Apple plans to launch its mobile payments service in the United Kingdom next month and will be linking with the loyalty cards provided by some retailers. The company has established a strong position in the mobile payments space in a relatively short amount of time. Apple Pay launched in the U.S. in October of last year, with the service being supported by a strong partnership with several prominent retailers. The company has been looking to expand its service into new markets, but this process has been relatively slow. Pinterest and Discover Card will be working with Apple for the launch of Apple Pay in …

E-commerce florist BloomThat Inc. has raised $5.5 million in Series A funding led by Forerunner Ventures, according to co-founder and President Matthew Schwab. Also joining the round were Sherpa Ventures, Rothenberg Ventures and the company’s earlier seed investors First Round Capital and Vaizra Investments. BloomThat made a name for itself, in part, by delivering bouquets “on-demand,” or within 90 minutes, to recipients in the San Francisco Bay Area. But these days, the startup also allows users to send high-quality bouquets or living plants to recipients at a convenient time designated by the sender, on the same or the next day throughout California. “Not …

While mobile commerce accounts for a larger share of ecommerce, accessing the web through a mobile device is also driving sales at some brick-and-mortar locations. Jason Allen, vice president of multichannel strategy at GameStop, the video game, consumer electronics and wireless services retailer, spoke with eMarketer’s Lisa Barron about the company’s mobile initiatives. How important are mobile sales to your overall mobile strategy? Jason Allen: We focus less on direct mobile sales and more on the sale. We absolutely measure the people who come to us on a mobile device and purchase from a mobile device. That is much fewer …

After launching mobile applications, ecommerce and entertainment companies are now focussing on getting them embedded in some popular models of smartphones, a move aimed at tapping into the large customer base of handset makers. For instance, Paytm, Jabong and Hotstar have inked deals with handset manufacturers like Micromax, Intex, Spice, Microsoft and Karbonn.  "Up to 75-80% of our sales come through either our smartphone apps or mobile phones. So, mobile strategy is a vital .. 

eBay is continuing its focus on mobile, unveiling Tuesday a new Apple Watch app and tweaks to its smartphone apps. With the e-commerce company's Apple Watchapp, people will be able to to see an overview of their notifications, as well as the items they are bidding on, selling and watching. eBay can also offer up push notifications to help buyers keep tabs on the items they're watching and help sellers quickly see customer messages. eBay started offering smartwatch apps about two years ago with similar functions, such as for theSamsung Galaxy Gear and Pebble. But, the Apple Watch -- which went on sale …

KFC is targeting younger consumers by teaming up with navigational application Waze to lend the voice of brand mascot Colonel Harland Sanders, who will provide turn-by-turn GPS directions and point out nearby restaurants. From now through August 16, users of the Waze app may opt in to use The Colonel’s familiar voice for navigation directions by visiting the app settings and altering voice language. KFC is following in the foot steps of brands such as Domino’s by using a mascot to communicate with consumers and provide convenience while driving.

The payments landscape in the US is changing rapidly as contactless payments gather steam. Moreover, EMV adoption in the US is also growing at a phenomenal pace before the liability shift of October, 2015. The major data breach that happened last year at Neiman Marcus, Target, Sally Beauty, Michaels and The Home Depot is also propelling EMV adoption. The shift from conventional POS to EMV will have a huge impact on POS terminal manufacturers. The shift to EMV had been slow till 2013 but has gained momentum in the last year. With only a few months to go before …

Dunkin’ Donuts has confirmed its move into mobile ordering and is introducing an integration with payment platform Visa Checkout ahead of the public rollout, expected to be later this year. Visa Checkout is now available for use on DunkinDonuts.com, as well as the mobile application, providing customers with the ability to pay for a purchase with the tap of a button and reload their virtual Dunkin’ Donuts cards. As the brand privately pilots mobile ordering and delivery services to keep up with competitors such as Starbucks and Chipotle Mexican Grill, the additional payment function speaks to its desire to make …

Apple Inc. is enacting a number of significant enhancements to its Apple Pay mobile payment app, including adding support for rewards programs and store-issued credit and debit cards. During a June 8 keynote address at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay, said that retailers, including Dunkin' Donuts, Walgreens, Wegmans, and Kohl's, will support the new reward card functionality. “By integrating with Apple Pay in all of our stores, Kohl’s customers can choose how they want to pay, whether using their Kohl’s Charge or Yes2You Rewards loyalty points, payments are easy and secure,” said Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s …

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has now announced that it is going to become the first Canadian financial institution to use biometricsfor mobile security by way of fingerprint scanning for authorization. This announcement also stated that the mobile security will be possible through the addition of new features available through Android. Google first announced those new features at its developers conference. They will become available through the use of Android M, which presently remains in the form of a developer preview. That said, it is expected that this version of the software will be rolled out later on in 2015. It has been …