donate up to £800, where Premium SMS (PSMS) has a limit of £6. People who use LUUP to donate money to Cystic Fibrosis will also ensure that the charity receives much more of the proceeds than by using the traditional PSMS methods - for example, on a £5 donation CFUK receives at least 15 percent more of the proceeds than using PSMS.

By using a LUUP account to donate or make purchases for CFUK, consumers not only benefit from the convenience of the process but they can also be more confident in its security; as they are not required to give out their bank/credit account details, helping alleviate consumer concerns about fraud. Money spent will be debited from the customer’s LUUP account, which is fully integrated with the UK banking system, allowing funds to be accessed from credit or debit cards.

With LUUP, CFUK will benefit from the convenience and simplicity of mobile donations. CFUK will be able to receive donation via a simple text message, (such as PAY CYSFIB 10 to the LUUP shortcode) and can benefit greatly from the original generous impulse of the person wishing to donate. Up until now, this method of receiving donations has only been possible by premium SMS, but charities can lose as much as 40% of proceeds by using this method.

Once signed up with a LUUP account, users will also be able to make use of other features including its ability to handle payments between individuals. LUUP users who want to send money to a friend or split a restaurant bill can do either with one SMS to anyone with a mobile phone. If the recipient is not a LUUP user, they will receive an SMS with the amount sent to them and an invitation to sign up for an account. Once the LUUP account has been credited the recipient can save their money in their account, use it for purchases, or transfer it to their bank account.

Rob Perkins, UK Director at LUUP commented, “This initiative with CFUK illustrates how LUUP offers an ideal payment and donation solution for charities who want to increase donations and boost retail revenue. We anticipate that we will develop the number of charity partners considerably over the coming months - we believe there is great scope to help them to increase both the donations they receive and their effectiveness as online merchants.”

“Cystic Fibrosis UK is proud to be part of this new initiative from LUUP. The more ways
we can collect donations from the public the better,” commented Kevin Bruns, CEO, Cystic Fibrosis UK. “Utilising mobile technology in this way provides donors with a simple, safe and effective method of making donations to our charity.”

Want a Google T-shirt? MoCoNews tells you how...

Google Checkout T-Shirt Rewards

The Official Google Blog reports this morning that "everyone who buys something for $20 or more through Google Checkout all day today (August 10th) gets a free (Google Checkout) T-shirt. So find something you want to buy, enjoy faster checkout online -- and make room in the drawer for your new apparel." The list of online merchants now using Google Checkout continues to expand. Google's also posted a new online presentation for merchants on how to process orders and support customers with Google Checkout.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Summary of the 2 US players

Technology
ThursdayAugust102006

Use the web to pay for things using your cell phone
8/8/2006 5:00 AM
By: Adam Balkin

Finding a pocket for every gadget you own becomes especially difficult during the summer months. Well now you can leave your wallet at home and pay for things using your cell phone instead.

The first way is through PayPal Mobile, online at www.paypal.com/mobile. Once you open an account, load it with money or link it with a credit card, you can sign your phone up for the service.

After that you send money by simply entering the dollar amount on the keypad and then dialing the phone number of the recipient. A few minutes later you'll get an automated call from PayPal asking you to enter a pin number and verify the transaction. There is no charge for sending or receiving money, but there are fees for setting up the PayPal account.

And PayPal is also hoping you will Text to Buy, which is buying CDs, DVDs or video games using a special code that will be placed in a magazine or on an advertisement. When you see a Text to Buy icon, just text message the number along with the product code and an automated PayPal robot calls you to verify the transaction.

Another way to pay via cell phone is by using Obopay, online at www.obopay.com. This service requires you to first download an application onto your phone, and then load money into your account or link it with a credit card.

WATCH THE VIDEO
More Information
PayPal Mobile and Obopay

Noah Robischon of Entertainment Weekly reviews PayPal Mobile and Obopay.



After that, you can split the lunch bill with pals by simply looking their name up in your address book, entering the dollar amount of your share, and punching in a PIN code. The money appears in the recipient’s account almost immediately, assuming they also have the Obopay application installed on their phone.

It costs 10 cents to pay out, but receiving money is free. The account also comes with a cash card that can be used to withdraw money from your Obopay account at an ATM. This is an excellent way for mom or dad to zing some cash to one of the kids in a pinch.

Although there are currently no retailers who accept Obopay, the company is aiming to make the service retail-friendly in the near future

Mobile Innovations - Tech Web

Six Mobile Innovations That Will Change Your Life

New mobile technologies are emerging that can change -- and even save -- our lives. Expect to see these six breakthrough applications in the next year or two.

By David Haskin
TechWeb

Aug 9, 2006 09:10 AM


A century ago, communicating in a hurry meant sending a telegram. If you needed to go yourself, you went by train.

Flash forward to today's world of e-mail-ready smartphones and 3G wireless access. If you think those are handy, then get ready: Newer technology is emerging that will significantly change how we stay in touch when we are mobile -- nearly as much as telephones and airplanes have changed lives over the last 100 years.


Coming Mobile Attractions


Pay By Phone

Commanding Presence

Internet Everywhere, In Everything

Ubiquitous Media

Remote Health Monitoring

People Tracking


We asked several futurists and industry experts to describe these mobile technologies and their impact on our lives. They aren't talking about maybe-someday technologies, but applications that will be here in the next year or two. Some of them are even starting to be available now.

It's a good time to be mobile.



Pay By Phone

Old way: Pull out your wallet and pay with cash, debit card, or credit card.

New way: Your cell phone acts as a mobile wallet; you wave the device at a point-of-sale reader to make purchases.

The idea of using your phone to make payments has been around for several years but is finally gaining serious traction, starting in Japan where NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest cellular carrier, launched its mobile wallet program in 2004. Now, according to Karen Lurker, communications manager in the U.S. for DoCoMo, there are almost 12 million handsets in the hands of DoCoMo users that support the company's mobile payment system.

These phones -- and those that are expected to be introduced soon in the U.S. -- use a wireless technology called Near Field Communications (NFC). You wave the phone near a point-of-sale terminal that supports the technology, and it automatically pays for the item.

How? DoCoMo handles payment two ways, according to Lurker. The first is DoCoMo's Osaifu-Keitai service, which enables you download credits worth as much as 10,000 yen per month, or about $95, to your phone via the company's i-mode data service. When you wave the phone in front of the terminal, the amount of the purchase is deducted from the amount of credit carried on your phone. The amount you actually spend appears on your monthly cell phone bill, according to Lurker.

With the second method, the phone works like a credit card, with your bill being sent to you separately by the credit card company. Ultimately, you'll be able to download your spending information to software on your PC so you can monitor your expenses, Lurker said.

A major limiting factor is that merchants must buy new point-of-sale terminals. However, that's starting to happen quickly in Japan, Lurker said. There are currently about 78,000 stores with terminals that support Osaifu-Keitai and about 25,000 that work with the credit card-like service, with DoCoMo projecting a rapid ramp-up, Lurker said.

While credit card companies in the U.S. say they are working on supporting similar systems, NFC has had a few minor successes here. In particular, Exxon Mobil's Speedpass uses NFC technology -- you wave a "key" in front of a sensor on a gas pump, and the transaction is automatically charged to the credit or debit card you designate.

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