Physical Google Wallet card reportedly coming soon

Game changer (credit: Android Police)

Google may be soon drop a bombshell on the mobile commerce world as a report surfaced Thursday the company is preparing to launch a physical credit card.

Dubbed the "Google Wallet card," this piece of plastic is for those times users can't tap and pay.

It will work just like a regular credit card anywhere major credit and debit cards are accepted.

The news comes from an anonymous tipster who gave Android Police the heads up that he had already received a confirmation email for his card.

Cut up the others

According to the Google Wallet cards set-up instructions, users can add credit and debit cards to the Google Wallet app, then use any of them to make purhcases by using the Google Wallet card.

All users need to do their Wallet card and their default card in the Google Wallet app will be charged.

Whenever users want to swap the card, they can simply select a different card through the app.

All cards - except Google's - can stay at home.

Swipe and swap it with ease (Credit: Android Police)

The card can be ordered through the Google Wallet app and sent to recipients' addresses, as was the case with the tipster who will receive an email when the card is in the mail.

Access to exclusive offers is also available and deals are instantly redeemable. If the card is lost, all a user needs to do is cancel their Google Wallet card - not every card they own.

Big surprises

This may very well be the service Google recently opened sign ups for, though the "next version of Google Wallet" seemingly suggested the app would soon open to more devices, including iOS products.

However, it could all be part of a huge Google scheme to conquer the mobile (and beyond) commerce world.

While a physical card steals the lede, other new features are reportedly on the way as well.

More features are in the offing (Credit: Android Police)

A "Wallet Balance" feature looks like it will let users deposit and withdraw funds while a person-to-person money transfer feature is also coming.

There's also compelling evidence a transit card is part of the new Google Wallet package.

Whether the card and new features will extend beyond the U.S. isn't yet clear, but all this could make carrier approval obsolete for everything but tap payments.

A Wallet card would let owners of iOS and Windows Phone devices utilize a non-NFC version of the Google Wallet app, too.

TechRadar has reached out to Google for comment and will update this story if and when the company responds.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/physical-google-wallet-card-reportedly-coming-soon-1109411

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Physical Google Wallet credit card reportedly in the works

Game changer (credit: Android Police)

Google may be soon drop a bombshell on the mobile commerce world as a report surfaced Thursday the company is preparing to launch a physical credit card.

Dubbed the "Google Wallet card," this piece of plastic is for those times users can't tap and pay.

It will work just like a regular credit card any where major credit and debit cards are accepted.

The news comes from an anonymous tipster who told Android Police he already received a confirmation email for his card.

Cut up the others

According to the Google Wallet cards set-up instructions (provided by the tipster), users can add credit and debit cards to the Google Wallet app, then use any of them in stores by using just the Google Wallet card.

To make purchases swipe the Wallet card and their default card in the Google Wallet app will be charged.

Whenever users want to swap the card, they can simply select a different card through the app.

All cards - except Google's - can stay at home.

Swipe it and swap it with ease (Credit: Android Police)

The card can be ordered through the Google Wallet app and sent to recipients' addresses.

Access to exclusive offers is also available and deals are instantly redeemable. If the card is lost, all a user needs to do is cancel their Google Wallet card - not every card they own.

Big surprises

This may very well be the service Google recently opened sign ups for, though that new service seemingly suggested the app would soon open to more devices, including iOS products.

However, it could all be part of a huge Google scheme to conquer the mobile (and beyond) commerce world.

While a physical card steals the lede, other new features are reportedly on the way as well.

A "Wallet Balance" feature looks like it will let users deposit and withdraw funds while a person-to-person money transfer feature is also coming.

There's also signs a transit card is part of the new Google Wallet package.

Whether the card and new features will extend beyond the U.S. isn't yet clear, but all this could make carrier approval obsolete for everything but tap payments.

A Wallet card would let owners of iOS and Windows Phone devices utilize a non-NFC version of the Google Wallet app, too.

Until Google makes all of this official, competitors and consumers alike are going to be watching Google with eager eyes.

Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/physical-google-wallet-credit-card-reportedly-in-the-works-1109411

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Groupon’s turning its Breadcrumb acquisition into an iPad point-of-sale system

Groupon unveiled its latest play in assert the company as a commerce platform with the iPad-based point-of-sale system for merchants.

Groupon acquired iPad point-of-sale solution Breadcrumb just a few months ago and today the daily deals giant has accordingly unveiled its own POS system for local businesses to use on the iPad. While Groupon has offered a Square-like card reader to its clients, the new service is a fully-featured cash register replacement. Given Groupon’s recent launch of its payment system, Groupon Payments, the physical POS system is a natural next step. 

With Groupon Payments, Groupon hopes to reassure shareholders that have been disappointment by the company’s performance since its initial IPO price at $20 per share tanked and settled into single digits. At the moment, based on Yahoo Finance, Groupon’s stock is priced at $5.31. Still, that number is up since September, when it was at its lowest at $4.15 per share.

According to Groupon’s blog post, Breadcrumb’s General Manager Seth Harris explains that the company will be purposed with the hospitality industry in mind. “We started Breadcrumb to provide the hospitality industry with the best POS experience it has ever had,” says Harris. Breadcrumb is a fairly robust point-of-sale system: Servers can search for menu items and rearrange tables within the iPad-based software, take and place orders, split checks, process payments, and access analytics to track sales and performance.

Breadcrumb for Groupon will run strictly on iPads for a recurring monthly rental fee of $99, and this cost includes 24/7 support from Groupon’s hospitality focused customer service representatives. Breadcrumb will likely have multiple payment plans depending on the number of terminals that a business is interested in renting. All plans include the iPad compatible Breadcrumb software for rent, unlimited users, and free updates. But for $399 per month, merchants can use Breadcrumb on as many as 10 iPads, according to Breadcrumb’s site. Although, for that cost, the hardware (iPads, printers, and cash drawers) isn’t included.

Groupon Payments will likely serve as the payment system running on top of Breadcrumb’s platform. We’ve reached out to Groupon to clarify this.

When we last talked to Groupon, we learned exclusively that the company is working on developing a brick-and-mortar point-of-sale terminal for local mom-and-pop type shops, which should be introduced within the next month. According to a Groupon rep, not all small retail owners are tech savvy and interested in evolving into iPad POS services. 

With Groupon’s stock price slowly climbing, the company may have found a way to crawl out of the daily deals black hole.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/groupon-post-acquisition-of-breadcrumb-serves-up-ipad-point-of-sale-system/

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Flipboard now an in-magazine shopping destination for Levi’s clothing

Flipboard announces its partnership with Levi's to kick start its foray into m-commerce. Users can now purchase clothing from within the app.

For years now, reader apps have slugged along with an advertising business model that hasn’t exactly been lucrative. With the debut of Flipboard’s new social shopping catalogue, however, its e-commerce strategy could break ground for the experimentation of new business models among reader apps.

Piggybacking on New York Fashion Week, which is in full bloom for the Spring/Summer 2013 line, Flipboard has announced “The New Levi’s Collection.” Flipboard, in conjunction with Levi’s, will sell the clothing brand’s fall season fashion for both men and women. In other words, the magazine-style reader is now a shopping platform — one where users can easily purchase what they see from within the app’s new Style category, found in the Content Guide.

In magazine fashion, the Style category will be accompanied by images uploaded using Instagram, curated articles by Levi’s staffers, and a behind-the-scenes look of the “insider’s view of life at Levi’s.” Flipboard calls the experience Catalogue 2.0, as it offers a shopping experience that’s completely restricted to Flipboard, a mobile-only application.

Flipboard is not the first magazine-like app to have tackled m-commerce. Publishers were once scrambling to figure out how to offer a compelling tablet-based magazine that consumers would be willing to purchase, despite offering similar content in its print publication. In 2010 Marie Claire and ELLE magazines, both, owned by Hearst, were among the first magazine app in the iTunes App Store with an m-commerce solution that integrated a shopping platform within the reading experience.

There isn’t much to lose for both Flipboard and Levi’s now that the technology platform has already been developed. Flipboard most likely takes a commission for every sale made, similar to a drop shipping solution, and (of course) every purchase request notifies Levi’s to ship out the appropriate product.

This strategy could get the folks at Zite, Pulse, News.me, and other mobile readers thinking about supplementing their revenue with an m-commerce business model, and we couldn’t blame them. M-commerce is one of the fastest growing subsets within e-commerce.

Source : http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/flipboard-levis-shopping/

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