What is LevelUp?
Shannon Andrade | VIEW PROFILE
October 19, 2012
LevelUp was originally launched in March 2011 as a daily deals site, but after just three months, the company shifted its focus exclusively to mobile payments. Over the past year, LevelUp has evolved significantly, expanding their value proposition from mobile payment acceptance...
Inside Apple® Passbook®
Markiyan Malko | VIEW PROFILE
October 2, 2012
While many anticipated the launch of iOS6, available for the vast majority of the company’s iPhone®, iPad®, and iPod touch® models, to coincide with the announcement of NFC in the new iPhone, Apple turned heads with no NFC and no entry into mobile payments. The launch of Apple’s...
Obstacles to Mobile Payment Implementation
Shannon Andrade | VIEW PROFILE
September 27, 2012
Mobile payments are set to revolutionize how consumers pay for goods and services at retail locations. These payment methods will also revolutionize how merchants can accept payments. In July of 2011, Juniper Research predicted that the dollar total of mobile payments would...
Credit Card Surcharging: It’s Bad for Business
Henry Helgeson | VIEW PROFILE
September 25, 2012
In July, card issuers and banks reached a 7.25 billon dollar settlement with merchants. As a result of the settlement, nearly seven million merchants will receive paid damages and lower processing interchange fees for a period of eight months. The settlement, which is viewed as...
Inside PCI Compliance – What You Need to Know
Markiyan Malko | VIEW PROFILE
September 12, 2012
The compliance standards for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or PCI DSS, are a set of rules that any merchant, bank, financial institution or any other entity that transmits, processes or stores sensitive cardholder data must follow. PCI DSS compliance...
History of Mobile Payments
Shannon Andrade | VIEW PROFILE
August 30, 2012
Consumers are increasingly demanding new forms of payment that do not rely on the standard magnetic strip credit card. The emergence of such a demand is a direct result of online payment systems, such as PayPal. The next logical step after online payment systems was the...
The Current State of Loyalty and Rewards
Michael Gavin | VIEW PROFILE
August 21, 2012
Customer loyalty and rewards programs are far from a new concept. Airlines and the hospitality industry have been using them for decades to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Soon after, credit card companies caught on, offering both integrated programs and stand-...
Mobile Payments: Big Names Converging
Dan Dufault | VIEW PROFILE
August 8, 2012
Forecasts for mobile payments, including digital and physical goods, mobile money transfers, and NFC transactions are expected to nearly triple from 2012 to 2015, growing from $240 billion to $670 billion, according to Juniper Research. Companies like Starbucks have already...
Five Keys to Delivering Superior Customer Service
David McSweeney | VIEW PROFILE
August 6, 2012
Providing award-winning customer service is not an easy task. Customer expectations continue to rise and businesses strive to deliver unparalleled service and support. Additional investments in personnel, processes, technology and training – are they making a difference? Not...
Google Wallet – A Look Inside
Shannon Andrade | VIEW PROFILE
August 1, 2012
Google Wallet is an application ‘app’ available from the Android Market. The Google Wallet app was officially released in September of 2011 but adoption has been slow, leading them to recently rethink their original strategy. Anyone that has a mobile phone with the app...