Although there always have been discussions about new startups, there is rarely talk about what happened to the ones that fell by the wayside. This is not an exhaustive list, but we want to discuss why some payment companies went out of business despite still receiving money from investors. The reasons that many of the payment companies mentioned here went out of business have not been disclosed. Those that have been revealed vary in nature, but a common one is nonacceptance on a wider scale. A noneffective business model can be blamed in such scenarios. Another reason that can be …

Consumers like their mobile devices and they increasingly like shopping on them. But merchants wish more of that activity happened inside their own mobile apps. That’s exactly the opportunity that PayPal’s One Touch payments brings to merchants, said Braintree CEO Bill Ready, by making it both easy and secure for consumers and merchants to use. Ready gave MPD CEO Karen Webster the inside skinny on why PayPal brought “one touch payments to the mobile app” and the impact he said it will have on delivering more sales to merchants. The mobile app is the place that merchants and consumers can …

In the latest example of how social commerce is quickly gaining steam, Target and Nordstrom are betting the enthusiasm of Instagram users will translate to sales by making it easy to purchase products on display on the retailers’ social network profiles. Consumers have been known to spend hours scouring Instagram for images of the exact product they want. Now, these users will be able to purchase items from brands participating in the program with just a few clicks.

McDonald’s continues to see extensive reach through the use of QR codes on its products, leading to the company's use of the technology for a campaign in partnership with the National Football League offering exclusive video content when consumers scan the codes found on medium-sized beverages and fries. Serving as a cost-efficient source of mobile technology, QR codes were likely McDonald’s choice of execution for this reason, but the emergence of beacons have shown to provide in-depth metrics regarding consumers’ use of the beacon.

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, has invested in Delhi-based online retail marketplace Snapdeal. While Tata's exact investment has not been disclosed, the corporate czar, who, till 2012, led the $103 billion (over Rs 6 lakh crore) Tata Group, has now become the most high-profile individual investor in India's hyper-competitive e-commerce industry. 

Macy’s is partnering with Fashion Rocks for its fall marketing campaign, with mobile playing a key role by enabling live shopping during the event for the first time. The retailer is the official fashion partner for Fashion Rocks, which takes place on Sept. 9. During the event, viewers will be able to shop for the fashions presented during the runway portion of the show from their mobile phones either through the Shazam application or by going directly to the site macys.com/fashionrocks.

Orderella, the developer of an app that lets customers place drinks orders and make payments from their mobile phone, is to install NFC tags and Bluetooth beacons in all the 79 pubs and bars across the UK that use its service. Consumers will be able to tap bar runners, flyers, coasters, table talkers and posters equipped with NFC tags to download the app, while Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons will be used to send out personalised offers and promotions as well as remind customers that they can use the app instead of having to queue up at the bar …

North Carolina baseball fans used their smartphones to hunt down rewards and gifts at the Durham Bulls minor league game this past Monday. Radius Networks' RadBeacons enabled audience members to identify their location as they hunted for scavenger hunt items around the park—the first 20 winners of whom received a prize, such as game tickets or T-shirts. The Durham Bulls is a Triple-A minor league team owned by media company Capitol Broadcasting, and its home is Durham Bulls Athletic Park, located on the American Tobacco Campus.

Sending money through e-mail has been gaining popularity of late with innovations from Google, Dwolla, PayPal,  Venmo and, most recently, Square. After several months of invitation-only beta testing, Square rolled out a person-to-person payments service, Square Cash, in October 2013. On Aug. 26, 2014, it released an updated version of the service. The update enables users to send or request money from anyone in their address book simply by using their phone number, even if the recipient has not downloaded the app.

Uber’s recent hiring of President Obama’s former election campaign manager suggests the company is in it for the long haul despite push back from local governments, while its launch into delivery services points to aspirations beyond transporting people.  Uber and other mobile-enabled taxi-alternatives face growing challenges from local governments intent on enacting regulations that would hamper growth, something David Plouffe, who helped president Obama get elected in 2008, will tackle as the company’s new senior vice president of policy and strategy.