Mobile Money 
New data from Central Bank of Kenya showed M-Pesa spend from Jan to Nov 2014 hit 22.4 billion. The bank reckons the 2014 total was $26bn. The total includes paying for hotel and electricity bills, buying fuel, shopping in supermarkets, paying rent and school fees, besides sending and receiving money. Actually, the Nov figure of $2.25bn was … Read more
The card companies are desperate to show that consumers are embracing contactless payments. These latest figures do show the habit is growing, but it’s still a niche activity. UK spend for 2013 was over £618 million, with £82 million being spent in December alone. The number of purchases in Europe in 2013 was 340.1m, with … Read more
All over the web, services that were once costly and complicated have been radically simplified and made drastically cheaper. Take email marketing. Used to be expensive and complex. Now, it costs just a few dollars a month thanks to pioneers like Mailchimp. Same goes for online storage and Dropbox. Now, a US startup wants to … Read more
Yesterday, O2 confirmed that it was closing O2 Wallet. The few who remembered the service weren’t surprised. I’d heard many whispers that virtually no one was using it. And O2 itself barely ever mentioned it, never mind marketed it. How times change. When O2 launched its wallet in April 2012, it was big news. Lots … Read more
On the day that iZettle confirms its intention to launch in the UK, Brit operator O2 has confirmed that it too is launching into this ridiculously crowded sector. Thanks to the massive success of Square in the US, everyone’s piling into the market for mobile card reading. PayPal, Intuit, Verifone and others have launched Stateside, while … Read more
iZettle is one of the better-known participants in very crowded European space, which includes rivals such as mPowa, SumUp, Cardease, Payleven and others. Its service lets merchants plug an accessory into their phone or tablet and then use this to accept credit or debit card payments, which are processed and logged via an app. iZettle … Read more
Bluesnap has been around a while and already has 5000 merchants on its books, supporting shoppers in 180 countries via 60 currencies and 110 payment types Now, it’s taking its message directly to European stores. And what is it selling? Well, its tech powers the checkout process via four key components: integration into the storefront, … Read more
Lots of movement now taking place in purely mobile banking. A bunch of startups have launched, each seeking to provide an alternative to high street banks that offer lengthy sign-up, little or no data, anti-social hours etc. Launches include Moven and Simple in the USA, FIDOR in Germany, Alior in Poland, France’s Hello Bank and the forthcoming … Read more
BillingTree’s service gives lenders the ability to manage the complex web of payments involved in car financing. Loans, leases, upsells, promos etc. It’s in everyone’s interest to make these payments simple and fast for punters, and easy to manage at the back end. So BillingTree brought in MPayMe and its Znap barcode system. This lets … Read more